Royal Liverpool Philharmonic have started selling tickets for next years Superorchestra - a day of rehearsal followed by performance in the Philharmonic Hall. I've just booked my ticket - very excited. Suitable for Grade 4 up apparently.

Superorchestra booking

Arrrghh! Why do I live in Germany??? I would love to join in, but It would be far to expensive.

Thank you so much for posting this Flobiano - I've booked!

Looks like all the woodwind places have gone already so glad I got in quickly, still some string and brass left though.

Yep I think I got the last flute place! I guess you're on oboe looking at your signature?

Very excited.. but will have to calm down a bit as it's nine months away

Yes I will be on oboe!

Lucky you! At least you should be sitting next to someone nice

Ahh you lucky, lucky people.. wondering how I can swing a visit to the parents in law who just happen to live in Birkenhead....

WOO HOOO They had viola places left!!! I've booked!!!


Scared now

Arrrgggghhhh - all the violin places have gone. I'm gutted.

What a brilliant idea though and many congratulations to those of you going - playing with the Liverpool Philharmonic - so exciting and impressive. Have a fantastic time next June

Invariably I spot this when all the clarinet spots have been filled. Happened last time too. And I'm not a good enough cellist, and don't really fancy it on flute...

Magic to see Flobiano and Allegretto will be there in the wind section.

Anyone else going?

Also is anyone here from Liverpool because I may have an 'extra' day in Liverpool (depending on travel from Scotland) so would be looking for some company perhaps

All the clarinet places seemed to go as soon as the tickets went on sale. Hopefully next time.

Lottie - excellent that you are coming too. I'm not from Liverpool, but it is a great city to spend a day in - excellent new shopping centre, Albert Dock with Beatles museum and Tate Gallery, wonderful architecture, modern Catholic cathedral is also well worth a look. I think a new Liverpool museum has opened this summer too.

You never know, one day I might be capable enough on the 'cello...

I was thinking about this on my way home from work today and wondering whether I ought to ring them as I hadn't received the practice parts that were meant to go out by the end of January.

Then I got home to find a nice envelope full of music waiting for me on my door mat.

I can see why they send out practice parts though..

Has everyone else got their music yet? I am very excited about this now!

Although now resident just an hour's drive away from Liverpool, I am originally a native and so I ought to know my way around...although they keep alterign the one-way systems

I'm not signed up, but I'm happy to help especially those who are travelling significiant distances. I'm a short drive from Crewe station (short by rural standards - 25 minutes). I may be able to offer an overnight stop if required. It'll be good practice for me with my French exchange visitors in July with fewer language challenges!

PM me if you wish.

Snap! Was just thinking the same.. and there they were on Saturday morning

And err snap, yes, I will need to get practising!

Very exciting though - hotel booked and pieces listened to over and over this weekend

Hows the practicing going Flobiano? Just realised it's only about 5 weeks away now!

My practising has not been as good as it should have been. I have worked through all the parts but there's still bits that need quite a bit of looking at. After next week will have all other orchestral commitments out of the way so hopefully will be able to focus on this a bit more..and OH is going away for 10 days so will be able to spend a bit more time listening with the score.

Funnily enough we are playing Crown Imperial at my orchestra concert, must be a jubilee thing. We're playing the simplified version but I'm hoping it counts for something!

How are you getting on?

Similar - kept thinking I'd got ages yet and then suddenly... eek! Feel OK-ish with Walton and Gershwin but still a bit with Stravinsky in places.

Just out of interest, was there any saxophone places?

(I would guess not but thought id ask just out of interest )

I'm 99.9% sure there wasn't, when I tried and failed once again to book a clarinet slot...

Well, I've just tried to play through both the Gershwin and Walton with recordings on You Tube and it honestly made me wish I wasn't going. Ridiculously hard - too many notes, too many awkward fast passages, too fast articulation, too many pages to practice. I'm beginning to feel quite stressed about the whole thing. Which is a shame for something that is meant to be fun.

