thank you!!!!

Hi everyone!

I really hoped you enjoyed reading this tour blog over the past week and that you’ve been hearing some great things about the ASTA tour from your musicians in Santiago Strings!  We all learned a ton about music, enjoyed the travelling experience, and had a lot of fun from beginning to end.  I hope your students feel the same! 

If you’re just tuning in or want to revisit all of the fun things we’ve done on our tour to Tampa, this webpage isn’t going anywhere!  Please feel free to scroll back and read it all over again.  In the upcoming week or so, we’ll be compiling photos taken by students, chaperones, and staff on tour with us.  Once everything is compiled, we will send you a weblink to a digital platform where you can access and download any of these photos. We'll also post the link here on this blog and on our facebook page!

I don't think I'll ever be able to say it enough, but THANK YOU to our amazing chaperones for helping out our staff and keeping all of their students safe and happy.  Bridget Bow, Bertha De La Torre, Kwei Peng, Kelly Chu, Hans Chi, Marianna Vrahnos - all of you are ROCK STARS and we are so appreciative of your time, energy, and fantastic sense of humor.  We enjoyed getting to know each one of you and experiencing this incredible journey alongside you!

Also a HUUUGE thank you to our Santiago Strings manager, Ms. Amanda Sansonetti, who has worked tirelessly on planning this tour from A to Z for the past year.  You've done an amazing job!  Also, thank you to Mr. Chris Kroesen, who is the best operations assistant, cello wrangler, and musical Renaissance man an orchestra could ever need.  And finally, the one-and-only Mrs. Irene Kroesen, who unifies Santiago Strings with her gracious leadership, passion for education, and love of music.  None of this would be possible without you.

I guess that’s it for me for a little while.  This very blog will be used later in the year for Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra’s tour to China, taking place from June 24-July 3, 2016.  If you had something you wanted to share with us – any questions, comments, feedback, or anything regarding the ASTA tour, please feel free to e-mail me directly at BStaav@PacificSymphony.org.  

On behalf of the PSYE staff and chaperones, thank you for tuning in and we hope that your child enjoyed this unforgettable tour to the American String Teachers Association conference in Tampa, Florida!

Musically yours,

Bella Staav

HOMEWARD BOUND!

Hello from the Houston Hobby airport!  The time is now 9:30am Central Time.

Quick blog post here because we board at 10am, but need to account for everyone beforehand.  The flight from Tampa was smooth and quick.  We arrived half an hour earlier to Dallas than scheduled and our outgoing flight to LAX is right on time.  The students are in good spirits and are now wandering this small airport with their buddies to grab lunch for the plane ride HOME!

We are scheduled to land in LAX at 12:30pm.  We will go directly to baggage claim and oversize baggage for cellos.  Charter buses will meet us outside to take us to the Pacific Symphony office.  We will leave LAX on buses around 12:45pm and will arrive at the office between 2pm to 2:30pm.  Parents, here are some things for you to know:

•           You must pick up your child from the Symphony office.  DO NOT meet us at LAX to take your child.  You must come to the office.  Here is the address: 3631 S. Harbor Blvd. in Santa Ana, CA 92704. 
•           If you are cello parents, bring your child’s regular cello case.  Their cellos are currently in our heavy-duty travel cases and we’ll need to transfer them to their regular cases for YOUR ride home.
•           Before you leave the office after reuniting with your child, make sure that you and your child checks out with their chaperone.  We as staff are responsible for your children at all times and we must know that s/he is safe and happily on their way home with their parents.

That’s it for now.  We can't wait to see you soon!!

-          Bella 

THE LAST NIGHT IN TAMPA

The time is now 11:38pm EST and all the students and chaperones have gone to sleep.  This is our last night in Tampa.  In just a few hours – at 4:15am – all of us are going to be meeting in the hotel lobby for a grab-and-go breakfast before getting on our charter buses to the airport.

