Post of Actual Content?
Apr. 28th, 2008 01:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
av8rmikeThis past weekend ended up being a lot busier than I'd expected. Friday night I had a ticket to see the Baltimore Symphony play Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique with Yan Pascal Tortelier conducting. Or rather, as Casey and Art put it, "doing an interpretive dance while the orchestra played." Still, it was one of the most exciting performances of that piece I'd ever seen, and I'm not the only one who thinks so.
Saturday I had to be up early to drive out to Westminster for a 9:00 rehearsal with the college choir out there. The rehearsal went pretty well, but it sucked having to drive 45 minutes each way, then be home and tired at 12:30. I actually ended up napping for most of the afternoon (even though it was really nice outside) because I had to be out at the school in Columbia that evening. Three other orchestra members and I had formed a string quartet to play background music for a silent auction, all part of the Howard County Arts Council gala. Our quartet had rehearsed a couple of times, but I guess people weren't concentrating enough, or were distracted by heat, lack of light, etc., because we actually had to stop and start a few times. I was a little disappointed because I thought we could have done better, and I don't think I was to blame. (Anyone who's watched me play would probably find me was tremendously easy to follow.)
Anyhow, we only had to play for an hour, then we could sample all the vendor's food. After all the hors d'oeuvres, cake, bread pudding, etc., I think it was safe to say I was ending Passover early. The other exciting thing was when the chef from the Elkridge Furnace Inn nearly set me and the building on fire when he decided to de-glaze his skillet with alcohol. I'm standing there eating and all of a sudden there's a three-foot tower of flame next to me. However, it was fine and we all escaped with our eyebrows intact. It certainly drew a lot of attention. =)
Sunday I had to make that drive to Westminster again for the actual concert. The concert went well enough, but I think people weren't expecting the conductor to go slower in some sections, so there were a few places where things weren't really together. The hard parts of the Beethoven were much easier, though. At least tonight's rehearsal is a sectional and I don't have to have everything learned, because we're going to spend most of tonight learning it.
Saturday I had to be up early to drive out to Westminster for a 9:00 rehearsal with the college choir out there. The rehearsal went pretty well, but it sucked having to drive 45 minutes each way, then be home and tired at 12:30. I actually ended up napping for most of the afternoon (even though it was really nice outside) because I had to be out at the school in Columbia that evening. Three other orchestra members and I had formed a string quartet to play background music for a silent auction, all part of the Howard County Arts Council gala. Our quartet had rehearsed a couple of times, but I guess people weren't concentrating enough, or were distracted by heat, lack of light, etc., because we actually had to stop and start a few times. I was a little disappointed because I thought we could have done better, and I don't think I was to blame. (Anyone who's watched me play would probably find me was tremendously easy to follow.)
Anyhow, we only had to play for an hour, then we could sample all the vendor's food. After all the hors d'oeuvres, cake, bread pudding, etc., I think it was safe to say I was ending Passover early. The other exciting thing was when the chef from the Elkridge Furnace Inn nearly set me and the building on fire when he decided to de-glaze his skillet with alcohol. I'm standing there eating and all of a sudden there's a three-foot tower of flame next to me. However, it was fine and we all escaped with our eyebrows intact. It certainly drew a lot of attention. =)
Sunday I had to make that drive to Westminster again for the actual concert. The concert went well enough, but I think people weren't expecting the conductor to go slower in some sections, so there were a few places where things weren't really together. The hard parts of the Beethoven were much easier, though. At least tonight's rehearsal is a sectional and I don't have to have everything learned, because we're going to spend most of tonight learning it.
