After a day of many short rehearsals that had tinges of excitement and a little panic, it was time for the final night of Colab and the show at Blackheath Hall.
We decided to show the Bruch Soundpainting for our OrchestraNEXT project. The sound painting had made our improvisation much more secure and creative and we had memorised the sections of the Bruch that we used.
Although the aim of the OrchestraNEXT project had not been the performance, nevertheless, the performance gave us a focus and I believe our collaboration on the night had never been better or stronger. We made group decisions, listened to each other and bounced ideas off each other, all without a conductor leading us. While it could be developed further to a more complex and interesting performance, the concert demonstrated that an orchestra can communicate without a conductor or words and that the future of orchestral playing could take an interesting route.
The unusual piece created by sound painting definitely suggests that audiences could be more and more frequently entertained by unusual, non-traditional or experimental orchestral playing. Considering the limited time we had rehearsing as an orchestra, I felt the performance was a success.
The night changed into more of a party than a concert for the TLC orchestra. We played arrangements of a number of songs, including I Will Survive, Dancing Queen, Loving You, a Chaka Khan medley, You Sexy Thing, Its Raining Men and more! The strong sound of an orchestra, band and singers made a great collaboration and the audience seemingly had a great time singing and dancing along.
It was a fantastic learning experience to play in a new style, to accompany singers, to play with a strong rhythm section, to play a lively gig and to accompany a loud, excited party of people! Dancing around in the TLC orchestra was the perfect way to end a week of exploring the different ways we approach orchestral playing that was thought provoking, educational and fun!
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