For the record, as the conductor of the piece, I can assure you that the music was performed from memory unlike what a few people are suggesting (there were also hundreds in the audience). The players did an amazing job and I was so impressed by their work and dedication to the project. One thing also to their credit is that many of the movement ideas and configurations were a result of their creativity during the rehearsal process. It was such a rewarding experience. Jason William Ethridge
My daughter is one of the performers and I was at the concert to cheer her on. This is definitely a live performance!! (and it was even more amazing actually being there to see it)
This was absolutely fantastic! I loved every bit of it. The choreography is brilliant. The students in the vision of this project is extraordinary and is an example for the movement that exists in all the music that we play. All orchestra conductors should see this video as an example of the reason why music has to be alive with movement. We can't just sit on our butts and play the music on a music stand congratulations University of Maryland
We performed this piece seated about a month before, using four or five one-hour sessions, and then had about 8 three-hour sessions over the following month or so before performing it like this. We also had an open rehearsal a week before for Maryland Day.
That was cosmic creativity and unforgetable playing. I will never hear this piece again without thinking of the staged coreography of these musicians! Simply superb! Thank you so much!!!
The original PAF set the classical music world on its ear. This will do the same for its eye. Fantastic in conception and execution, these young musicians are part of ground-breaking art. Simply fabulous. Bravo to all!
So beautiful and vibrant. Bravo! To see the entire orchestra fully engaged, as all music demands, is a rare and moving thing to behold. And being an alum of U of MD music just put the whole experience over the top. I'm so proud of you all.
From a dream, to a dance, and back to the dream.This is beautiful, and imaginative, and very well-played. Yes, good musicians play in tune and in time and in the moment. Congratulations to all involved. I will never hear this piece the same way again.
It incorporates what I do in my mind when I watch a traditional symphony. I imagine movement. This group of young people have done an inspiring work and I hope it catches on. Well done!
Wow. Taking the visual component of marching or drum corp and adding it to the beauty of a symphonic group...brilliant. Beautifully played and wonderfully choreographed.
The genius of the choreography is that the choreographer knew how & when to keep certain instrument sections together, moving together or in the same areas of the stage moving together but not mixed with contrasting/clashing sections. The acoustics of the room took care of the rest for the microphones, which were probably professionally placed. As a string player (& w/ headphones) , I can tell where they (violins 1&2, violas, cellos, or basses) are on the stage without even watching the video.
An amazing performance and so beautifully performed. What a unique concept with the movement of the orchestra actually performing the story of what they were playing about. I was absolutely WOWED!
I saw this and I also can say that it was played live. The orchestra was, for lack of a better term, absolutely AWESOME! My son played in the Mahler, which was later and I don't think is on TH-cam, but wasn't in this part of the concert mainly because he plays low brass. But, it was my favorite part of the evening without a doubt. I wish my husband could have been there to see it live.
@Sympho111 The music was played and recorded live-in-concert. Wonderful performance by the UMSO, and this is yet another example of the incredible culture of collaboration present at the University of Maryland and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
Bravo! What a great idea, Jim! I love it. It really teaches the art of chamber music and the connection of movement and music. Congratulations on a really outstanding achievement and great lesson for all the students! Beautiful playing, ensemble and conception.
Wow! I wish I'd gotten to play the flute solo this way! UM should do this at least once every four years. I wish I'd known ahead of time - I would have brought my flute students to see it! It's the Year of the Faun, and this is the Ultimate Faun!
It surely did improve the music, maybe purely because the performers had to memorize the score. They knew their own parts and the parts of their colleagues better, meaning they were more able to communicate across the stage through their movements and playing. Also, the movement across the stage changed the timbres and acoustics of the music between different sections. A great performance!
Thank you for your interest! I am one of the violinists in this video and I can assure you that the audio that you are hearing is from the live performance. We have a fantastic recording engineer at the Clarice Smith Center (credited in the description) and a great set of hanging overhead mics and other recording gear. You can see the mic cables in the wide shots if you watch in high enough quality. Hopefully this helps!
