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On 25 April 2009, Andrew Mogrelia conducted the SFCM Orchestra in the world premiere performance of my orchestral work, The Long Valley. As they performed it, I nervously stood in the back of the concert hall and relished in the experience. It is not everyday that a composer receives a live performance of her/his orchestral composition, so I savored every second of this unique experience.

I consider The Long Valley to be my first orchestral piece, even though, technically, I have written two others, in addition to orchestrating piano works by Brahms, Debussy, etc. for orchestration classes. Yet, The Long Valley is a benchmark composition for me in terms of what it does artistically within an orchestral framework. I think of my other orchestral pieces as student compositions fulfilling educational demands, rather than artistic ones.

The rehearsal process began only two weeks ahead of the concert. Maestro Mogrelia asked me to run a woodwind sectional, which was scary and fun! A couple days later, the orchestra read through the piece, and did so very well. Two more short rehearsals ensued, and then it was time for the performance. I was impressed by how well the orchestra did, despite a limited amount of rehearsal time.

As the piece came alive throughout this process, I began to understand that some of the orchestration is flawed, and needs some tweaking and attention to detail. For instance, as the brass make their way into the texture in the middle of the piece, the woodwinds are drowned out. Also, as the piece leads to the climax, the texture thickens too soon, and dulls the primary role of the trumpets and horns. Further, when the original theme comes back toward the end, the orchestration lacks the gentle tenderness I was hoping to achieve.

I’ve already begun the task of editing the orchestration, and plan to make it more presentable to professional orchestras by reducing the forces a bit. I hope to enter it into several competitions, so we’ll see how that goes.

All in all, I am overwhelmingly grateful and honored to have been selected for this performance, and I still can’t believe it happened. Luckily, I have proof in the form of a recording, which is available below for your listening pleasure. Be sure to use a good pair of headphones if your computer speakers aren’t so great.

Thank you Andrew Mogrelia, the SFCM Orchestra, Jim Highsmith & Robert Marberger, and the entire SFCM community for this great opportunity. And thank you David Conte for guiding me along from 2003 ’til now, and my parents for their support and encouragement.






The Long Valley by Jeffrey Parola
San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra
Andrew Mogrelia, conductor

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