Gala Finale Orchestra Concert.

In front of the performance hall

Earlier this month, I had my Final Gala concert for this year. This is my second year in Camerata Strings. We practice every Saturday morning 9:00-11:30. The conductor is very nice and chooses beautiful pieces for us to play. Everyone practices their part during the week, and she helps us put it together. After about 5 weeks of practice, she does chair placement. Chair placement is when you audition for her, and she chooses where you sit. The best players sit closest to the conductor. Everyone practices a lot during the week of chair placement. For chair placement, I got 4th chair. This was a big improvement for me because I started the year as a second violin, then the last concert I was first violin 9th chair and this final concert I was first violin 4th chair. I will now be working with my teacher to choose a new piece to audition for the symphony orchestra, which is a more advanced orchestra.

My day started early in the morning because I had to get dressed in a black skirt, white shirt, and shiny black shoes. It was a windy and cold day and our violins were becoming out of tune often. We had to leave earlier to allow time to park and find the performance hall. At 11:30 we had a dress rehearsal on stage to find our seats and practice our pieces. The performance was in a huge beautiful concert hall. The hall had very good acoustics, and you could here the echo of our orchestra throughout the entire building, even on the upper balcony seats.  Even if one person messed up, everyone would be able to hear it.  I was a little nervous when I got on stage, but when we finished and the audience clapped,I felt like we had done a good job.

We played four pieces:

• Spring Breezes(Folk Song from Taiwan) Arr Richard Meyer
• Eine Kleine Nachtmusic by Mozart
• Winter from the Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi
• A Grieg Portrait by Edward Grieg

In Spring breezes there were many solos played by the first chair. A solo is when only one person plays a specific part. This song wasn't my favorite because it kept repeating throughout the whole song. Eine Kleine Nachtmusic is a fast and light song.  Winter from the Four Seasons was my second favorite. It sounded like raindrops falling on the ground which represents Winter. A Grieg Portrait was my favorite because every section had a beautiful melody. It was three of Grieg most famous songs put together into one piece.



                               Here is a video of my performance.

Which piece was your favorite?

Desert Hot Springs

Miriam and our friend Yasmine

Recently, we went to the Desert Hot Springs. It was about a twenty minute drive from our hotel.  While driving, there was a sand storm, and we could hear sand hitting our car. We assumed it would be a warmer day, but it turned out to be on the cooler side. When we arrived to the hot spring,  it was very windy, but we still were tempted to go swimming. Right after our parents paid and got towels, we instantaneously jumped into the Jacuzzi. Our friends came with us. They came from Israel to stay with us for the week in Palm Springs.

 

There were eight pools, and one lifeguard that watched the largest pool. The smaller the pool the warmer it was. All the pools had fresh water non-chlorinated water, which meant we could open our eyes under water. We were very happy that the water didn’t have chlorine because we forgot to take goggles. The water temperature was 85-110 degrees Fahrenheit.  The water was very warm, and we first went into the warmest Jacuzzi to warm up from the cold wind. It felt very nice, and we wished we brought our books to read in the water.

Hannah and me playing in the pool

After staying in the Jacuzzi, we felt very hot, we went into the bigger pool which was very refreshing. In this pool we played numerous made up games such as horse training. We took turns giving each other piggyback rides, and we raced each other to the finish line. Then, we swam a few laps of the strokes until we were exhausted and famished and were ready for our lunch.

For lunch, we had sandwiches with salami, juicy and scrumptious fruits, and delicious yogurt.   Our repast was delicious, and when we finished, we jumped back into the pool.  I helped teach my friends little sister how to swim. She was only 6 and in one day, she learned how to swim without her floaties. It was very pretty at the Desert Hot Springs. When you looked out at the view you saw mammoth-sized boulders, hills, and mountains.  I felt and smelled the nice, fresh air of wind on my legs and arms, and heard the kids screaming and playing games in the pool. We played in the biggest pool for another 2 more hours until it was time to leave. We wiped ourselves, changed, and gave our towels back. I had a fun day, and thanked my mom for making it so entertaining. 

Have you ever swam in a hot spring?

Joshua Tree National Park

High on a tall rock

Recently, we drove to Palm Springs. It was about 130 miles, and while driving we saw some beautiful sights. We saw cows up at the top of the hill, and horses in barns. When we were near to Palm Springs, we saw numerous wind mills. They were in straight rows and were spinning. The wind mills produce electricity.

Joshua tree

While in Palm Springs, we went to Joshua Tree National park. It was about an hour drive from Palm Springs. We went with our friends from Israel. They came to stay with us for the week in Palm Springs. They were good climbers, and they climbed  tall rocks with us. We went to four hiking places within this National Park. We first went to Skull Rock where we climbed mammoth sized rocks and looked out at the view of the mountains. It was hard to climb and there were many sharp branches. After that, we went to Keys View. It was a beautiful sight overlooking the entire valley. It resembled the Grand Canyon, but was much smaller  The overlook at Keys View had a fault line called the San Andre’s Fault. This was were many earthquakes took place. As a result of the fault line, the nearby mountains move one and a half inches every two years, and in 3,000,000 years the San Andre’s Fault will result in the mountains moving 100 miles away. 

