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Sunday, October 14, 2018

2018-2019 Season New Initiatives.

Since 1999, OCMS-SO's mission has been to create a meaningful musical experience.  We have engaged with thousands of local community members between charity fundraising concerts and local performances at retirement homes.  We have created partnerships with organizations overseas to present concerts.  We have toured to multiple cities to collaborate with other like-minded Canadians.  We have had members meet in the orchestra, become fast friends, and then later get married. 

As a recent focus, the OCMS-SO has been striving to be more and more accessible to the greater population.  In continuation with our history, we would like to further make a difference in the local community.  This year, we are excited to roll out one of our new initiatives: the yearly membership fee has been removed.  We hope that this new change will allow for more members to take part in an initiative that has been going on for nearly two decades.

Thursday, April 19, 2018

Repetition in Music


Can't get that earworm out of your head? It's probably due to the catchiness of an easily memorable and repeated tune. This video briefly explains the reasoning behind the popularity of repetition in music, which is commonly found in pop music today. 

Monday, March 26, 2018

Harmonies explained in different levels


No matter how experienced of a musician you are, you can definitely understand what harmony is in this video. The video first starts off with Jacob Collier, a musician and composer, giving the simplest definition of harmony -  a bunch of notes being played together to sound nice. Collier than goes on to explain harmony on different levels given the depth of his audience's understanding of the term. Eventually, he converses with a famous jazz musician and song writer, about the different chords that can be used and how to use them. 

This video, although the explanations can feel a little rushed in the higher levels, can help those learning jazz and can draw some inspirations from what is being discussed in this video. 

Sunday, March 11, 2018

Violinist's Nightmare on Live Television


Violinist Kristine Balanas was in the middle of completely owning Wieniawski’s Polonaise Brilliante No. 1 during the Latvian Music Awards when the unthinkable happened. Her E string, until then a faithful and supportive colleague, let her down and snapped. 

Nightmare. 

As is always the way with these situations, it’s about how you react. And Kristine was an absolute pro - quickly grab the Latvian Symphony Orchestra concertmaster’s violin and leave him to deal with the consequences. The show must go on. 

Saturday, March 03, 2018

Tickets Now on Sale! OCMS-SO 19th Annual Concert "La La La: 300 Years of Popular Music"

Tickets are now on sale for our 19th annual concert "La La La: 300 Years of Popular Music."


When: Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 7:30 pm
Where: Yorkminster Cital (1 Lord Seaton Road, Toronto, ON) near Yonge and 401
What: BARBER Adagio for Strings; BIZET L'Arlésienne Suite No. 2; HAYDN Symphony No. ∞; LEHAR Vilia from The Merry Widow; ROTA The Godfather Theme; VIVALDI Concerto No. 1 in E major Op. 8 RV 269 “Spring” (“La primavera”)
How: Order tickets from info@ocms-so.org

 
See you in May 2018! Posters designed by Helen Lai.

Which Famous Singer are you Most Like?

Here is a little quiz you can take that  can help you identify which singer you are most like based on a few questions. It's a very short quiz that you can complete in under 2 minutes. If you're bored and have nothing to so this is for you!
https://www.buzzfeed.com/thisisbonafide/which-legendary-music-icon-are-you-37dzm

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

How to Train Your Mom ( on flute )


If we all took the time to increase some music knowledge onto others, not only we would have THAT much fun, but we can promote the interest and support of arts all around.

Friday, February 23, 2018

Friday, February 09, 2018

Are you more of a classical musician? Jazz musician? A little bit of both?

This article briefly outlines the differences between playing classical music and playing jazz and how it affects the brain’s activity. It explains that jazz pianists have more flexibility with unexpected chords, whereas classical musicians adapt better to abnormal fingering (in their study, they study the brains of pianists) or choice of technique.

There are clear advantages to learning both types of musical styles, so if there’s a style you’re unfamiliar with, try to dabble in a few others to expand your musical horizons!

Check out the article here

Sunday, February 04, 2018

How to Practice Effectively



This video gives us a take on the science of what happens in our brains when we practice on a daily basis. It goes on to tell us how an effective practice should be consistent, focused and should be attacking the problems. It goes on giving us tips and tricks on how to get the most out of our time and practice.

This video should really inspire us all to go practice, but not just playing through pieces but practicing EFFECTIVELY!

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Watch the Toronto Symphony Orchestra Rehearse!

Image Source: Wikipedia
High school music teachers are invited to bring their students to a morning rehearsal at Roy Thomson Hall to observe the Orchestra's preparations before a concert.
This is a unique learning opportunity for students to listen to and learn from professional musicians.
Students will be seated in the choir loft directly above the musicians (pending availability) in order to derive the maximum benefit from this experience.
Meet a TSO musician during the rehearsal break for a Q&A session about the music, rehearsal, technique, and even life as a professional musician.
For more information, click here!

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Playing a Rubik's Cube - Ted-Ed

 
This Ted-Ed video explains some mathematical principles that can allow you to make a chord progression using a Rubik’s Cube. For anyone who might be looking for inspiration while composing, this might help push you into a new direction.
 
The majority of the video explains group theory (which directly relates to how you can group a face on a Rubik’s Cube as well as a chord). Near the end, it describes putting different chords on each face of the cube (ensuring that the notes are different on the column, rows, and diagonal), scrambling up the cube, and then examining one of the faces. With the face that you decide to look at, you write down the chords after every single move you make to the cube. Eventually, it will go to the tonic chord once it has been fully solved, and by then, you would have a long chord progression that you can play around with until hear something you like.