DWFO #6: "A Christmas Carol (Suite)"

The Doctor Who Fan Orchestra are proud to present their sixth collaboration: "A Christmas Carol (Suite)".

The suite contains the following themes: "Come Alond Pond", "You Didn't Hit The Boy", "Fish", "Babysitter", "The Other Half's Inside The Shark", "He Comes Every Christmas", "New Memories" and "Abigail's Song" -- all composed by Murray Gold.

MP3 file download: https://dl.dropbox.com/u/8058374/DWFO%20%236%20-%20A%20Christmas%20Carol%20%28Suite%29.mp3
(right-click the link if you want to save it!)

http://thedwfo.org

http://www.youtube.com/socksofbalhoon

https://www.facebook.com/DoctorWhoFanOrchestra

http://doctorwhofanorchestra.blogspot.com/

Twitter hashtag: #DWFO

The Doctor Who Fan Orchestra invites musical fans of Doctor Who to take part in an online collaborative celebration of Murray Gold's music. Participants submitted recordings for this work from November to December 2012.

This final mix includes over 350 submissions from 241 individual participants, ranging in age from 12 to 80, and who are located in at least 25 different countries across the world.

PLEASE NOTE: Before anyone asks, no, I'm afraid I can't give you sheet music so your school orchestra or similar can play the music. This is for copyright reasons.
I will ignore any such requests. Thank you for understanding!

Arranged and co-ordinated by Stephen Willis

Assistant Co-ordinator: Robin LaPasha

Web Support: Kostya LaPasha

Member Advisers: Heather Ackroyd & Camila de Camargo Pereira

The next piece will be "Amy's Suite" - featuring some classic Amy themes as well as one or two surprises. To take part, look out for instructions in the upcoming promotional video.

Full list of participants:

PICCOLOS:
Emily Black
Kyle Brown
Benton Gordon
Katie Laski
Rachel Reyes
Stacey Severn
Mandy Tinder

FLUTES:
Emily Black
Jessica Brinkley
Kyle Brown
Camilla
Erin Coldan
Tara Ghormley
Jenna Giere
Melissa Gillman
Benton Gordon
Reid Herrera
Audrey Horn
Skyler Hungerford
Nikki Imberger
Fiona James
Kellina James
Tim Jaw
Erica de Jonge
Katie Laski
Marianna
Emily Morrison
Stacey Severn
Delphine Steiner
Courtney Thiel
Andrew Trautmann
Zuzana Vaneková
Rebecca Walker

OBOES:
Ashlee Bond-Richardson
Makea Luzader
Nicole Maneth
Kari Myers-Busch
Rebecca Rodgers
Andrew Trautmann

COR ANGLAIS:
Rebecca Rodgers

CLARINETS (Bb):
Heather Ackroyd
Elisabeth Altmann
Ashli
Jessica Barner
Zoe Beaney
Cassie Cudworth
Claire Dubedat
Allison Eriksen
Shaun H Y
Elisabeth Hartmark
Megan Hungerford
Ambrose Kranitis
Makea Luzader
Nicolas Mansart
Kari Myers-Busch
Tamara L Nehls
Mitchell Pawsey
Russell Pinzino
Paulette ReCord
Danielle Sammy
Ellie Scorah
Ella Shurr
Andrew Trautmann
Linus Wan
Stephen Willis

BASS CLARINETS:
Heather Ackroyd
Audrey Walker

CONTRABASS CLARINETS:
Richard Brockmeier
MrTheJUPP

ALTO SAXOPHONES:
Ryan Halyburton
James Hyett
Edward Luca
Andrew McLaurin
Miziek
Katarina Ohlsson
Charlotte Proctor
Jason Whitcomb

TENOR SAXOPHONES:
Veronica Grande
Erica de Jonge
Scott R Lambrecht

BARITONE SAXOPHONES:
Samantha Bittle
Jason Whitcomb

BASSOONS:
Janine Golob
Nicole Herman
Lena Faye Sachs

FRENCH HORNS:
Dominic Asuque
Julian R Green
Brenna Hines
Sarah Hopkins
Molly Hunt
Adrienne Killey
Steve Luzader
Jeremy Rodgers
David Scarborough
Jill A Sipe
Laura Testa Allured