As you saw in my last post, we decided to sit out from attending the Winners Concert at the Convention Center this afternoon to seize the two-hour opportunity to recharge and reorganize ourselves in time for dinner.  This was a wise last-minute change that was appreciated by students and chaperones/staff alike.  We had a GREAT time at dinner, which was held in a small ballroom in our hotel that had a large outdoor patio that looked over the river below it.  The students enjoyed a pizza buffet as the sun began to set.  It was beautiful.  The two hours of rest time really made a difference because everyone was all over the place!  Card games were played, arm-wrestling happened, all while enjoying the company of our good friends in Santiago Strings.  

After everyone finished their pizza, Mrs. Kroesen led us in two fun games – first, instrument recognition and then music trivia.  These two games have been in the Kroesen family for years, and if you know anything about the Kroesens, they take their music (and music education) very seriously and very enthusiastically!  Mrs. Kroesen split up the ensemble into four teams which were named Bach, Mozart, Handel, and Chopin (classical composers, appropriately).  For the hour and a half of game time, the students laughed endlessly!  Everyone in the room was having a great time watching the competition amongst the teams play out, poking fun at each other, learning about music, and most importantly, making memories to last a lifetime. 

This was the perfect way to wrap up this incredible tour.  Mrs. Kroesen’s warmth in engaging every student, her love of music education, and her lighthearted manner about her unites our Santiago Strings family.  Though all of us feel a little sad that this fun experience is coming to a close, I believe that we are all walking away as better friends, better musicians, and better people. 

Signing off for the night.  Expect a quick blog post from me during our layover in Houston and a couple posts on our facebook page.  I look forward to seeing you TOMORROW at the Pacific Symphony office.  Assuming all of our flights are on time, our buses are expected to arrive in Santa Ana at approx. 2pm PST.

-         -  Bella

afternoon of celebration 

Hello from the hotel again!  The time is now 5:04pm EST. 

Santiago Strings blew the ASTA adjudicators away with their incredible performance earlier at 9am this morning.  Mrs. Kroesen was over the moon and the musicians were praised highly by the three adjudicators, who provided us lots of written comments that Mrs. Kroesen will share when we return to Orange County.  Santiago Strings even received a 2-foot trophy (which will be carted back to LAX in my suitcase) and after our performance, we immediately went across the hallway to have a 45-minute clinic with a wonderful violist and string educator high in the ranks at ASTA.  Here are some photos from this exciting morning:

After a quick stop at the hotel to change out of our concert black attire, we enjoyed a box lunch back at the convention center, where energies were high and students excitedly giggling and chatting.  The hard part is over!  After lunch, we took a 15-minute walk to the Florida Aquarium, where we spent a couple hours to see the fun exhibits, meet (and touch) some sea animals, and – most importantly – peruse the gift shop!

Our group gathered at 3:15pm EST to walk back to the convention center to follow our regularly-scheduled itinerary of seeing the ASTA Winners Concert at 4pm.  However, we noticed that energies were fading.  We all had to wake up early this morning and will need to be up even earlier tomorrow morning.  Plus, the concentration, energy, and gusto it took to produce this morning’s performance would take a lot out of any musician, well-rested or not. So, we decided to give the kids a little break in lieu of attending the performance and enjoy free time at the hotel until dinner time at 5:45pm (in half an hour).  We gave them this time to pack, rest, sleep, or spend time with their roommates. 

They will need their energy and playfulness for our dinner, which will be a pizza buffet in a ballroom at our hotel.  It will just be our group plus any accompanying parents joining the tour.  We plan to eat and then play some fun interactive games led by Mrs. Kroesen until about 8:30pm.  We have a very early morning tomorrow, and we want to make sure to end our trip on a sweet note without tiring the kids out.  This will also allow them an hour or so to pack in the evening before getting ready for bed.

That’s it for now.  I hope you like the photos.  Again, we’ll be compiling all photos taken and submitted by students, chaperones, and staff on this trip – including the ASTA staff who recorded and photographed our concert this morning. 

- Bella

SHOW TIME!

Good morning from the Warm-Up room at the Tampa Convention Center.  The time is 7:45am EST and we’re just beginning to pile into the warm-up room in preparation for our 9am concert.

