Orange County Artists.
OCA.
THE PICTURE.
An elite chamber orchestra composed of musicians from IYCA where members get paid to perform in “gigs” with other professionals. Membership is based on auditions.
THE GOALS.
What’s in it for the students? There are two primary goals with this elite orchestra.
One. To offer members in OCA an opportunity to perform and get paid for gigs in Orange County. I define gigs as weddings and corporate functions. Details below.
Two. OCA is a recording orchestra and spends a portion of its time in the recording studio (Alan Audio Works). What will it record? Beginning in 2009-2010, OCA will record concertos featuring members of OCA. IYCA will continue to feature soloists in concerts, however, OCA will feature the soloists in recordings. While most youth orchestras feature only one soloist the entire year in concert, OCA will aim to feature between 20-30, all from within the orchestra, and all of which will be recorded by Alan Audio Works.
WHAT’S MISSING IN OC.
No youth orchestra in Orange County pays their students to perform. Or offers them gigs. Or records them professionally. Can they? Should they? And why? Does this exist?
WHAT “IS” POSSIBLE!
Let’s talk about this idea of paying young musicicans for their work. It isn’t fantasy. In 1992, when I was Assistant Concertmaster in the American Youth Symphony under Mehli Mehta (founder and father to Zubin Mehta), every musician in the orchestra was paid to perform in each concert. This is still in effect today. Though that orchestra is composed primarily of college students and funded with endowments, it does something which I think should be reproduced here in OC: offering students willing to work harder the chance to be paid for performing. In the Mehta days, there was a tremendous amount of pride to be in that orchestra. No one did it because they thought it would help for college; rather, it was driven by the fact that you were to be educated by a great conductor who knew how to drive and reward his musicians.
Those were the days!
THE BIRTH OF OCA.
In 2009, students here in Irvine will witness the birth of OCA, a chamber orchestra sized orchestra which pays its members to perform. The paid performances are from gigs, not from ticket sales or donations or endowments. OCA will eventually earn its endowments for future tours, but for now, members will earn the pay from gigs. You must be a member of IYCA to be in OCA. There are no extra fees to be in OCA.
THE REPERTOIRE.
Mozart. Haydn. And beyond!
The focus will be the repertoire from the Baroque and Classical periods as well as music typically requested at weddings, fundraisers, corporate functions, and various types of “gigs.” There will be lots and lots of Mozart and Haydn string quartets – very popular at weddings and often requested as background music for most events -- some pop melodies, and of course the grand slam classics almost always requested at weddings!
THE MEHLI INFLUENCE.
My early involvement with Mehli Mehta in AYS definitely left some strong impressions. Mehta taught us many lessons in music and life, such as maintaining an insane work ethic and knowing the importance of total devotion in what you do. Everything revolved around this: passion, being great, having the fortitude to withstand scrutiny and negativity. You had to be tough to be anything of value. Quality in a performance came from this work ethic. For me, this is what I took away from Mehta.
In those days, no one auditioned for Mehli Mehta for bragging rights or for the pay. There was too much reverance for him to even use his name to name drop. An entire generation of musicians were interested in going to UCLA every Saturday to learn from a master who believed so strongly in hours and hours of rehearsing and playing everything with feeling. That was rehearsal. Compliments and rewards were rare, if ever verbal. This was the old school father figure -- parenting, teaching, screaming – all in the form of a tyrannical music director!!
THE INNER REWARD.
OCA will not have such a dictator. However, it will drive home one important lesson: you play music and you’ll learn to love it! This is the inner reward.
I’ve realized that passion is the love for something and this takes a long time to develop. No one learns to love something all of a sudden. It is a journey, one which tests and teaches you the notions of patience, good habits, and devotion.
The only way to know what passion is is to experience yourself. For those seeking it through music, surrounding yourself with passionate people is the only way. It is an deeply emotional response and one which needs guidance from a role model. For me, that role model which shaped some core habits I have now was Mehta. I hope to transfer that knowledge through music.
THE YOUNG PEOPLE.
The idea of creating a third orchestra under the IYCA umbrella came to me in 2008 when I began to see a growing number of our older students applying to jobs as juniors and seniors in high school to make some side money. They weren’t practicing, and they certainly weren’t inspired about life. Did they think of all their options? Were they losing interest in music, the one thing so very dear to me?
