MORE INFORMATION ABOUT:
Deborah Henson-Conant and the Grand Rapids Symphony
David Lockington, Conductor
Friday, Saturday & Sunday • Nov. 11, 12 & 13, 2005
with special guest John Varineau, Guest Conductor, Clarinet
DeVos Performance Hall • DeVos Place • 303 Monroe • Grand Rapids, MI 49503
Tickets: $17 - $55 Order Tickets Now! or call 616-456-3333

The following is excerpted from Deborah's Fall-Winter Newsletter 2005/2006. To see the newsletter (including layout and photos) in PDF form, go to our newsletter archives page.

Behind-the-scenes look at Deborah's DVD Project

Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the work Deborah’s been doing to prepare for the DVD filming and CD recording of her original show with the Grand Rapids Symphony. The concert/filmings take place in front of a live audience Nov. 11, 12 & 13 at DeVos Performance Hall in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

What does it take to prepare for a live concert DVD with full orchestra?

First, it helps to know that Deborah’s orchestral shows combine elements of concerts, music theatre and one-woman shows … with a cast of 80. The 80, in this case, are the incredibly talented, spirited players of the Grand Rapids Symphony.

1. Composing & Arranging
Because this is an original show, Deborah needs to compose and prepare all the music for a 70-piece orchestra. That’s something she can’t do alone. She works with a creative and administrative team - everyone from musicians, conductors and directors to the careful people who photocopy and bind the music.

2. Rehearsals & “Maquettes”
Deborah invents all the music in her “MusicLab” and tests it using electronic instruments -- but that’s nothing like hearing it live! All the material needs to be tested by real musicians before the final concerts are filmed. For that, Deborah uses both rehearsals and “Maquettes.”

REHEARSALS: Sometimes Deborah rehearses with single musicians or small ensembles - but last July she flew to Grand Rapids with Producer Jonathan Wyner and Stage Manager Mary Roy to hear the whole symphony play through the first draft of the music. After discussions with the conductor and players, Deborah came back to her MusicLab to begin the long process of editing and revising.

MAQUETTES: are “Scale Models” of the show - a chance to perform a smaller version of the show in front of a live audience. The show structure and all the creative material is the same, it’s just the size of the ensemble that’s smaller. The final maquette was Sept. 24 and included eight musicians plus Deborah and Conductor David Lockington.

3. Script & Concept Development
For a show of this scope everyone needs to literally be “on the same page,” so Deborah, together with Producer Jonathan Wyner and Creative Coach Lee Faulkner, created the outline for a script and then Deborah spent weeks filling in that outline. Unlike the script for a play, this script doesn’t just include the dialogues, monologues and stage movement, but it outlines each musical piece, section by section, so that the video director knows which members of the orchestra are playing which musical “roles” at any given time.

All of this is just Deborah’s part of the prep. At the same time, players, directors, conductors, producers, stage managers are all working on their own part of this wonderful puzzle!

This project is made possible by a private grant from Peter M. Wege and the Wege Foundation.