2017-01-30

【Aiden in English】

        As I’ve said before, this is the first year the Pennbrook Wind Ensemble actually did something that was not dealing with the school district in any way whatsoever. It means that the reason for the Con-Selmer Clinic event has nothing to do with the words “North Penn”. It means the audience is probably not there to see their children play; however, it is still likely so.

        But the idea is that the Wind Ensemble is expanding outside of our school borders is a really appealing idea. At the same time, I can’t say I don’t miss the in-school performances. After smashing a great show at the Con-Selmer workshop, we head to the NPHS auditorium for an annual Wind Ensemble concert. It includes the Wind groups from all three middle schools in the North Penn School District, as well as the High School Symphonic Band. In other words, it is an extremely selective one in high school.

        Now, the song selection for us is the same, and we’re only playing two pieces. However, we are not the showcase of the night. What I want to elaborate on is the great high school band that performed as the last band. Because of their sizes, the sound produced could change the way the band is judged. Up until that point, the rest bands have pretty much danced around the same level. Finally, you see the high school students and their sheer sizes, you realize they are men among boys.

        The major difference between age groups in the band is the air power and reading ability. By middle school, most students have enough training to play any note on their instruments with relative ease. After learning the notes, the potential expands rapidly. The high school students, because of experience, can read more notes and harder songs faster. They are trained from the six years of previous school classes as well as some with private tutors.

        Airpower comes with age and practice. It develops with stronger lungs and muscles. They can be trained from exercises, but a key growth comes with the natural growth of the adolescent. That kind of is why you won’t see a fourth-grader be able to instantly play a low A on a bari-sax (I can barely play one). Due to these obvious improvements, they can play longer, tougher, and a larger variety of songs we can’t. However, length can prove to be slightly boring, as more than one song lasted over five minutes.

        The performance was only supposed to last an hour, but it surpassed the end time by another half hour. For our band, there were no mistakes, at least to my knowledge. I understand that we were somewhat blown out by the high school, but it feels good to be under the lights and everyone’s attention, even if it’s for only a moment.

【红霞译文】

        如前所说，今年宾溪管乐队破天荒头一回没有以学区名义单独举办活动，也就是说上周六康塞尔默乐队指导与“北宾州”毫无干系，观众大可不必专程前来欣赏自家孩子表演，当然并非排除这种可能性。

        其实管乐队走出校门开拓视野这种想法本身值得大加赞赏，同时我也不否认自己不愿错过校内演出，经过康塞尔默音乐研讨会上出色表现之后，我们回到北宾州高中礼堂参加一年一度的管乐音乐会，来自北宾州全部三所初中管乐队及高中交响乐队到场献艺，毋庸置疑，高中交响乐队都是精心选拔的优秀乐手。

        今天我们表演节目不变，而且仅献上两首曲子。显见整个晚会的重头戏不是初中生，而是眼前这帮传承了前辈们表演技艺的高中生，他们人高马大，吹奏的音质浑厚圆润，令其它几支水平相当的初中乐队首肯心折。话说高中生，其身材块头就是不同，他们堪称男孩心目中堂堂男子汉。

        在气鸣力度和识谱速度上不同年龄之间存有显著差距，多数初中生重点放在灵活把握音准上，之后才轮到提高各方面技艺；而身为高中生，由于经验丰富，因此他们识谱快，可以演奏难度大的作品，毕竟经过六年课堂训练，尚且有些还请私教个别指导。

        气鸣强弱因年龄大小练习多少而异，加强气鸣训练有助于提高肺活量和肌肉收缩功能，锻炼身体也会收获同样效果，关键因素更在青少年自然成长，这也是为什么罕见四年级小学生吹奏上低音萨克斯管的低音A（我没本事做到），正因如此，高中生能够演奏又长又难又复杂的曲目，而我们则甘拜下风，但过长的曲子难免叫人心烦，晚会上竟然不止一首曲子持续演奏五分钟之久。

        音乐会原本计划一个小时结束，可后来又延长了半个钟头。我们乐队发挥得十全十美，至少我个人这么认为。我深知高中乐队技高一筹，但能与他们同台竞技并博得观众注目，哪怕没多大工夫也值得骄傲。

Today in History(历史上的今天):

2008: 巴巴多斯—盛夏光年(Barbados—Eternal Summer)

Crosslinks(相关博文):

Wind Ensemble Concert of NP Secondary Schools(北宾州初高中管乐会)

Wind Ensemble Performance-2(管乐团演出之二)