I really enjoyed going to Matt Bengston and Aaron Berofsky’s open rehearsal. Hearing classical music live is always a beautiful experience in my opinion. But what I loved seeing at this rehearsal was how they really brought the piece to life. In my choir rehearsals in high school and in chorale here at Cornell I have learned that every musician has the important role of interpreting a piece and bringing it to life. A pencil should ALWAYS be on hand so that you can be ready to write in dynamics, breathe marks, pauses, and other edits to add musicality to the piece. That is exactly what they were doing in this open rehearsal and I loved seeing their process. I could hear how the piece became less dry as they interpreted it and added crescendos and fermatas. It was truly beautiful and inspiring to hear. I am in awe of how quickly they were able to think of and implement these changes as well. I remember them specifically going over one part and talking about how it should sound more like a question than a statement and to decresendo, pause, and then play the next part forte to really enunciate that. When they played that part with those changes I could really hear the difference in what they were trying to communicate. I was dumbfounded because I have always found this process somewhat difficult. I try to stick with just what the composer has written and leave any major edits to the conductor or choir director. I found it inspiring how easily they found ways to make the piece sound incredible and demonstrate what they thought the composer was trying to say in each part of the piece.