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Many of us have been told by audience members that the orchestra needs to smile more and look more like we are enjoying ourselves. I know its hard to do when you are concentrating on the music, but showing a little personality will help draw in the audience. I talked about this subject to a friend who is a classically trained performer and has played with profesional orchestras. She offered the following suggestion:
- Move with the music.
- Make eye contact with others in the orchestra. It will help loosen you up.
- Think of a story to go with the music. It will help with your facial expressions.
- Smile!!! At a minimum, smile at the audience between tunes, and if you can, work it into your playing.
My own suggestion is to look at Lon, (which you should be doing anyway). He makes some great facial expressions and you can trade smiles.
I started a thread on this subject on the Mandolin Cafe. The topic is Improving Stage Presence and it is in the Theory, Technique .... category. Check it out for other suggestions. And keep on Smiling!!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
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Here's the URL to the thread via TinyURL:
http://tinyurl.com/55opyk
Now that I've read through the thread, one thing that stood out to me was a comment about seeing a "wall of music stands."
That's something that surprised me about our performances - most professional orchestras appear to use 1 stand per 2 violins, and there's more space between the musicians...
As far as the smiling and moving with the music...WHAT! We're Minnesotans! Wouldn't that draw too much attention to us?
;)
Some ideas to lighten things up.
During Goldfinger, Jack dons a tux and bow tie and sips a martini
During "Where Mando has Gone," Ted enters from offstage for his solo, wearing a Klingon mask
How does everyone feel about sharing music/stands during performances? It might be tough for the 3-pagers.
Two players per stand is OK with me, as long as everyone can see the music and the conductor.
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