It sounds a little like the Manchester Camerata days where they don't really seem to have a proper idea of what level they are aiming at. Nor of what is reasonable to expect of 'normal' people at various levels especially if you consider some may have little ensemble experience.
Hope you manage to get something from it. My way of dealing with that sort of situation is to accept that I play what I can and if it's too difficult it's not my problem ...... or not so long as I didn't go into it pretending I'm better than I am.

Well it was advertised for players of Grade 4 and above I don't know what the other parts are like but the oboe part is way above Grade 8. It will be interesting to see how the day goes. If they do have people that have limited ensemble experience the Gershwin will be interesting as there are so many changes of tempo and the timing in Stravinsky is also tricky. I can do the steadier bits but the fast stuff is just too much. I wonder if they'll slow everything down a touch to make it slightly more playable. As you say I can only do what I can do, I can't be the only one having trouble - unless everyone else is diploma level of course. In which case I'll give up and come home.

I nearly did give up and come home at the last Camerata one I went to. If I hadn't had Barry-clari's luggage in the boot of my car I would have done!

You will have a very nice person in your section to look after you so it should be ok

I went to the recent Camerata day. I told them I was G4 ish and rusty. But I was sat with an experienced player. My timing is good so I knew where I was. I could play some quite big chinks of the Tchaikovsky Serenade - parts of it I busked and parts of it I played first note in the bar!

Hard work but fun.

I agree that I'm not sure they entirely understand mere mortals

Would you really want to sit next to Rob in that sort of situation

They are playing Gershwin, so there could well have been sax places.

I thought that too when I saw it was Gershwin.....

Hi,

I signed up for this as well - as an approximate Grade 5 violinist with a reasonable amount of orchestral experience. Am really struggling with the parts as well. I guess it's different in strings - safety in numbers - but I've actually just decided I'm going to enjoy it no matter what!

They said Grade 4 - not my problem that it's much harder music! I told them Grade 5 on the form - they know what they're getting! I'm sure that on the day everything will fall into place, somehow! And if not, I'm not bad at miming!! :-)

Looking forward to meeting you guys!

Vicky

I'm sure you're right. Nice to hear from someone else coming along! Looking foward to meeting you too.

Hi Vicky, look forward to meeting you too

Flobiano, I've done exactly the same thing - I thought I was getting to grips with most of it and then tried a YouTube playalong I'm sure they won't be expecting us to be perfect though - or quite that fast.. I hope! Would be silly to advertise something as Grade 4+ and then expect everyone to be able to play that lot note perfect

Only 2 weeks to go! What are everyone's plans for the day? I'm planning to come on the train, I was thinking of maybe taking lunch with me. I'll be staying for the whole concert to see the choir as well and would be up for staying out for a meal afterwards if anybody else would be interested?

Hi,

Yes, I'm up for going for a meal afterwards. I'm actually going up the day before if anybody else is?

Vicky

Not quite sure what our plans are yet (dragging OH along cos he's never seen me play in public before, although I think he might be sick of hearing the pieces already ) but would be lovely to catch up over lunch on the day. Is there a secret forum badge/ handshake so we can recognise each other?

Maybe we can wear pink carnations Alternatively I'll just head over to the woodwind - i'm sure i'll find you guys!

I'm sure you'll find us - I think there were only 4 oboe places. I'm playing 1st oboe so that probably narrows it down to 2 people!

My plans have changed a little for the day as I'm now getting a lift there and being picked up at the end - so I won't be able to stay for a meal afterwards, unfortunately, but lunch sounds good (I think I'll buy something there).

If people going need places to eat which are nearby, the Everyman Theatre is very good - further along Hope St. towards the Metropolitan Cathedral. Also the refectory at the Metropolitan Cathedral is quite decent.

Thanks for the tips - I think there is a cafe at the hall itself too.

