BEAR MOUNTAIN, VA.
23 - 26 August, 2007
For the second year in a row, the McLean High School Chamber
Soloists went on a four-day summertime musical retreat in the
mountains of Highland County, Virginia. The purpose of the
August 23-26 trip, that 23 students participated in this year,
was to learn, bond as a cohesive group of musicians, and to have
fun. Led by MHSO director Gretta Sandberg, herself a part-time
resident of Highland County, the musicians endured a four-hour
ride in a caravan of eight vehicles piloted by parent chaperones
that ultimately wended its way through the mountains to the
final destination: Bear Mountain Farm & Wilderness Retreat. In
this idyllic setting, the musicians, their director, and parents
took up residence in mountaintop cabins; this year one chaperone
even camped out in a tent! Once settled in the instruments were
unpacked and the musicians prepared for an intensive
schedule of practice, performance, and critique, mixed in with a
generous dose of fun. Not an electronic game was to be seen;
even cell phones were few and far between, reception being
spotty at best in the mountains.
The second day of the trip,
following an intensive morning rehearsal, the group headed
over to Warm Springs, VA, to participate in a two-hour
workshop with the professional chamber musicians of the
Garth Newell Music Center. The Chamber Soloists performed
selections from their concert program for the musicians, who
provided valuable feedback and critique.
Chamber Soloists
pose in their Bear Mountain t-shirts at the camp, along with
the camp's canine mascot, Haiku: MHSO Director Gretta
Sandberg is pictured second from left in the back row.
The third day, following their
morning rehearsal, the musicians met up in Monterey for a
joint rehearsal with three musicians from the Monterey High
School Band who were scheduled to join the Chamber Soloists
in a special inaugural performance of a tango entitled
“Parana (Son of My Life),” written by the grandfather of
MHSO violinist Elizabeth Ghias. The orchestra also received
accompaniment on this piece by the head of the Highland
County Public Schools music program, Jerry Philp, as well as
a musician parent. After perfecting their technique on the
tango, the MHSO musicians and parent chauffeurs traveled
back to Warm Springs to attend a marvelous concert at Garth
Newell.
The musicians warm up in preparation for
their 90-minute concert at the Highland Center, entitled "An
Afternoon of String Music!"
The last day found everyone packing up for the return journey
to Monterey for a fortifying brunch before the retreat's
culmination in a public concert at the town's Highland
Center. The program included solos by a number of musicians
who each did an outstanding job. The enthusiastic audience
reception was a gratifying conclusion to four days of hard
work, interspersed with ample good times.
Other fun activities during this special musical journey
included a mountaintop “Star Party” with a local amateur
astronomer and his portable, powerful
telescope--unfortunately, the sky clouded up, obscuring the
stars, but not before everyone got a good look at Jupiter;
marshmallow-grilling and s'mores-making at a Bear Mountain
campfire; and Chinese dumpling-making, instruction provided
by orchestra parent and chef Bill Cheng.
Bonding accomplished over the intensive four-day musical
workout, the MHSO Chamber Soloists are off to a great start
for the 2007/2008 school year!
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Bear Mountain photos
