Little Women

Marmee and Jo right before The Fire Within Me from ISM’s production of Little Women

This being our second show during the pandemic, we were not able to acquire the full orchestration for the pit. I was the Co-Music Director and Rehearsal Accompanist, and took on the responsibility of reorchestrating the pit for violin, viola, cello, trombone, reeds, drums, and keys. Our Music Director focused on vocal styles and conducting as well as being a part of the artistic vision.

It was incredibly helpful that our Reeds player was a doubler able to play a majority of the instruments of the combined reeds books. Our trombonist was in charge of low brass, and I took on the other important orchestral cues of trumpet and horns by playing a second keyboard connected through Ableton.

One of the biggest challenges of this pit was that we still had to be 10 feet apart due to social distancing protocols playing instruments, so coordinating the cohesiveness of the pit and cast was challenging due to the limited view of the conductor.

Photography by Graham Louthan and Holly Handschuh