WAGNER TUBA:
Steve Luzader

TRUMPETS:
Dominic Asuque
David Baldridge
William Baldridge
Nick Bredhauer
Kyle Cooley
Stephanie Kimball
Erin Palchak
Rob Sandow
Brendan Wayne
Geoffrey Willis

TROMBONES:
Eric Andersen
Jen Brown
Dylan Cargill
Marcus T Carroll
Kathy Chase
Natalie Cool
Chris Gadd
Mike Thorn

BASS TROMBONES:
Dylan Cargill
Marcus T Carroll

EUPHONIUM:
Dylan Cargill

TUBAS:
Dylan Cargill
Tom Jozefowicz
Anton Smit
Uscdrew

TIMPANI:
Nathan Olff

UNTUNED ORCHESTRAL PERCUSSION:
Todd Bestreski
Lore Burns
Brandon Lambert
Robin LaPasha
Gillion Machota
Nathan Olff

MALLET/TUNED ORCHESTRAL PERCUSSION:
Elise Bestreski
Nathan Olff

HANDBELLS:
Heather Ackroyd
C David Dent

TUBULAR BELLS:
Nathan Olff

PIANO:
Michael Barker
Monika Berberich
Ksenia Bulyzhnik
Robert Drane
Shannon Graham
Amaury Mansart
Natalie Odien
Jien Ogawa
Katarina Ohlsson
Sam
Daisy J Selzer
Teresa Slonaker
Paul Tognarelli
Uma Vaidya

CONCERT HARP:
Sarah Hall
Sharon Macauley
Margaret Mackenzie

KANUN:
Robin LaPasha

MANDOLIN:
Jentrie Matheson

ELECTRIC BASSES:
Hazel Fyfe
Colin Pochie

VIOLINS:
Eva Amsen
Laena Batchelder
Evan Blackney
Casey Coddaire
Nina Crisp
Allyn Custer
Brittany Festin
Ze Goon
Daniella Greene
Jenni Hickey
Becca Horn
Kerry Kittleson
Alison Liang
Rachel Martin
Jentrie Matheson
Chiara Mezzavilla
Esther Mildenhall
Mitchell Nelson
Natalie Odien
Silja Ojanen
Christina Reid
Duncan Swan
Jennifer Thompson
Rachel Thompson
Sue Thorn
ViolinistBAKA
Elizabeth Wallace
Brittney Washam
Yukinflake

VIOLAS:
Ida Andersson
Jenna Giere
Ze Goon
Lynette Kleisner Gilbert
Jordan Liberman
Ivy Loos-Austin
Yukinflake

CELLOS:
Monika Bauer
Lore Burns
Kayley Clark
Christine Howe
Julia M
Nicolas Mansart
Jackie Rogers
Teresa Slonaker
Tanja Zett

VIOLA DA GAMBA:
Phillip W Serna

DOUBLE BASSES:
Michael Barker
Phillip W Serna
Vicki Swan
Randall White

VOCAL SOLOISTS:
Caryn Fulda (Soprano 1)
Emily McKie (Alto 1)
Wendy Novicenskie (Soprano 2)
Jessica Brinkley (Alto 2)