Very impressive, simply to play the work from memory. The visual animation of the ensemble is a fresh and interesting idea. I would be interested to see it in different garb, perhaps all black, or something uniform; or perhaps in colors that delineate the sections of the orchestra. Such visual coordination would blend well with the varied coordination of gesture, as with the beautiful releasing of bow strokes. Remarkable! Congratulations to these wonderful young musicians!
I don't know how people can be so skeptical of this. How do you think a marching band or drum corps member is able to play an instrument beautifully and move at the same time? It takes body control and musicianship. You think that just because they're walking around that they just simply cannot have a good tone? Sounds pretty shallow to me.
Perhaps try listening with headphones. You can hear better how the sound is moving with the bodies as well as off the bodies and in various directions on the stage. Perhaps the superior acoustic quality of the venue is also being overlooked. The most stark example that this is in fact life is at the violin solo at 8:21.
That's a very good point, about memorization. Always helps. I would think that the relocation of sections and parts does not make things any easier in a very tricky piece. Specifically when it comes to connecting phrases. My fave spot choreography wise is the dialogue between the cellos and woodwinds I believe it is figure 3, and the "greek chorus" set up. Here I thought it was quite effective.
On May 2nd and May 4th the University Maryland will be presenting its latest Movement and Music project featuring Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring: www.music.umd.edu/news/post/1195
I was just curious about the way it was recorded. There are no mikes or pick-ups visible, the sound is really nicely balanced - although, amazingly enough, the instruments do not sound moving in the same direction in the audio as in the video and the minor irregularities (some of the woodwind entries etc) sound to be remarkably similar in both rehearsal and performance. However, even if my ears fail me in this case, I am still curious about the technology.
Wonderful. I've always felt that a musicians' motions amount to choreography, and that those who insist that it is only showmanship and a distraction from the music, are missing a major part of the interpretation. This performance hits the proverbial nail on its head. Why should the dancer and the musician be two different bodies? Surely not just because each discipline is so demanding a specialization?
@ArtsLaureate - I don't understand why was you comment marked as spam. I do not say it was not recorded live-in-concert, I was just wondering - was it recorded at the very performance we see on this video?
Excellent work - I personally would have wanted just a little more imagery in the recording mix left to right - but perhaps the goal in this mix was to reduce the amount of change by location. Regardless, an excellent recording. I'm hoping someone can tell me the significance of the formation at 4:09 -possibly some reference to some other work of art or reference to Debussy? I commend each performer!! You have transcended your music and combined art forms for a more meaningful performance!
Very well done. I appreciate the amazing effore that went in to pull something like this off. Well coordinated and surprisingly well played given the challenges. I do have a question though - what is the artistic point? Surely it will go viral, it is such a unique idea, but does the choreography enhance the music? Is the choreography itself enhanced because the musicians are involved? Do we get a better message of what the composer had to say?
Hi fergcurrie, Reviews from the Washington Post and arts blogger Greg Sandow verify the truth: the video you're watching and sounds you're hearing are from the live performance. To read these reviews, please refer to the description under the video.
is everyone individually mic'd up? Sounds like a studio recording with everyone sitting still to me... not sure how a flute or clarinet melody can stay the same tone and dynamic in my ear while they are wondering all over the stage?
Interesting idea and nicely executed, but...how come it says nowhere that the music was pre-recorded? In that context "playing for memory" has a bit different meaning.
The musical performance is outstanding, but I'm not convinced by the choreography in street dress. Neither Debussy nor Mallarmé nor Nijinsky would have treated this score in the manner of a football half-time show, and such a comparison, I'm afraid, is inevitable.
For the record, as the conductor of the piece, I can assure you that the music was performed from memory unlike what a few people are suggesting (there were also hundreds in the audience). The players did an amazing job and I was so impressed by their work and dedication to the project. One thing also to their credit is that many of the movement ideas and configurations were a result of their creativity during the rehearsal process. It was such a rewarding experience.
