In January, I joined the Norwegian Soloists’ Choir for their annual seminar and had the chance to test the piece I’ve written for them. Over two sessions—one on Wednesday afternoon and one on Thursday morning—we worked our way through the piece. I even managed to rewrite part of it by the second day. It was a very satisfied composer who went home!
When writing for larger ensembles, the rehearsal situation is tight, and as a composer, it’s kind of a quick in and out. At the same time, there are so many musicians that it’s hard to get to know more than a few. This was such a rewarding project, having the time we needed to test the piece AND spend time with the musicians over an extended period. I’m still going to do some rewriting. There are some minor adjustments in the final section—which was definitely the most polished—and quite a lot to work on in the first part. But I feel confident that all the elements are there; I just need to structure and refine them a bit more.
Now the concert date is set – June 14th in Aulaen!
