Backstage at the RSO                               

by Jack Truskowski

November 19, 2011 Concert

The Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra concert on Saturday, November 19th featured youth musician Madeleine Bouissou, who is a junior at Ridgefield High School.  Madeleine was invited by RSO Music Director, Gerald Steichen, to be a soloist at Saturday's concert.
Madi has been playing the cello since she was nine years old, and the cello was the first instrument that she ever played.  Despite coming from a family that did not play music, she quickly fell in love with the cello.  She was accepted into the Pre-college Program at the Juilliard School of Music when she was in 8th grade and continues to study in that Program.  Every Saturday she goes to Juilliard for a full day that includes private lessons, chamber music, pre-college orchestra, master classes, music theory and ear training.  Students from all over the world audition for this program.  Along with the Juilliard program, Madeleine also attends and plays at concerts on the weekends.
In addition to practicing 2-3 hours every day after school, Madi is also a very busy student at Ridgefield High School.  She has been taking extra classes each year becasue she hopes to graduate from RHS in June 2012, which is one year early.  Madi would like to study at Juilliard in college.  Every summer, Madi attends numerous music festivals and camps to continue her study of music and the cello.  These include the summer program at Bowdoin, the International Music Festival, adn the Meadowmount School of Music.

October 1, 2011 Concert

Before the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra’s October 1st concert, I had the privilege of speaking to the featured soloist and concertmaster, Jorge Avila, about the duties of the concertmaster. Mr. Avila has been the concertmaster of the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra for 3 seasons, after being selected during a blind audition process.  During a blind audition, the applicants stand behind a curtain, so that the judges can hear the applicants without seeing them, to ensure that the audition is fair. However, in some cases the conductor of an orchestra can also appoint the concertmaster. The concertmaster does not have to re-audition every year, and as long as he/she does a good job, he/she can be concertmaster for essentially as long as they want. The primary job of the concertmaster is to help the conductor with all string-related issues, such as stylistic elements.  Mr. Avila also leads the strings during rehearsals and the concert.  Mr. Avila’s practice schedule varies daily, but he says that he typically practices anywhere between one and four hours, since he is so busy with rehearsals and other music-related activities.

Jack Truskowski is a member of the WCYO Symphony Orchestra.  Jack plays the oboe, English horn and saxophone.  He is a junior at Ridgefield High School.