Jason William Ethridge
Great piece. Are you related to the Etheridge (possibly Jeff) who was the sax instructor at MD years ago?
Bravo, Jason and ALL!! Such a beautiful performance!!
My daughter is one of the performers and I was at the concert to cheer her on. This is definitely a live performance!! (and it was even more amazing actually being there to see it)
I am also a performer in this group and yes, the music is live! We are flattered by your doubts of its authenticity. We worked really hard. :)
This was absolutely fantastic! I loved every bit of it. The choreography is brilliant. The students in the vision of this project is extraordinary and is an example for the movement that exists in all the music that we play. All orchestra conductors should see this video as an example of the reason why music has to be alive with movement. We can't just sit on our butts and play the music on a music stand congratulations University of Maryland
Hi Sympho111,
The music was not pre-recorded. This was, in fact, performed from memory.
We performed this piece seated about a month before, using four or five one-hour sessions, and then had about 8 three-hour sessions over the following month or so before performing it like this. We also had an open rehearsal a week before for Maryland Day.
KUDOS!!!! This is what I dreamed of as a performer who studies the dance yet most of the time was spent with a string instrument under my neck.
That was cosmic creativity and unforgetable playing. I will never hear this piece again without thinking of the staged coreography of these musicians! Simply superb! Thank you so much!!!
The original PAF set the classical music world on its ear. This will do the same for its eye. Fantastic in conception and execution, these young musicians are part of ground-breaking art. Simply fabulous. Bravo to all!
So beautiful and vibrant. Bravo! To see the entire orchestra fully engaged, as all music demands, is a rare and moving thing to behold. And being an alum of U of MD music just put the whole experience over the top. I'm so proud of you all.
From a dream, to a dance, and back to the dream.This is beautiful, and imaginative, and very well-played. Yes, good musicians play in tune and in time and in the moment.
Congratulations to all involved. I will never hear this piece the same way again.
It incorporates what I do in my mind when I watch a traditional symphony. I imagine movement. This group of young people have done an inspiring work and I hope it catches on. Well done!
OMG! That is simply brilliant and the most astounding performance I've ever seen from any symphony orchestra! BRAVO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow. Taking the visual component of marching or drum corp and adding it to the beauty of a symphonic group...brilliant. Beautifully played and wonderfully choreographed.
Utterly brilliant. Thank you for seeing this and making this happen.
The genius of the choreography is that the choreographer knew how & when to keep certain instrument sections together, moving together or in the same areas of the stage moving together but not mixed with contrasting/clashing sections. The acoustics of the room took care of the rest for the microphones, which were probably professionally placed. As a string player (& w/ headphones) , I can tell where they (violins 1&2, violas, cellos, or basses) are on the stage without even watching the video.
An amazing performance and so beautifully performed. What a unique concept with the movement of the orchestra actually performing the story of what they were playing about. I was absolutely WOWED!
I don't post often but WOW! The whole ensemble is amazing. Amazing horn and flute. This is absolutely spectacular choreography as well.
Bravissimi.....musica e movimento...bellissima e meravigliosa....
Simply beautiful!!! is amazing the communication of the orchestra members...they listen carefully they do they art...everything is great!
One Of My Favorite Composers And Work...Outstanding Performance Soundscapings !...*****Cosmic Stars !...
I can verify that Jason kicked some serious butt, and is a force to be reckoned with.
Congratulations to all involved REALLY enjoyed this interpretation, and from memory too - awesome!
I saw this and I also can say that it was played live. The orchestra was, for lack of a better term, absolutely AWESOME! My son played in the Mahler, which was later and I don't think is on TH-cam, but wasn't in this part of the concert mainly because he plays low brass. But, it was my favorite part of the evening without a doubt. I wish my husband could have been there to see it live.
This was performed with the passion that Debussy had when he composed the piece! Outstanding!!!!!
beautiful...beautiful....thank you..