Shout-out to our double bass section, who have all been extremely helpful and flexible in allowing us to acquire their rented instruments.  They look and sound great!

The group had an early morning this morning.  We just finished with breakfast (dressed in our concert black attire), distributed silver neckties, and we’re now ready to warm up.  We had to carry all of our instruments over at 6:30am from the hotel this morning, but the hotel staff has been very accommodating in carting our hefty cellos in their cases over via bellhop carts.  This made everyone’s lives easier and most importantly, preserved our cellists’ energies for when it’s really needed during the performance. 

At this moment, I hear the orchestra tuning with their concert A.  T-1 hour until concert time.  Everyone looks their best, sounds their best, and are ready to make their ASTA debut.  Thank you to all chaperones, parents, music teachers, and friends of Pacific Symphony who have gotten us to this point.  We’re now at the top of our game and Mrs. Kroesen is doing an excellent job at keeping everyone extremely focused.  We are ready.

I look forward to posting about our performance as soon as I can.  Check our facebook page for updates: www.facebook.com/PSYEnsembles.

Musically yours - Bella

WIND DOWN OF DAY 2

Hello from the hotel!  The time is now 12:04am EST.

My update is going be brief because sleep is quickly descending upon me.  The orchestra had a great time at Busch Gardens!  Lots of photos were taken, lots of different animals were seen, and hopefully lots of fun memories made. 

Logistically, today was phenomenal.  The buses got us to and from the Busch Gardens right on time.  After stopping by the hotel briefly, we got changed in our loveliest attire to attend the Jeremy Kittel concert at 8pm EST. 

This concert was incredible and featured Jeremy on violin and his talented band made up of a cellist, guitarist, mandolin player, and hammer dulcimer player.  These guys rocked!  They played without sheet music and masterfully blended all genres of fiddling (classical, jazz, improvisation, Celtic, pop, bluegrass, and much more!).  I don’t have to explain it, see this video below.  This clip shows their encore number, where they invited audience members and legendary ASTA violinists to come onstage and jam with them:

Tomorrow morning at 9am, Santiago Strings will fulfill the long-awaited and highly anticipated opportunity of taking the stage for the audience members, attendees, and adjudicators of the ASTA conference.  This is the pinnacle moment of this tour, which begins with a 6:30am call time in the hotel lobby, breakfast, and an hour of dress rehearsal time.  It's amazing to think that almost a year ago, this performance was a dream.  In merely hours, it'll be a reality.  Here we go…!

Before signing off, I just wanted to give a shout-out and huge congratulations to the students, parents, and music director of University High School, whose orchestra won FIRST PLACE in ASTA’s competition portion of the National Orchestra Festival.  This is an amazing and well-deserved accomplishment that truly shows the talent of Orange County’s young musicians and celebrates the great school music programs (and even greater teachers) behind them.  Congratulations, Grace Lee and Uni High!

Good night - Bella

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PLAY TIME! (NOT just THE MUSIC KIND)

Hello from Busch Gardens!  The time is now 3:07pm EST.

The orchestra had a great time at the exhibit hall and lots of fun things were played and acquired.  Parents, expect to see lots of free pencils lying around when your students come home! 

We enjoyed lunch at the Convention Center at noon and saw some PSYE friends from the University High School orchestra.  After the excitement from the morning, the exhibit hall, and lunch, the students’ energy just sort of… crashed.  We’re still trying to adjust to our busy schedule with the time difference, so lots of yawns and table-side naps were seen after lunch and in the lobby of the hotel once we returned to get ready for Busch Gardens.

The buses arrived to pick us up at the hotel right when we were having a PSSS group check-in – perfect timing.  Busch Garden tickets and meal vouchers were distributed and we headed straight for the buses at 1:15pm. As we drove through Tampa, the bus was a bit quiet.  Students were napping, some resting quietly, some on their phone.

But then, about 25 minutes into the drive, we turn a corner to see this HUUUUGE towering roller coaster.  As of lightning struck the bus and the re-energized every weary passenger, the fatigue melted away into rumbling chatter, giggles, and shouts.  Miraculously, no one was tired anymore.