CHOIR:
E K Abele
Heather Ackroyd
Kathryn Wallace Adams
Rachael Allman
Elisabeth Altmann
Denis Andreev
Audrey Ashburn
Colin Ashburn
Dominic Asuque
Galia Bahat
Monika Bauer
Zoe Beaney
Hannah Beaton
Monika Berberich
Elise Bestreski
Jessica Brinkley
Jen Brown
Ksenia Bulyzhnik
Juliane Bunk
Lore Burns
Emily Byers
Jennie C
Amancay Candal Tribe
Miranda Chu
Darlene Crumly
C David Dent
Matt Di Carlo
Joanna Sherlyn Dunlap
James East
Ivan Esteve
Angela Evrard
Jennifer Finch
Elisabeth Flaum
Brennen French
Cameron Friend
Glory Friend
Karin Fujii
Caryn Fulda
María Celeste Fux
Melissa Gillman
Shannon Graham
Victoria Gray
Janna Guy
Shawna Hafen
Brenda Han
Rachael Hapeman
Klara Hellgren
Susan Henry
John Hicks
Sarah Hopkins
Becca Horn
Audrey Horn
Katie Hughes
Anne C. Hunter
Uma Hunter
Paula Herrington Ishee
Elizabeth Karrmann
Nicole-Anne Keyton
Tiffany Knoell
Joy Kohlsaat
Robin LaPasha
Kostya LaPasha
Josephine Lenski
Alison Liang
Bebe Liang
Gitta Luites
Gillion Machota
Nicole Maneth
Marianna
Rachel Martin
Alyssa McDermott
Emily McKie
Graeme Mealey
Chiara Mezzavilla
Vanessa Aisha Mostafa
Kristen Murphy
Kari Myers-Busch
Elizabeth Nelson
Wendy Novicenskie
Natalie Odien
Vincent Odien
Katarina Ohlsson
Silja Ojanen
Simi Panesar
Camila de Camargo Pereira
Russell Pinzino
Anastassia Rakitianskaia
Paulette ReCord
Rhabarberqueen
Jackie Rogers
Kathie Rogers
Tamsyn Sanders
Sam Saucier
Scriptor Paulina
Ellen Shih
Małgorzata Słabosz
Tiadeets
Zuzana Vaneková
Audrey Walker
Rebecca Walker
Brittney Washam
Lucy Webb
Hilary Weston
Brad Williams
Stephen Willis
Rachel Wood
Yukinflake

The Joy of Meetups – by Heather Ackroyd (Clarinet, Soprano)

It all started on March 31^st 2012. In a welcome thread in the private DWFO Facebook group, several members mentioned they lived in or near Maryland, USA. Robin LaPasha (Assistant Co-Ordinator) indicated a couple of other members who were in nearby states and said, “Hmm… anybody else in that zone?” To which I responded, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Thus started a series of communications planning our first ever DWFO meetup. At the time the group was in the middle of learning and recording parts for the Dalek Suite, and we decided that the Memorial Day weekend (May 26^th – 28^th) would be a good time for a local get-together. Aside from being a long weekend in the US, the Dalek Suite submissions would be over and we would have just started looking at the music for our next piece (which we hadn’t settled on at the time, but it was to be a suite from The Impossible Astronaut).

None of us were quite sure what to expect, and as the hosts for the event my husband and I were a bit nervous about how it would go. It turned out our fears were unfounded. We had a total of eight participants at that first meetup, and we spent a good portion of the weekend playing music. Mostly we started learning our brand-new piece but we also revisited old DWFO projects, including regaling our neighbours with an outdoors rendition of the entire Dalek Suite.

Having taken part in several projects at that point, I’d already developed quite a strong feeling of community simply through active participation in the Facebook group. But actually being in the same room as we played the music was so much better. When we weren’t playing our DWFO music we were watching Doctor Who, or going for a swim in the nearby river, sightseeing a bit, or going out to dinner. I think we all came out of that weekend feeling much more connected, and frankly the music workshops really helped us get our heads around some of the trickier bits of The Impossible Astronaut.

Thus, when TIA was over and we were looking at the new piece – a suite from A Christmas Carol – our thoughts naturally turned to having another meetup. After some discussion about location, it was decided that we would be hosting again at our house in central Maryland in early November. A couple of the people who had come to the first one were unable to make the second, but we gained a new member for a total of seven for the November meetup.  