Wonderful playing and performance by this young players, I liked it a lot.
Just Wow! This is amazing!
SO,SO,SO...BEEEAUTIFULL!!! CONGRATULATION FROM SPAIN.
congratulations to all artists.
really awesome !
I totally want to do this. Great idea! Wonderful execution!
@Sympho111 The music was played and recorded live-in-concert. Wonderful performance by the UMSO, and this is yet another example of the incredible culture of collaboration present at the University of Maryland and the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center.
Magic concept - thanks !
An an inspired idea and done brilliantly. Now I'm wanting to see & hear Mahler's fifth performed like this.
So beautiful, and so musical! Congratulations!!
Great question! In the video, you can see the cables for the hanging mics...
Beautifully conceived and performed!
Bravo! What a great idea, Jim! I love it. It really teaches the art of chamber music and the connection of movement and music. Congratulations on a really outstanding achievement and great lesson for all the students! Beautiful playing, ensemble and conception.
This is awesome! Congratulations to everyone that performed in this!
Wow! I wish I'd gotten to play the flute solo this way! UM should do this at least once every four years. I wish I'd known ahead of time - I would have brought my flute students to see it! It's the Year of the Faun, and this is the Ultimate Faun!
Brilliant!
It surely did improve the music, maybe purely because the performers had to memorize the score. They knew their own parts and the parts of their colleagues better, meaning they were more able to communicate across the stage through their movements and playing. Also, the movement across the stage changed the timbres and acoustics of the music between different sections. A great performance!
Thank you for your interest! I am one of the violinists in this video and I can assure you that the audio that you are hearing is from the live performance. We have a fantastic recording engineer at the Clarice Smith Center (credited in the description) and a great set of hanging overhead mics and other recording gear. You can see the mic cables in the wide shots if you watch in high enough quality.
Hopefully this helps!
Bravissimo!!
Truly amazing. Very moving. Powerful.
Totally amazing
incredible, performance.
AWESOME !!!!! Fantastic!!!!!!
I was there. This was awesome!
Very impressive, simply to play the work from memory. The visual animation of the ensemble is a fresh and interesting idea. I would be interested to see it in different garb, perhaps all black, or something uniform; or perhaps in colors that delineate the sections of the orchestra. Such visual coordination would blend well with the varied coordination of gesture, as with the beautiful releasing of bow strokes. Remarkable! Congratulations to these wonderful young musicians!
I don't know how people can be so skeptical of this. How do you think a marching band or drum corps member is able to play an instrument beautifully and move at the same time? It takes body control and musicianship. You think that just because they're walking around that they just simply cannot have a good tone? Sounds pretty shallow to me.
Love it. Thank you.
Thank you all! Bravo!!!
Amazing. Who wants to start a dancing orchestra!? I'm all in!
excellent performance!!i d love to have been there!!!
fabulous!!!!
wow! impressive!!! that's so awesome!
Really cool!
Awesome! Very Dalcrozian.
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! :-))
Maravilhoso!!Amei!
Perhaps try listening with headphones. You can hear better how the sound is moving with the bodies as well as off the bodies and in various directions on the stage. Perhaps the superior acoustic quality of the venue is also being overlooked. The most stark example that this is in fact life is at the violin solo at 8:21.
This is really kewl! Great idea and executed beautifully, so much for a conductor :p
Yeah, he seemed kind of superfluous haha
If only he had not conducted at the end, it was really distracting from the whole concept and performance of the students.
That's a very good point, about memorization. Always helps.
I would think that the relocation of sections and parts does not make things any easier in a very tricky piece. Specifically when it comes to connecting phrases.
My fave spot choreography wise is the dialogue between the cellos and woodwinds I believe it is figure 3, and the "greek chorus" set up. Here I thought it was quite effective.
Beautiful...it solves the problem in our visual age of having black clad players just sitting around and playing.
I like the guy spinning his bass at 6:50!
