A “funky, weird, tingly feeling”

by | Apr 15, 2006 | Mahler

Jetlag- my constant companion…. Though I was completely wiped out after day one of the preparatory orchestra retreat, I find I wake up long, long before my alarm goes off, only to fall in and out of sleep until it finally starts screeching. At this point, I enter a...

Side Trip

by | Apr 14, 2006 | Mahler

After the second rehearsal I can’t resist a trip to the local cowboy bar with some of my colleagues in the orchestra. While there, Peter, who should already be well on his way back to Portland, very kindly stops in to let me know the other horn player said yes. What a...

Down to work

by | Apr 13, 2006 | Mahler

One of my basic conducting philosophies is that one should give the players at least two opportunities to play without fear of being corrected or interrupted- two chances where they can be absolutely fearless and take risks. For me, those are the first rehearsal and...

First Rehearsal

by | Apr 11, 2006 | Mahler

Finally, the first rehearsal is here. After all the buildup, it’s a surprisingly normal evening.    A word about the OES: We have a consistent local core of musicians, most of whom have been with the orchestra for a long time, who come to all of our rehearsals. They...

Calm before…..

by | Apr 10, 2006 | Mahler

I land in Seattle and have two messages on my voice mail from our principal trumpet. It seems that the third trumpet’s promise to find someone meant that he would ask the principal to find someone for him.  Actually, James is remarkably good humored about it (he would...

It starts to get interesting

by | Apr 8, 2006 | Mahler

Performing a Mahler symphony is like power lifting in ice skates. The musical demands are immense- it is heavy lifting for everyone- and yet the complicated logistics of extra players, off stage instruments, soloists and so on mean that you’re constantly putting...