Whether it was boredom or not, I had a totally different idea on how one could use their talents and still be paid -- like professionals! While it is rare to see and hear high schoolers hired at weddings performing Haydn string quartets, I believe it is time for high school students -- who meet our standards -- perform alongside teachers, professionals, and college students and be paid for “gigs.” That is how this will work. Every quartet will have at least one if not more professionals playing alongside OCA members.
THE PERSONNEL.
At every gig that an OCA member will be apart of, there will always be one or more professional in that ensemble. Let’s take an example. For a wedding gig next Saturday at the Pelican Hill Country Club which asks for a string quartet, the personnel could be Albert Wu on violin 1, Nick Yee on viola, and an OCA violin 2 and OCA cellist. On that same day, another wedding gig could call for a string quartet as well where by violin 1 is Dean Anderson, violin 2 is an OCA violinist, and with viola and cello parts filled by OCA musicians as well.
Members of OCA are drawn from IYCA only. If you join IYCA late, you can always audition for our OCA Music Director for membership.
THE WIND PLAYERS.
Wind players are seldom called for weddings or any gigs. I have personally worked with flutists and harpists, but rarely seen clarinetists and brass players at these gigs. It’s not that they are not desired or respected, but rather one must follow what wedding coordinators specifically request for. Often times, brides ask specifically for a string trio, a piano quartet, or a flute quartet (1 flute with 3 string players). It’ll just vary. In 2009, OCA will work with brass players who can transpose cello parts on the spot. Those who can will be “hired” for such gigs. This rule applies to string players too. Those who practice their parts and play well will be “hired” the most. Those who cannot will be asked to not attend OCA rehearsals or recording sessions at all. More below.
WHO GETS CALLED.
Not everyone who is a member of OCA will be chosen for gigs. If you are joining OCA because you want to make money playing gigs, great – we want you! But we’ll make sure at the rehearsals you can play on par of a professional. You will be judged on your sightreading skills, your attendance, and your practice habits. Must be able to play your notes! In the span of a month, we will cover enough music to cover an hour of background music. You will be rotating from violin 1 to 2, transposing music, and sightreading Mozart quartets to the Beatles. Those who can play will get called for gigs. Those who cannot play will be called when they can play.
THE COMMITMENT.
It’s simple. Be on time, don’t miss rehearsals, and practice your parts.
In terms of gigs: once you say you will do a gig, you must stick to that agreement. There will be contracts you must sign for each gig. If you back out of that agreement due to poor planning, we will ask you kindly to no longer take part in OCA rehearsals.
THE MUSIC DIRECTOR.
Dr. Nicholaus Yee will lead the OCA and all its projects, gigs.
He will be dictator and slave-driver. He will also direct a Baroque style ensemble. More to come!
THE PAY.
Every member of OCA will be paid $40/hour for every gig you are called to do. Everyone is paid the same. You will be paid in cash the day of the event. Gigs may vary from one hour to as long as four hours or more.
WHAT YOU’LL LEARN.
Besides covering a ton of repertoire in chamber music, you will learn how to play alongside professionals and play at their level. You will also learn how college students at the conservatory level earn cash on the side, and how professional musicians work at weddings and other events. You will also learn the in’s and out’s of working on a recording project.
THE MUSICAL MODEL.
The musical model for OCA is again drawn from my years as a student when I worked under the concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic Prof. Werner Hink. In Vienna, to earn your membership in the Vienna Philharmonic, one must first be a member of the Vienna State Opera. The Philharmonic draws musicians from the opera orchestra.
Though no youth orchestra in America is at the level of the Vienna Philharmonic, there is much for us to learn from one of the oldest and most elite orchestras in Europe. My vision for for OCA is simple: OCA will draw select musicians from only IYCA, not IYJA. It will perform in every concert that IYJA and IYCA performs in, and it will be led by Dr. Nicholas Yee. The orchestra will have a rotating seating, no seating auditions, and only one concertmaster. The concertmaster will be either Albert Wu or Dean Anderson at any rehearsal.
In many youth orchestras, students are exposed to professional musicians in a side-by-side scenario. This is of course a wonderful experience. However, serious students who love chamber music, who love performing, and who love rehearsing should “earn while they learn.”
There is no age limit to join OCA, but acceptance will be highly selective. Once accepted, musicians are responsible to get their own rides to and from gigs (which are all in Orange County).
IN SUMMARY.
OCA devotes its rehearsals to entirely to recordings…
OCA trains its members to perform in gigs where members get paid.
OCA offers students a chance to play in a chamber orchestra setting.