CONGRATULATIONS for this very creative, touching and seducing performance!
Bravi Tutti!
Is this the new UMD marching band? :) Just Kidding. This is totally awesome. Congrats on blowing up the classical music world!
Can someone answer me - how many rehearsal hours went into this?
@debbiemail1 yes, and Gustav Holst's "The Planets"! :-)
On May 2nd and May 4th the University Maryland will be presenting its latest Movement and Music project featuring Aaron Copland's Appalachian Spring: www.music.umd.edu/news/post/1195
Que massa....
I was just curious about the way it was recorded. There are no mikes or pick-ups visible, the sound is really nicely balanced - although, amazingly enough, the instruments do not sound moving in the same direction in the audio as in the video and the minor irregularities (some of the woodwind entries etc) sound to be remarkably similar in both rehearsal and performance. However, even if my ears fail me in this case, I am still curious about the technology.
Wonderful. I've always felt that a musicians' motions amount to choreography, and that those who insist that it is only showmanship and a distraction from the music, are missing a major part of the interpretation. This performance hits the proverbial nail on its head. Why should the dancer and the musician be two different bodies? Surely not just because each discipline is so demanding a specialization?
Beautiful. Not only well played, but from memory and choreographed?? I hope my orchestra's management doesn't see this!! :) Next up - Rite of Spring!
@ArtsLaureate - I don't understand why was you comment marked as spam. I do not say it was not recorded live-in-concert, I was just wondering - was it recorded at the very performance we see on this video?
I'm so bummed I had to graduate before all this this year!!!
it wasn't meant to be street clothes. it was meant to be earth tones, like the forest.
we did, it might not show in the video
WOOOOOOW!!! SUPER COOL!
Wow, awesome and inspiring! Now do Mahler's 8th... :D
Excellent work - I personally would have wanted just a little more imagery in the recording mix left to right - but perhaps the goal in this mix was to reduce the amount of change by location. Regardless, an excellent recording.
I'm hoping someone can tell me the significance of the formation at 4:09 -possibly some reference to some other work of art or reference to Debussy?
I commend each performer!! You have transcended your music and combined art forms for a more meaningful performance!
Very well done. I appreciate the amazing effore that went in to pull something like this off. Well coordinated and surprisingly well played given the challenges.
I do have a question though - what is the artistic point? Surely it will go viral, it is such a unique idea, but does the choreography enhance the music? Is the choreography itself enhanced because the musicians are involved? Do we get a better message of what the composer had to say?
Hi fergcurrie,
Reviews from the Washington Post and arts blogger Greg Sandow verify the truth: the video you're watching and sounds you're hearing are from the live performance. To read these reviews, please refer to the description under the video.
STOP COUGHING OHMYGOODNESS. WONDERFUL PERFORMANCE!
What the fuck? Why didn't they get a standing ovation??
In that case I would be really interested to learn about how you recorded the audio track that is being presented here.
Is this the first step towards the UMD Marching Orchestra? :)
Thanks. (But now I want to see an orchestra dance with a grand piano).
is everyone individually mic'd up? Sounds like a studio recording with everyone sitting still to me... not sure how a flute or clarinet melody can stay the same tone and dynamic in my ear while they are wondering all over the stage?
Hi Kassouga5, we'd love to connect with you about future performances. For further info, please feel free to email me at music-marekting@umd.edu
HAha I want to see that!! :)
Yeah Gozde!! @10:42
Interesting idea and nicely executed, but...how come it says nowhere that the music was pre-recorded? In that context "playing for memory" has a bit different meaning.
I hope you guys got paid.
beautifull who says instrumentalist cant memorize music
Wow, well I hope you got free pizza and booze at least. ;)
no haha we are students
The musical performance is outstanding, but I'm not convinced by the choreography in street dress. Neither Debussy nor Mallarmé nor Nijinsky would have treated this score in the manner of a football half-time show, and such a comparison, I'm afraid, is inevitable.