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.

【紅霞譯文】

        如前所說，今年賓溪管樂隊破天荒頭一回沒有以學區名義單獨舉辦活動，也就是說上周六康塞爾默樂隊指導與“北賓州”毫無干係，觀眾大可不必專程前來欣賞自家孩子表演，當然並非排除這種可能性。

        其實管樂隊走出校門開拓視野這種想法本身值得大加讚賞，同時我也不否認自己不願錯過校內演出，經過康塞爾默音樂研討會上出色表現之後，我們回到北賓州高中禮堂參加一年一度的管樂音樂會，來自北賓州全部三所初中管樂隊及高中交響樂隊到場獻藝，毋庸置疑，高中交響樂隊都是精心選拔的優秀樂手。

        今天我們表演節目不變，而且僅獻上兩首曲子。顯見整個晚會的重頭戲不是初中生，而是眼前這幫傳承了前輩們表演技藝的高中生，他們人高馬大，吹奏的音質渾厚圓潤，令其它幾支水平相當的初中樂隊首肯心折。話說高中生，其身材塊頭就是不同，他們堪稱男孩心目中堂堂男子漢。

        在氣鳴力度和識譜速度上不同年齡之間存有顯著差距，多數初中生重點放在靈活把握音準上，之後才輪到提高各方面技藝；而身為高中生，由於經驗豐富，因此他們識譜快，可以演奏難度大的作品，畢竟經過六年課堂訓練，尚且有些還請私教個別指導。

        氣鳴強弱因年齡大小練習多少而異，加強氣鳴訓練有助於提高肺活量和肌肉收縮功能，鍛煉身體也會收穫同樣效果，關鍵因素更在青少年自然成長，這也是為什麼罕見四年級小學生吹奏上低音薩克斯管的低音A（我沒本事做到），正因如此，高中生能夠演奏又長又難又複雜的曲目，而我們則甘拜下風，但過長的曲子難免叫人心煩，晚會上竟然不止一首曲子持續演奏五分鐘之久。

        音樂會原本計劃一個小時結束，可後來又延長了半個鐘頭。我們樂隊發揮得十全十美，至少我個人這麼認為。我深知高中樂隊技高一籌，但能與他們同台競技並博得觀眾注目，哪怕沒多大工夫也值得驕傲。

Today in History(歷史上的今天):

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

Crosslinks(相關博文):

Wind Ensemble Concert of NP Secondary Schools(北賓州初高中管樂會)

Wind Ensemble Performance-2(管樂團演出之二)