I've just finished packing my bag.

I had a fantastic time yesterday!

I think a few people had commented on the difficulty of the music as they acknowledged that in the initial welcome but made the point that they realised it was hard, but that you shouldn't worry about it, the professional's would be at the concert and the most important thing was to play what you could and enjoyed the day.

We had a 90 minute sectional rehearsal before lunch - the woodwind sectional was run by Jonathon Small (oboist!). I think he did a really good job was very encouraging - we ran through most bits and took things at a speed that we could generally play. The sectionals were done without the Phil players there and I was a bit disconcerted to be the only one on first oboe - there were 3 second oboes but I guess the split may have been based on what grade people were who applied. The rehearsal flew by.

After lunch we had full rehearsal, which the Phil players joined us for. Very positive feel to the whole thing, and (in woodwind at least) the players dropped back to let the amateurs take the solos that they could (and did a bit of coaching to help with those) but would back up the bits that were more difficult.

We had a break before the main concert - which was a good opportunity to have a cup of tea and a cake with Vicky Violin and Allegretto. It was lovely to meet you both!

The concert was a great way to round of the day. I think it went well very well, there were a good number of people there and it was amazing to play in the Philharmonic Hall. The Gershwin was particularly amazing to play.

So as you could see I would whole heartedly recommend this event to anyone (though you probably would need to really be about grade 6/7 at least to really get the most from it!). BUT it does sell out very quickly so you need to book as soon at tickets go on line. I would love to go again but due to the scarcity of woodwind places, and the demand, I think it is only fair to let someone else have a go next time. So will hold off booking for the next one.

The next one will be 15 June 2013, tickets on sale in September.

They also do a Supersing, though this is 5 weeks of rehearsal so you probably need to be in the Liverpool area to do that - the choirs sing in the second half of the concert and were fab! So I imagine that was pretty fun too.

Glad you had a good time. Sorr yI couldn't at least get to the performance.

I've always liked the Philharmonic Hall. It's a stunning Art Deco interior and the accoustics are very good.

Thank you for reporting Flobiano. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.

Amazing day!

Flobiano has summed it up wonderfully - it was hard work but the professionals (and other participants) were wonderfully supportive. For me it was the first time I'd played in an orchestra for 15 years and it brought back everything that I loved about it. I was amazed by the progress we all made through the day - really did think the music was too ambitious but it worked! There were 6 or 7 flutes plus three professionals - the two of us on 1st shared the solos (it was a little bit scary at first when the Phil player said "I'm not playing those bits!"). Great venue, and quite a sound when the whole 'super orchestra' was in full flow!

Utterly exhausted yesterday but on such a high

Lovely to meet Vicky and Flobiano (and hear your fab oboe solos!)

Oh and the cake was great

Oooh.....

Sounds like it was a good do.

Thanks for that...I bet though that the clarinet spaces will still vanish before I've reacted...

I can only echo what Flobiano and Allegretto have already said - what a fantastic day!!! Definitely the best thing I've ever done on violin!! The pro's were so helpful and I feel like I learnt more in one day than in the last three months at least. The concert was so enjoyable as well, such a massive sound and exciting programme.

Lovely to meet you both F and A and well done the two of you on your fantastic solos!!!

Vicky

Ooh errrr....

Vicky Violin and Flobiano, it appears I met you both and was talking to you without realising who you were! Flobiano I think that was you I chatted to before the doors opened, and Vicky when I was hanging around at the back of the strings sectional before we started? And sat next to you in the second half of the concert? So sorry, I had no idea who I was talking to. That will teach me to read the relevant thread ages afterwards.


I was talking to somebody from a Wiltshire orchestra who told me that a big group of them like to go to the Liverpool Phil day together. Apparently they went on the site and booked their places literally as soon as they went on sale. Sounds like you might need to be online at midnight to have a chance of getting one of the clari places.

Oh yes that was me!!! Good to meet you!