The 68 of us piled off of our two charter buses, hopping and skipping with eagerness to bolt through the front gates of the park.  Since it’s mid-day Friday, the park is fairly empty and we funneled our way through the security check rather quickly.  That was about an hour ago and the orchestra is off with their buddies, dispersed amongst the park and enjoying this beautiful day!  

If you’re not familiar with Busch Gardens, I could describe it as a half theme park, half zoo.  It’s like Knott’s Berry Farm meets the San Diego Zoo.  It’s huge and since we’re only here for a total of 3.5 hours, the students are strategically rushing to hit every corner of the park and every highlight.  Many of them have good training in this thanks to Disneyland :-)

Below are some photos of the park taken by our awesome chaperones.  Photos of students will be coming soon.  Also, do know that any photos I post this weekend are highlights taken by a combination of staff/chaperone iPhones.  After the conclusion of the tour, we’ll compile all of the photos from this weekend and send out a link so you could see ALL OF THEM!

That’s it for now.  I’ll post again this evening after we send the students to bed (around 11pm EST).  We leave Busch Gardens at about 5:45 EST, head to the hotel, and then have about an hour to get ready to go see the Jeremy Kittel concert at 8pm EST.  If you’re not familiar with Mr. Kittel, I highly recommend checking out his website and YouTube videos.  He’s an amazing musician who really knows how to rock out on the violin: http://jeremykittel.com/

-         -  Bella

FIRST MORNING IN TAMPA

Hello from the Tampa Convention Center!

The time is now 11:10am EST and we’re diving into the world of string – instruments, pedagogy, technique, repertoire, you name it!

This morning, we woke up bright and early to meet in our hotel lobby at 7:30am.  After we checked in as a group for the morning, we took a short 5-minute walk from our hotel patio to the entrance of the convention center.  The weather is just perfect and as you can see from the photos below, our walk is right along the gorgeous marina. 

We ate breakfast at the convention center and got some food in our bellies to get ready for a morning of learning.  At 9:30am, we all went to see a different ASTA conference session – the students chose to attend 1 of 4 options:

-         1)  Demystifying the Right Arm Technique for Violinists and Violists: A Systematic, Hands-on                    Approach to Greater Artistry and Freedom

-         2) The High Road of Cello Playing: A Guide for Teachers, Students, and Cellists of all Levels Seeking to Improve Technical Skills, Achieve Agility, Enjoy Instrumental Freedom, Prevent Professional Injury and Develop Natural Abilities for Deeper Artistic Expression

-          3) Get in the Groove – how to improvise and use percussive devises in popular music, presented by Joe Deninzon on the electric violin

-         4)  Eclectic Styles Multi-Level Master Class with violinist Jeremy Kittel.  We’re going to see his concert tonight!

We’ve all been learning a lot and also getting to meet and learn from some of the best string educators and presenters in the country.  We’ve also been running into other middle school and high school students participating in the National Orchestra Festival this weekend, including our friends from University High School!  Here is the list of all participating youth orchestras, which I took from the National Orchestra Festival’s printed program:

Now, our students have about an hour to peruse the exhibit hall, which presents venders from all different string organizations, instrument makers, college music conservatories, and music publishers/distributors.  Our students, chaperones, and staff are all having a great time collecting some giveaway trinkets, looking through sheet music, and trying out fancy new instruments (including some electric string instruments!) 

At noon, we’re headed to lunch next door to the exhibit hall.  Then, we’re making a quick stop back at the hotel before heading off on charter buses for a fun afternoon at Busch Gardens!  Afterwards, we’re going to see Jeremy Kittel in concert and then bed time.  We’re all still adjusting to the time change and recovering from yesterday’s travel day, so some students are a bit weary.  But we’re hoping to soak up as much knowledge and as much fun as we can in our 3 more days of ASTA tour!

I’ll try to blog again from Busch Gardens, but I may not be able to take my laptop through park security.  You’ll definitely hear from me later tonight though.  Keep checking our facebook page for quick updates: www.facebook.com/PSYEnsembles.  

Talk soon - Bella

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