Next, we went to the Barker Dam. It was an endangered park, and there were many lizards and birds. We hiked a 1 mile loop to the Dam. While walking we saw an abundant number of Joshua Trees and cacti. The cacti were very prickly and we made sure not to touch them.  The tallest Joshua tree in the park is 40 feet tall, and is about 100 years old! Joshua trees don’t grow more than about 45 feet tall. The name Joshua tree was given by a group of Mormon settlers who crossed the Mojave Desert. It's shape reminded these settlers about the biblical story, when Joshua reaches his hands up to the sky to say a prayer.   One of the Joshua trees was flowering a very large cluster of white petals.

When we neared the end of the hike, we went to see a dried out dam. It was built by comboys to gather water in the desert. We also saw petroglphys in a small cave. These were written by American Indians that lived a long time ago. The writings were in all different colors. We didn’t know what it meant, but they probably wrote it to tell others where to find water and food.  This walk was challenging and was complicated because we walked on rocks and it was very hot.

The last hiking trail was hidden valley. It was a 1 mile loop, and we saw and climbed big rocks. We also saw the most Joshua trees and cacti in this part of the park. It was extremely hot so we hurried up to finish before we would burn. As we exited the park, we went to the Ranger Station. By filling filled out a small booklet about what we learned in the park, we became junior rangers. The park rangers checked our books, and then made us say an oath to protect nature. After that, we received junior ranger badges.  I was very sad when we left, and hoped we would come back next year. 

Michael climbing a tree

What interesting park have you visited?

Spring Orchestra Concert

Earlier this month, I had my Spring Concert. This is my second year in Camerata Strings. We practice every Saturday morning 9:00-11:30. The conductor is very nice and chooses beautiful pieces for us to play. Everyone practices their part during the week, and she helps us put it together. This time, I auditioned to be in the first violin section and made it. I prepared throughout winter break for the audition. Luckily, once you make it in, you can't get moved down to second violin unless you don't show up to practice. The first violin part was much harder and meant more practice everyday. 

My day started early in the morning because I had to get dressed in a black skirt, white shirt, and shiny black shoes. We had to leave earlier to allow time to park and find the performance hall. At 11:30 we had a dress rehearsal on stage to find our seats and practice our pieces. The conductor gives free viola classes because we don't have enough viola players. A few kids from the first violin section learned the viola and played 2 pieces on the viola and 2 pieces on the violin, so there was a lot of moving back and forth and changing seats. I was a little nervous when I got on stage, but when we finished and the audience clapped, I felt very good about our performance.

 We played 4 pieces:

• Secret Agent 440 by Carrie Lane, 
• Autumn from "The Four Seasons" by Antonio Vivadi, 
• Best Of Beethoven arranged by John O Reiley. 
• Gauntlet by Doug Sparta,  

We first played a piece call Secret Agent. In certain section of the music, there is a shhh sound that the entire orchestra had to say. I think it was written because the piece is called SECRET agent. In Autumn of the Four Seasons, there were three solo players, one from the first violin, one from the second violin, and one from the cello section. A solo is when only 1 player plays a special  part. The rest of the rest of the orchestra played numerous repetitions of the main melody. Best of Beethoven was three of Beethoven's most famous symphonies put together. The first one was from Beethoven's 5th symphony, the second one was Fur Elise, and the third one was Ode To Joy. John O'Reilly arranged all these melodies into one piece of music. Beethoven is one of my favorite composers and this was therefore my favorite piece. The last piece we played was Gauntlet. It was a fast and energetic song and whenever I heard it I thought of big, loud waves hitting the rocky shoreline.

Here is a video of our performance. I am sitting on the side, in the front this time with the first violin section. Next year, I will audition for symphony orchestra. Symphony is the next step up and includes the wind instruments in the orchestra. I hope you enjoy the performance!



Which song was your favorite and why?

Did you hear the shhh sound in Secret Agent 440?

Enjoying a Day at La Jolla, San Diego

My Mom, Dad, and siblings and I on top of a rock.

On our last day at San Diego, we went to La Jolla and it was beautiful. There were steep cliffs, and the waves hit the soft sand on the shoreline of the beach. The ocean was dark blue, and in the distance I imagined great white sharks and other top predators swimming. Up close the water was light blue with white foam and I could almost feel the nice, cool water on my fingers.When the wind blew, I felt a very refreshing breeze on my skin and the taste of the fresh salty air. 

Miriam and I

When we arrived in La Jolla, I was surprised to see so many seals and sea lions.We first went to look at the sea lions. Sea lions have hindflippers that rotate underneath which allow them to walk on land. However, they swim underwater using there front flippers. There front flippers paddle like a wing of a bird.  These sea lions were very noisy and they smelled terribly. After that, we moved to an area with seals. Seals have long claws and hairy front flippers. By wiggling there belly, they move on land. To swim they use both there hind flippers and there front flippers.Unlike the sea lions, the seals just lay on the sand, enjoying the sun, and didn't make a sound.

My dad and my siblings and I

After watching the seals, we went to look at galleries. We saw many beautiful paintings and even some photos. The photos were my favorite. One photo was of an Autumn tree that had bright red and orange leaves, and they almost looked like a fire. I also liked a photo of beach at night with a sunset. The sunset had beautiful colors mixed with all the colors of the rainbow.

A noisy sea lion

Hannah and Michael on a bridge near the seals

Sea Lions hugging and kissing on top of a rock near the water

Lazy seals enjoying the sunny day on the sand

 

Video of the noisy sea lions

Have you ever been to San Diego?

Have you ever seen a seal or a sea lion near the shore?