There aren’t words to express how wonderful it is to get together in person to play this amazing music. Even though we only have a handful of instruments, it lets us hear the piece more fully than with the guide track we receive to keep us in time for our audio submissions. And simply being able to discuss the piece and hum or play the bits we’re talking about is so much more effective than trying to describe something in text as a Facebook post. The feedback is immediate and we all improved over the course of the weekend, one to the point where he made his recordings on the Sunday.

This time around we also decided to get into a proper festive mood by creating a short dramatic video. It was a fun little project that took maybe an hour to film, and it might just shed some light on exactly how Santa manages to get around to everyone on Christmas Eve.

Here’s to many more meetups to come! 

Strings Are Cool Now -- by "J"

Being the fangirl that I am, I follow any number of Doctor Who-related news feeds on my twitter.  Last spring, Anglophenia, which is run by BBCAmerica, posted a link that got my attention immediately: a youtube video of a performance by the “Doctor Who Fan Orchestra.”  
Yep, it was, in fact, an orchestra made up of Who fans, playing Who music, arranged by yet another fan.  Being a band nerd/orch dork myself, one who loves playing film scores probably more than anything, I was doubly intrigued.
Ten minutes later – the amount of time it took to watch the performance – I had ascertained a few key points. One: this was an orchestra comprised of individuals who recorded separately, sent in their performances, and were then combined into a group.  In short, it didn’t matter where you were located, or if you were a professional.  Two: they’d be starting signups in a few short weeks for their next piece, a suite from “The Impossible Astronaut,” which is probably one of my favorite episodes of New Who and some of the most memorable music, just sayin.’  And three: I knew I had to be a part of this, no question.
The next few weeks were agony, as I hit up the DWFO facebook page, waiting for the video to be posted with details on how to participate.   I submitted my info immediately when it finally did, and it’s a good thing, too; they had so much interest they had to cap the number of applicants at 600.

The Process

For a “fan-run,” “amateur” organization, it’s sure more efficient than some more established groups I’ve been involved with!  My music and a click track were emailed to me within a few days, along with an email that preemptively answered every question I’d eventually have throughout the recording process.  Even if I’d had more questions, the other members of the orchestra were happy to discuss the nitty-gritty of recording, offer tips and tricks, and compare notes on the actual performances (bowing, for example, is something I’ve never personally had to deal with but appears exceedingly important to string players).
The submission deadline was firm from the very beginning, and even though it was months away, the summer did fly by!   As someone who has always been a major procrastinator, both the deadlines and the constant flow of discussion from orchestra members were key in keeping the project at the front of my mind.

Take Thirty-Two

After practicing the piece for a few weeks with the click-track, I knew it was now or never.  I bought a USB mic off of Amazon – a Samson Go Mic, I believe – and clamped on my headphones, and I was good to go.  Well, or so I thought.
Turns out finding the perfect spot in the room for the mic – not so close that it spikes on forte and not so far that it doesn’t even pick up on piano – is not as easy as it seems.  I messed around for an evening, both with the gain on the mic and my own positioning, until I found a spot that worked.  Then I was ready to play!
And mess up.  And try again.  And mess up.
In retrospect, it wasn’t as bad as it seemed at the time – I think I was satisfied after two or three nights.  And maybe I could have done it in one night, except after a few hours I hit a point where I only make more mistakes, and I know when to quit.  Sending off the audio was rewarding, exciting, nerve-wracking – all the nerves of a live performance, really.
The video was another issue altogether.  I knew I would be leaving town, so I had to make it in one night if I wanted to make the deadline.  The good news is, the audio is stripped out and the finished mix put in, so it wouldn’t actually matter if I messed up, as long as I looked like the note was pretty.
The bad news?  Someone probably had to listen to it to line things up before the audio was taken out!  I’m envisioning them comparing the submitted audio with the submitted video and wondering if I broke my hands and face in the interim.  Oh, and something else I learned: keeping a normal face when I’ve just flubbed a note is not as easy as it seems.  Now I think back to every concert I’ve played, with the look of disgust I now know I get telegraphing every error.  Poker face I am not.

