We started off the morning with a speedy breakfast in the hotel, as we had a slight change in the departure time to Los Angeles. We then sleepily, but eagerly loaded the bus. Many of us fell asleep on the ride to the concert hall. But when the blinding light reflecting off of the monumental Walt Disney Concert Hall penetrated the darkened windows of our coaches, the orchestra woke right up!



We entered the great hall from the Artists' Entrance. We dropped off our cases and split up as the musicians involved in the Festival Orchestra project proceeded to the choral hall and then the concert hall to rehearse with Maestro Markand Thakar while the other half of the orchestra explored the grounds of the concert hall.



Lunch was on our own today. The majority of the orchestra left for lunch before the musicians involved in the Festival Orchestra with Markand Thakar were finished rehearsing in the concert hall.



We then returned to the concert hall to watch three different chamber ensembles perform in the matinee performance (which put all three of our music directors to sleep after the first song by the way). The performance ended at two thirty, from which point the Festival Orchestra was to return to the stage for a run-through of Sibelius' Finlandia and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4.



We ate a fabulous dinner at California Pizza, and then rushed back to the concert hall to begin our soundcheck.  The concert began ten minutes later than anticipated, as the ticket booths were so busy. We were informed that we would be performing in front of a full house backstage before we took to the stage.

In great concert halls, you often feel the weight of history around you – you wonder at all those musicians before, who played on the same stage, walked on the same floorboards. Today, all of the talented members of the Granite Youth Symphony felt that incredible sensation as we walked out onto the brightly lit, wooden stage of the Walt Disney Concert Hall main auditorium. 
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If you heard an explosion at the Walt Disney Concert Hall tonight, it was the Granite Youth Symphony! Today, the orchestra came together in mind, attitude, awareness, and musicianship and represented themselves with outstanding grace and professionalism. Every member of the orchestra had their moments of glory and finesse.



The members who represented the Granite Youth Symphony in the Festival Orchestra also played with drama, passion, and beauty. Some of us might have even wondered if perhaps the spirit of Tchaikovsky was with us, hovering above and guiding our fingers as we played the Scherzo and Finale of his epic fourth symphony! 



I feel that every member of the orchestra will look back on this festival as one of the highlights of their career, and we better informed about our own playing and musicianship. Thanks for reading this entry in the 2012 Summer Tour Log! 



~Justin