Thursday, 6 August 2015

Osian shares some initial thoughts on this year's conductor

We've now had our first day with the maestro him self, Paul Daniel. He is an extremely lively conductor that gets everyone in to the music.
We started in the morning and played through the pieces. At first it was a little bit hard to follow him and to follow his ideas, but one of the things he is very good at is imagery and getting us to see and feel his ideas. And by knowing what he wants it hit easier and easier to follow him. By now I have no trouble at all to follow him.
I'm starting to enjoy the pieces much much more now with him even though they're far from my style of music. As I said he gets everyone in to the music. I can't wait to play in concerts now and to see what Paul performs like in a concert.

Monday, 3 August 2015

Meg reflects on some of the Social Activities for the Nash Residency

Every year, exciting evening events are planned, one of the most recently introduced being The ‘Nash Olympics’. As always, the competitive streak in everyone was seen, with enthusiasm being shown in each event. They consisted of;
- Balloon slalom
- Three-legged race
- Egg and spoon race
- Bean bag racing
- Skipping
Now, as you can see, these may not commonly be seen as particularly athletic events. However, they do take more skill (and maybe even concentration) than meets the eye. All competitors were cheered on from the side-lines, some almost too enthusiastically! Although very tiring, everybody enjoyed!

Another new event (to me anyway), was the Treasure Hunt. This, yet again (but unexpectedly for me), involved running, although this time, slightly more voluntary. We congregated outside of the cafeteria at 9 o’clock, all eager to go.  Once gathered in our Welfare groups, in our team colours - and in some cases team paint - we sent forward a team leader. They returned to the team with the first clue, which would lead us to the next, where a member of Welfare staff would hand us another. The one clever catch however, was that the entire team had to arrive before we could leave to the next ‘check-point’. Proof of this was needed with a selfie with said member of staff. As soon as the word ‘’Go!’’ was said, everyone charged in different directions, once again, demonstrating how much the orchestra members throw themselves into everything. I really enjoyed this event, as I discovered some parts of the campus I hadn’t known were there, as well as getting to know my welfare group a lot better.
I’m looking forward to the many other events planned on the social calendar, such as the Fancy Dress and The ‘Nash Factor’, which are a lot of fun every year!

Blog diweddaraf Elain / Elain's latest Blog

Wrth i'r ymarferion olaf cyn y daith brysur nesáu, mae'r nerfau'n dechrau cynyddu ond mae pawb mor gyffrous! Heddiw fydd trydydd diwrnod y gerddorfa gyda'r arweinydd, Paul Daniel ac mae'r rhaglen wedi dod yn fyw. Mae rhoi sylw i fanylion bach bendant yn gwneud gwahaniaeth pan mae'r cyfan yn dod at ei gilydd.

Fe wnes i wirioneddol fwynhau cinio'r tiwtoriaid nos Wener. Roedd cael cyfle i wisgo'n ffurfiol a dathlu diwedd gwaith gwych y tiwtoriaid yn fendigedig!
Gyda'r darnau fwy neu lai yn barod, mae'n debyg mai fy ffefryn ydi La Peri gan Dukas oherwydd mae nifer o alawon cofiadwy o fewn y darn ac rwyf wedi cael fy nal yn eu canu fwy nag unwaith! Mae'r Rite of Spring yn swnio'n hollol wefreiddiol a bydd yn ffordd wych o orffen y cyngherddau!

Roedd ymarferion cyntaf yr ensemblau cyfansoddwyr ifanc neithiwr, ac mae'r gwaith mae'r cyfansoddwyr ifanc wedi eu gwneud dros yr wythnos ddiwethaf yn anhygoel! Mae'r darnau wedi'u manylu'n ofalus iawn ac wedi eu trefnu'n addas iawn ar gyfer y cymysgedd o offerynnau. Gwych! 

Rwy'n edrych ymlaen ar gyfer y cyngerdd cyntaf yn Llanbed nos fory gan obeithio y daw cynulleidfa dda i gefnogi'r gerddorfa a'r gwaith caled sydd wedi mynd i fewn i berffeithio'r rhaglen. Cofiwch am y cyngerdd yng Ngogledd Cymru - Bangor nos Fawrth!