Showtime

Today I was surprised to see that the completed video is already up!  Doctor Who loves its nods to the past and running jokes, and the fans are no different.  There are quite a few clever and funny costumes, props and jokes in the video – but I’ll let you watch it for yourself because, you know.  Spoilers and all that.
But I’m not just here to toot my own horn, as it were; at the end of the video is a preview of the next piece the DWFO will be performing, and I can’t wait to sign up!  But what about you?  Are you, or some Whovian in your life, a musician as well?  Start dusting off those reeds, doing those vocal exercises, and tuning those strings, because to be a part of this is fun you won’t want to miss!

DWFO: About the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra

The team and some of the members of the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra look back on pieces 1-5, with explanations of the "virtual orchestra" process.

All music composed by Murray Gold, performed by the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra.

DWFO Co-ordinator: Stephen Willis
Assistant Co-ordinator: Robin LaPasha

We would like to honour the following members, who have joined us for every DWFO piece so far:

Dylan Cargill
Sharon Evans
Benton Gordon
Resilda Lala
Kostya LaPasha
Jalen Lee
Nicole Maneth
Mitchell Pawsey
Jeremy Rodgers
Rebecca Rodgers
Melissa Rowlands
ViolinistBAKA
Lucy Webb

DWFO #5: "The Impossible Astronaut (Suite)"

The Doctor Who Fan Orchestra are proud to present their fifth collaboration: "The Impossible Astronaut (Suite)".

The suite contains the following themes: “I Am The Doctor in Utah”, “1969”, “Help Is On Its Way”, “I See You Silence”, “The Majestic Tale (Of A Madman In A Box)” and “Apollo 11”, as well as an unreleased cue from Nixon’s final scene in ‘Day of the Moon’ – all composed by Murray Gold.

MP3 file download: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8058374/DWFO%20%235%20-%20The%20Impossible%20Astronaut%20(Suite).mp3

(right-click the link if you want to save it!)

http://thedwfo.org

http://www.youtube.com/socksofbalhoon

https://www.facebook.com/DoctorWhoFanOrchestra

http://doctorwhofanorchestra.blogspot.com/

Twitter hashtag: #DWFO

The Doctor Who Fan Orchestra invites musical fans of Doctor Who to take part in an online collaborative celebration of Murray Gold's music. Participants submitted recordings for this work from June to September 2012.

This final mix includes a total of 316 submissions from 234 individual participants, ranging in age from 10 to 60, and who are located in at least 24 different countries across the world.

PLEASE NOTE: Before anyone asks, no, I'm afraid I can't give you sheet music so your school orchestra or similar can play the music. This is for copyright reasons.

I will ignore any such requests. Thank you for understanding!

Arranged and co-ordinated by Stephen Willis

Assistant Co-ordinator: Robin LaPasha

Web Support: Kostya LaPasha

Member Advisers: Heather Ackroyd & Camila de Camargo Pereira

The next piece will be "A Christmas Carol (Suite)" (featuring music from the 2010 Christmas Special, including “Abigail’s Song”). To take part, look out for instructions in the upcoming promotional video.

Thanks to all participants!

Full list of participants:

PICCOLOS:

Jessica Brinkley

Kyle Brown

Benton Gordon

Katie Laski

Rachel Reyes

Emily Topham

FLUTES:

Jessica Brinkley

Kyle Brown

Erin Coldan

Jennifer Crow

Erica de Jonge

Audrey Farrell

Karin Fujii

Tara Ghormley

Melissa Gillman

Benton Gordon

Audrey Horn

Taylor Huggins

Bailey Hull

Skyler Hungerford

Nikki Imberger

Fiona James

Kellina James

Resilda Lala

Mary Leneis

Nicole Maneth

Marianna

An Moris

Emily Topham

Zuzana Vaneková

Rebecca Walker

Rebecca Wang

Sini Ylönen

Rosa York

OBOES:

Nicole Maneth

Rebecca Rodgers

Andrew Trautmann

COR ANGLAIS:

Rebecca Rodgers

CLARINETS:

Heather Ackroyd

Robin Atmatzidis

Jessica Barner

Zoe Beaney

Sophie Cowdrey

Cassie Cudworth

Allison Eriksen

Chelsey Gould

Shaun H. Y.

