On Tuesday, Feb. 11, Ballard’s orchestra scheduled a Chamber Concert, but it was delayed because of N.T.I for snow that was expected to come on that day. In response to questions asked in an interview, Ms. Givan informed the press that the new concert is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m.
In order to prepare for the Chamber concert, Ballard’s orchestra started to work on new music pieces after their winter concert in December. Because of the NTI days, the orchestra’s conductor at Ballard, Ms. Givan, had been posting more recordings of other orchestras to give her students a better idea of what the style or tempo of their pieces should sound like. She also made sure to point out spots that may have been difficult for students so they could get the assistance they needed and prepare better. On top of all that, the orchestra is now only one week away from the district assessments, but according to Ms. Givan, “the students are doing a fantastic job of practicing and getting both performances ready in a very short amount of time” and have been practicing more frequently in order to get even more prepared for the upcoming Chamber concert. Some exciting news the press learned at the concert is that [student name] was chosen to create a composition for the University of Louisville Orchestra to play on March 13.
Although Ms. Givan herself did not get the flu during the recent epidemic, she said it was “challenging planning rehearsal with so many students missing a week or more at a time” and that the extra week of snow days back in January already had the orchestra behind in rehearsals, so the more recent NTI days caused the orchestra to lose even more rehearsal time, forcing Ms. Givan to delay the Chamber concert. On the bright side, Ms. Givan was able to study the score of the orchestra’s pieces more over the break and plan better rehearsal strategies. As an extra treat, after the concert there might be a dessert reception sponsored by the students in the advanced class, so Ms. Givan could make her homemade punch she brings every year for the reception.
According to Ms. Givan, the orchestra students are “focused, passionate, and intelligent learners”. Because of this, she is able to work together with her students and give them more challenging pieces and make daily classes more fun for everyone. Ms. Givan also has many years of experience, with both conducting and playing instruments. She mainly plays the viola, but she also plays violin and piano and has conducted many other orchestras before, besides Ballard. The orchestras she has previously conducted are the Stuart Middle School orchestra, Pleasure Ridge Park High School orchestra, Iroquois High School orchestra, and Doss High School orchestra. While conducting Ballard High School’s orchestra, Ms. Givan also helps support the Kammerer orchestra program a few days a week.