The Phriday Phil was simply a blast to play in!!! I personally knew most of the players, they were all music teachers, I was the dummy of the group. I just had a Classified Credential...so I could assist. A few times, since I did have the Credential, I was called in to teach a school orchestra, and was always happy. I would do what I could to show the kids how playing an instrument was fun, and...if you put in the practice...it was more fun!!! I sat as the Principal Cellist in the Phil, and did all that I could to show that it was fun. I would move around in my chair, and lean forward, and get the instrument in all sorts of positions. I wanted to express that playing was FUN!
At the start, the Conductor would introduce the instruments, and the Principal would hold his or her instrument up so the kids could see it. The Tuba player sat in the back, and would hold his Tuba above his head with both hands and wave it around, and the kids would laugh and applaud. Well...I was NOT going to be upstaged by a Tuba...so when the cello was called on, I just didn't just pivot it so it was facing the kids. (I was seated on the edge of the stage, to the right of the Conductor). I would pick my cello up, and hold it sideways so it faced the kids, and wave it up and down. They would laugh and applaud...and so would the Tubist.
The Conductor never spoke to the Tubist or me about our antics...he knew that there was no point...we would just find another way to act up.
I had to stop playing in the Phil. The Partners at the Law Firm gave me more complex matters to handle, and the Court started setting Settlement Conferences on Fridays, so I reluctantly retired from the Orchestra.
The private string teachers told me that there were fewer young children taking private cello lessons after I left. Maybe there were other reasons, but I do believe that a single person, by what he or she simply does, can inspire a young child to try something. That is one of the reasons why I had always supported Boy Scouts, to rise through the ranks, the kid had to earn merit badges. Each badge represented a single subject, and the child had to study it very thoroughly to earn it. The younger Scouts would see the older ones with sashes full of badges, and want to be like them. So the child developed some skills in a lot of different things. There were basic subjects like cooking, household accounts, scholarship, and such, and more exotic items.
I just felt that I was there to introduce the kids to the cello. And just sitting straight with a dour look on my face, and simply pulling the bow back and forth would not be inspiring. But, smiling...or frowning...and moving in my chair would make a child think, "That looks like fun, I should try it".
A funny tale...I was invited to play in a community orchestra that needed cellists, and was placed in 1st Chair. The woman who sat beside me was also 'loose in her chair', and we bumped elbows a few times. But we gradually worked it out, and could move freely and not hinder the other player. The Conductor laughed after a concert saying, "The two of you were swaying in unison a few times."
We thought about working up a routine where we would 'dance in our chairs'...but decided against it. After all, he purpose of the Phriday Phil was to introduce the kids to the instruments in an orchestra, and not for a couple of female 'Hambones' to show off.