Elisabeth Hartmark

Matt Hines

Megan Hungerford

Ambrose Kranitis

Lachlan

Aaron Lockman

Nicolas Mansart

Mitchell Pawsey

Russell Pinzino

Dasha Poloneeva

Paulette ReCord

Danielle Sammy

Ella Shurr

Christy Sobolik

Andrew Trautmann

Linus Wan

BASS CLARINET:

TheJUPP

ALTO SAXOPHONES:

Mark C. Anthony

Dominique Canning

Stephanie Eng

James Hyett

Edward Luca

Jasmine Mills

Katarina Ohlsson

Charlotte Proctor

TheJUPP

Linus Wan

Jason Whitcomb

TENOR SAXOPHONES:

Erica de Jonge

Tessa Maske

BARITONE SAXOPHONES:

Erica de Jonge

Jason Whitcomb

BASSOONS:

Matthew Drahozal

Emm Edwards

Janine Golob

Lena Sachs

FRENCH HORNS:

Janna Forney

Brenna Hines

Molly Hunt

Jillian Jade

Adrienne Killey

Jeremy Rodgers

David Scarborough

Laura Testa Allured

David Valdez

Sarah Williams

TRUMPETS:

David Baldridge

William Baldridge

David Cohen

Reed Haw

Jin Hyun

Claire Irvine

Stephanie Kimball

Troy LeBourdais

Dan Maske

Erin Palchak

Melissa Rowlands

Rob Sandow

Sarah Williams

TROMBONES:

Miles Anthony

Dylan Cargill

Natalie Cool

Bryan Freedman

Brandon Harrison

BASS TROMBONES:

Dylan Cargill

Gary Gathright

EUPHONIUM:
Dylan Cargill

TUBAS:

Tom Jozefowicz

Anton Smit

Sini Ylönen

TIMPANI:

Brandon Lambert

Nathan Olff

UNTUNED PERCUSSION:

Galia Bahat

Nia Devetzis

Jacob Lambeck

Brandon Lambert

Robin LaPasha

Euan Leslie

Nathan Olff

Emily South

Stephen Willis

MALLET PERCUSSION:

Nia Devetzis

Nicole Herman

Brandon Lambert

Nathan Olff

PIANO:

Monika Berberich

Ksenia Bulyzhnik

Juliane Bunk

Emm Edwards

Shannon Graham

Amaury Mansart

Thomas Midena

Natalie Odien

Jien Ogawa

Lara Seybert

Teresa Slonaker

CONCERT HARP:

Sharon Macauley

Margaret Mackenzie

SANDOURI & KANUN:

Robin LaPasha

MANDOLIN:

Matthew Drahozal

Jentrie Matheson

ELECTRIC GUITARS:

Denis Andreev

Tonia Curby

Colin Pochie

D. Ravenska

ELECTRIC BASSES:

Tonia Curby

Alice Pinson

Colin Pochie

Davy Sundquist

VIOLINS:

Ida Andersson

Laena Batchelder

Elliot Beagley

Erica Beimesche

Ksenia Bulyzhnik

Sophie Crawford

Nina Crisp

Alex Curtis

Allyn Custer

darkliger269

Sharon Evans

Brittany Festin

Ze Goon

MelKaty Hernduncan

Becca Horn

Kerry Kittleson

Esther Lang

Alison Liang

Jonathan Liou

Rachel Martin

Jentrie Matheson

Chiara Mezzavilla

Ashlin Michell

Esther Mildenhall

Katya Misyutina

Mitchell Nelson

Natalie Odien

Silja Ojanen

Christina Reid

Susannah Shamlian

Duncan Swan

Clarisse Thomas

Rachel Thompson

ViolinistBAKA

Brittney Washam

Amanda Winans

VIOLAS:

