(whimsical music)
(energetic symphony music)
- Hi.
- Hi, I'm Penny, and these are the KidVision VPK kids.
And we're here today to find out
about the New World Symphony.
- Welcome everyone.
This is the New World Symphony,
America's orchestral academy.
We're a musical laboratory, where we listen to
and learn about and practice and play music together.
- What exactly is an orchestra?
- An orchestra is made of many people
who play different instruments.
They play string instruments, brass, woodwind,
percussion, and today Michael Tilson Thomas
is leading the group.
- He's a very famous conductor.
- Do you guys want to go inside and check it out?
- Yes.
- [Robert] Terrific.
- Let's go!
(dramatic symphony music)
- This is Michael Tilson Thomas.
He's a co-founder of the New World Symphony.
He's a pianist, a composer, and also a conductor.
Michael, what is it like to conduct an orchestra?
- It's either a lot of fun or really scary,
because you've got so many different people,
a hundred people, maybe.
And you have to get them all to cooperate,
and you have to get them to start and stop together,
which really means you have to help them
to breathe together.
I have something here, which is called the score.
And in this, it shows the part
that every single instrument in the orchestra
is playing.
So here's the flutes, the oboes, the clarinets,
bassoons, horns, trumpets, timpani, the piano,
and then all the string instruments.
So I study this until I know
what everyone in the orchestra is playing,
and then I can be helpful in giving them advice
while we're rehearsing of how everyone
can be better together or better in balance.
And you do that by giving these beats.
I use this stick sometimes,
this baton.
Or sometimes I just use my hands.
I try and give a representation of where
the breath would be,
which is related to what we call the tempo
of the music,
the pulse of the music.
Just like the pulse in your hand.
Energy that comes from your breath.
Before we can start the music,
we have to have that sense of energy.
So I would go.
(inhales)
I give two beats like that.
You say something on the downbeat.
Just sing something on the downbeat.
Here we go.
(inhales)
Here you go, now that's not a little stronger.
(breathes loudly)
There you go.
So you see I showed you it was going to be a strong beat.
But I could also show it to you like this,
(inhales quietly)
That's right.
So that's basically the idea,
that I'm always a little bit ahead of the orchestra,
preparing what's going to happen next.
And I'm so delighted you all are playing instruments,
because by playing or by singing,
that's the way we really discover
what music is all about.
(soft cello music)
- Hi.
- This is a rehearsal.
And we're gonna train the use of technology.
This student is in Columbia,
and our teacher is here in Miami Beach,
New World Symphony.
- Wow, that is incredible.
What a nice way to teach.
So you can be anywhere in the world and take a lesson.
- You just need an internet connection, TV,
and a camera.
- That's great.
You want to take a lesson?
In front of your teacher.
(cello music)
- Now can you go back and vibrate a little bit more?
- [Juan] Okay.
- Okay.
(cello music)
That's wonderful.
I hear so much resonance now.
- [Juan] Okay.
- Yeah, that is great.
- [Juan] On the accents?
- The accents are clear. They're good.
Don't forget to use weight, not pressure.
Okay.
- Thank you very much.
Bye!
- Bye, thank you for stopping by.
- This is Pierre, and this is Dominic.
Hello!
- [Penny] Hi.
- So I play the trumpet.
I am coming from France.
- And I play the French horn,
although unlike my colleague,
this is not actually from France.
So a lot of times, we just call it the horn.
- And why are they called brass instruments?
- The easy answer is they're made of brass.
But it really has to do more with
the way we produce the sound,
because all brass players produce the sound
the same way.
It starts by buzzing our lips.
(buzzes lips)
You guys want to try?
(buzzing lips)
So then we buzz into our mouthpiece.
(blows horn)
Which you hear kind of focuses that sound,
and then we plug it in here,
buzz our lips.
The vibrating air goes all the way through
and comes out the bell.
(blows horn)
- How hard is it to play your part
with all the other instruments around you?
- Oh, that's a very good question.
So actually, when we're playing with another instrument,
in addition to what we do play,
we have to listen very carefully
to what's happening around us,
and what the other players are playing.
And not only listening, but also watching
and for us brass players,
we often breathe together,
like this.
(brass music)
(upbeat trumpet music)
(applause)
- Bravo, thank you.
- We're in a percussion practice room,
and we have two of our percussion fellows
here at the New World Symphony.
- Well basically, a percussion instrument
can be anything that you hit,
(bangs drum)
- Rub,
(rubbing sand blocks)
- Shake,
(shakes instrument)
- And also scrape.
(scraping instrument)
- We're going to play a little march for you.
- Okay.
(marching music)
- Can we play with you?
- Sure!
- Great.
- I think we'll play the bass drum,
cowbell,
shaker,
(shakes instrument)
tambourine.
- Oh, that's for me.
- Here's a guiro.
(plays guiro)
- Okay, we're going to do a march.
- Alright. One, two, three, four.
(upbeat marching music)
- Yay!
Bravo!
Thanks, we had a really great time today.
- Come visit us again soon
here at the New World Symphony.
- We will, thank you.
- Thanks to you guys.
- Bye!
(whimsical music)