dorkestra

Hum and I spent last Saturday at my oldest brother, Andrew's house.  Andrew found this house for sale last year and, what!?  Yes.  It has a pipe organ in it.  We're not sure if he bought the house because really liked it or if he just wanted a pipe organ.  Also?  My brother is an amazing arranger.  He writes choral music and his brain does this weird thing where he can hear multiple harmonies at once, think in multiple instruments, cleffs, voicings, and somehow make it all come together in perfect harmony.  If you read between the lines of what I just said then you understand what I'm really trying to say is, my brother is one smart cookie.

Because my oldest brother, Andrew, and my next oldest brother, Stuart, like each other so much, they've been wanting to collaborate for quite some time.  Andrew has been dreaming about composing some orchestra meets rock band arrangements of Fictionist songs and last weekend (oh, you know what I'm about to say) those dreams became a reality.

We filed in strings, brass, winds, and Fictionist members into his music room and tried his arrangements.  At one point the orchestra was playing a melody while Jacob (on trumpet) and Hum (on electric) were soloing over it, and I'm not going to lie, I got a little teary.  Then there was the other moment when Stuart was Chris Cornell screaming over the string section into the mic.  That was memorable too.  I have a weakness for beautifully strange music and these arrangements were just that.

This rehearsal was a trial and error practice to see if the whole thing was a good idea or a bad idea.  I'm not sure what will happen next or what the timeline is like, but I can tell you I loved it, I want a lot more of it, and I think it was a really, really good idea.  Also, it was fun to play my flute that has been (sorry mom...) collecting a lot of dust lately.

>> Teenage flashback: I don't know about your high school, but playing in the orchestra at East High was so not a cool thing to do.  But because I'm a nerd I did play in my high school orchestra.  A few friend and I even bought matching pink shirts and printed "dorkestra"on the front in our graphics class  that we then wore around school with ironic pride. ("No, I do not own a pair of lucky jeans... but look at this cool pink tshirt I have... eh? eh?").
>> Do you remember how much I love the Elbow + Abbey Road orchestra youtube video?  (A lot)  I'm biased... but in my opinion, Saturday was even cooler.
>> Speaking of beautiful arrangements... are there any Eric Whitacre fans out there?  I love this song, and this one, and this one.

>> PROVO-ITES!  Come see me THIS WEEKEND!  I'll be doing live portraits while supporting my favorite Utah Valley craft fair - the Bijou Market. (Pssst... bring a few photos to leave with me while you shop)

>> If you can't make it to the Bijou Market but you're hoping to order a portrait for the holidays, don't worry!  I'll start an online batch in a week or two.  Make sure you join this email list so you can be first in line.  Also, join me on instagram (@ladyhue) for a giveaway.