Wow, last week was a busy week. Between the massive practicing I’m doing (recording projects in the future) and doing the parental thing I managed to catch three concerts, two of which I was directly involved with. They have caused me to muse out loud……
Both of my boys are now playing instruments, eldest on violin and his brother on cello. When we went searching for teachers it wasn’t hard to find good ones since we ARE in the business, but in some ways we didn’t know what we were getting into. Now we are under the influence of the good Doctor, and I don’t mean Doctor Feelgood.
Yes, Suzuki has taken over our lives. I’m of at least three minds when it comes to Suzuki programs. Some of these people obviously take themselves way too seriously and need to be reminded that music is about enjoyment. Be that as it may – eldest had his statewide Suzuki program concert Sunday last at Orchestra hall in Minneapolis. All the top students got together to receive their trophies (trophies?) and play together. It’s a little creepy seeing a couple hundred kids up on stage all playing the same thing at the same time in the same way ……… kind of reminds one of those odd “news feeds” that come out of North Korea. None the less, five of the top graduates played solos and there are some excellent young violinists on the horizon coming out of Minnesota. There was also this little 8 year old girl who was graduating from level 8 – I predict that you will hear about this astonishing talent before too long. Perhaps the strangest moment of the day came when we were going to the hall. Out on the plaza there was this young Mod-rocker, complete with long hair and black leather, strutting his stuff with his electric guitar and practicing all of his Guitar Hero moves. The funny thing was that he had the damn thing plugged into earphones so despite everything he was the only one who could hear himself! It was a little odd.
Wednesday last found me in Edmonton conducting a special with the ESO. Every orchestra does this to make money although the Convincesualists would have you believe that we could play Mahler 24/7/365 and be awash in geld. Good luck with that. On this concert we ended up playing the music of Mr. William Joel, sometimes known as Billy, with Michael Cavanaugh, star of Movin’ Out. Dealing with “big stars” is a colossal pain in the tuchus since they usually have an ego larger than the complete conducting roster of IMG (or any other New York management concern for that matter) but to my great surprise we actually wandered into an exception. Michael and his band were absolutely easy to work with, very funny, and they put on a great show. Being a child of the ’80s I discovered that I knew every last song in the show, and also that the songs would stick in my head for days on end (Seppuku was fast becoming an option). Mr. William Joel has an interest in classical music and there are two “classical” numbers of his in the show. I must admit that the Waltz I quite liked. Who knew?
Later that same week we went to the circus. The Cirque de la Symphonie group was in town. They have been making the rounds the last few years and have gotten some rave reviews. I now understand why. It’s a terrific show, extremely popular (we had to add another concert to accommodate our audiences) and, once again, they were fabulous to work with. Very easy, very funny, knew exactly what they needed. My friend Aaron has some terrific photos of them tagged on his Facebook page. If you’re within spitting distance of one of their shows, or if you are with an orchestra considering booking them – have at it. You will be highly entertained. Those of you who claim to have some expertise in Yoga will be left slack-jawed at the Strong Men routine at the end.
All in all it was an exciting week – now back to practicing.