Ida Andersson

Courtney Couture

Ze Goon

Jalen Lee

Kayla Maske

Liz Myhre

Wendy Simmons

Georgia Steel

Yukinflake

CELLOS:

Monika Bauer

Lore Burns

Ellen

Ginger

Christine Howe

Les Hughes

Nicolas Mansart

Jackie Rogers

Angela Schmidt

Teresa Slonaker

Tanja Zett

DOUBLE BASSES:

Heidi Herbert-Lovern

Randall White

CHOIR:

Heather Ackroyd

Denis Andreev

Galia Bahat

Monika Bauer

Zoe Beaney

Hannah Beaton

Monika Berberich

Jessica Brinkley

Ksenia Bulyzhnik

Lore Burns

Emily Byers

Steven Chao

S. Clay

Lucy Courage

Darlene Crumly

Camila de Camargo Pereira

C. David Dent

Angela Dunlap

James East

Greg Ebdon

Kaitlin Embury

Angela Evrard

Jennifer Finch

Elisabeth Flaum

Brennen French

Glory Friend

Karin Fujii

Caryn Fulda

María Celeste Fux

Troy Gale

Shannon Graham

Victoria Gray

Brenda Han

Rachael Hapeman

Susan Henry

Paula Herrington Ishee

John Hicks

Audrey Horn

Becca Horn

Katie Hughes

Jin Hyun

Elizabeth Karrmann

Nicole-Anne Keyton

Robin LaPasha

Kostya LaPasha

Mary Leneis

Josie Lenski

Alison Liang

Bebe Liang

Gitta Luites

Gillion Machota

Marianna

Emily McKie

Chiara Mezzavilla

Vanessa Aisha Mostafa

Kristen Murphy

Elizabeth Nelson

Lauren O'Connor

Natalie Odien

Vincent Odien

Katarina Ohlsson

Silja Ojanen

Paulette Record

rhabarberqueen

Kayla Roberts

Melissa Rowlands

Tamsyn Sanders

Esther Scherpenisse

Scriptorpaulina

Małgorzata Słabosz

Justin Steger

Marcey Taylor

Clarisse Thomas

David Valdez

Zuzana Vaneková

Rachel W.

Rebecca Walker

Lucy Webb

Hilary Weston

Brad Williams

Stephen Willis

Jesse Wilson

Rosa York

Yukinflake

And now we are one: the DWFO's virtual anniversary

On this day, March 29, one year ago, Stephen Willis posted in the world's main Doctor Who online forum. He suggested a virtual orchestra, with choir, and that it be called the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra. He offered his arrangement of Murray Gold's 'I am the Doctor,' in 16 parts and SATB choir, and then offered to mix together our audiorecordings. So we responded; my own first reply was "What key is it in?" A week later violist Jalen Lee suggested adding video to the audio--I mention that because although it seems obvious in hindsight, the first project and its primary features did not start out as a sure thing!

Next came the generous, gutsy, and passionate work of three dozen musical Doctor Who fans, some patience and nail-biting while waiting for submissions, and finally Stephen's careful mixing. The results went to YouTube in early July 2011, and so began the next stages of this wild and wonderful ride. We made history--but even more so than we realized at the time. For this first anniversary of the DWFO, allow me to show my pride in our now-hundreds of members, and most of all in Stephen's perseverance and hard work--by pointing out our frankly amazing, pioneering accomplishments.

Looking back, it began with the Whitacre Virtual Choir in 2009; its volunteers worldwide submit performances of the composer's vocal works under his direction. There have also been proposals and recruiting for several virtual amateur orchestras (i.e. instrumental groups)--the idea was a thriving internet meme of 2011.

But to my knowledge, the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra is:
- the first virtual orchestra to actually produce and release a work (whether fan or mainstream repertoire, professional or amateur basis!);
- the first to combine orchestral and choral elements in a large virtual collaboration; and
- the first internationally-based fan orchestra.

As others on this blog have pointed out: the membership, the score partitures, and in fact the musicianship, have all expanded tremendously since that first DWFO piece last summer. We are also proud to have inspired the recent creation of the Sherlock Fan Orchestra. Time will tell if other groups--and fandoms--follow suit. In the meantime, Stephen is planning more DWFO projects this (second) year, and we think you'll like them. Stay tuned for... well, just stay tuned!

Robin LaPasha
Assistant Coordinator

You Are Not Alone… -- by Heather Ackroyd (Clarinet/Soprano)

We’re now three pieces in and the Doctor Who Fan Orchestra keeps getting stronger. So far we’ve more or less doubled our numbers with each new piece, from a mere 36 for “I Am the Doctor” to 78 for “This is Gallifrey/Vale Decem” and now a staggering 154 for “Rose’s Theme/Doomsday”. Some of our members have expressed their mixed emotions at the overwhelming online response to our latest endeavour, but I think Robin (LaPasha, assistant co-ordinator) coined it perfectly when she said the word we were looking for is “humbled”.

I spent my secondary school years in bands and orchestras and choirs, but over the past couple of decades most of my musical adventures have been limited to singing in the shower or along with CDs in the car. My clarinet has barely been dusted off in all that time, although it was one of the few possessions I insisted on taking with me when I moved from Australia to the US. From time to time I thought about joining a local choir or band, but usually I never got further than just thinking about it.

Then I saw a link to “I Am the Doctor”. When I realised what it was, that people had performed their parts individually and Stephen Willis had crafted them into an amazing whole, my first emotion was delight that someone had taken the time and effort to do this, followed quickly by deep regret that I hadn’t learned about the project while it was still being conceived. Imagine my joy when I discovered there were plans to do a second piece. Here was a chance to be part of a group of people brought together by their love for two things that were also dear to my heart – music and Doctor Who.

When we got the music for “This is Gallifrey/Vale Decem” I found that learning and playing a part without a conductor was a new challenge. Stephen provided click tracks of his arrangement for us to use for timing and tuning, but it was a far cry from being surrounded by your fellow musicians as you learned the piece together under the guidance of a conductor. This method of producing a part forces you to listen carefully to what you’re doing and to self-correct as much as possible. This is where the Facebook group comes in especially handy, as we can ask our technical questions and get feedback. Sometimes someone would ask about an aspect of the piece that I hadn’t even considered, and I could incorporate the response into what I was doing. It all goes towards making us sound unified.

But none of that explains the emotion. My first few recordings for “Doomsday” were ruined by me choking up with tears halfway through. Only part of that was due to the piece itself. It’s beautiful and poignant, and is played over a scene full of loss and longing. But more than that, it was the knowledge of what I was part of that made me weep. I knew that all over the world other people were standing before their microphones, listening to Stephen’s click track, and singing or playing their hearts out to create something magical.

It turns out I was surrounded by my fellow musicians after all.

DWFO #3: "Rose's Theme / Doomsday"

The Doctor Who Fan Orchestra are proud to present their third collaboration: "Rose's Theme / Doomsday" by Murray Gold.

An MP3 file of the final mix can be downloaded from here: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8058374/DWFO%20%233%20-%20Rose%27s%20Theme%20-%20Doom...

Check out our Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/DoctorWhoFanOrchestra

This final mix includes a total of 177 submissions from 154 individual participants, ranging in age from 11 to 57, and who are located in at least 18 different countries across the world, including: United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Spain, France, Russia, Brazil, Canada, Finland, Hong Kong, Israel, Latvia, Norway, Poland, Singapore, Sweden and Switzerland.

Arranged and co-ordinated by Stephen Willis

Assistant Co-ordinator: Robin LaPasha

Piano solo: Natalie Odien

Lead Guitar: Steve Foxon

Vocal Soloists: Heather Ackroyd; Allie Savage; Rachel Adcock; Catherine Geiger

The next piece will be "Dalek Suite" (featuring music from Series One to Five). To take part, look out for instructions in the upcoming promo.

Thanks to all participants!