{"id":2009,"date":"2010-11-13T18:03:18","date_gmt":"2010-11-13T17:03:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=2009"},"modified":"2010-11-29T15:01:37","modified_gmt":"2010-11-29T14:01:37","slug":"on-the-skis-at-the-top-of-a-new-run-part-v","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2010\/11\/13\/on-the-skis-at-the-top-of-a-new-run-part-v\/","title":{"rendered":"On the skis, at the top of a new run, Part V"},"content":{"rendered":"

On tour with Ensemble Epomeo<\/a>, Day 7<\/p>\n

Yesterday morning, all that remained (after the stack of emails) was the final 100 miles or so to the Manchester Airport, a quick flight to Philly and concert at Penn. Hah! As we pulled away from the house, I heard an ominous noise. \u201cStop the car,\u201d I told David. I jumped out of the car and my eyes confirmed what my ears had feared- the left rear tire was completely flat. It suddenly looked all-but-certain that we would miss our flight. Fate smiled- just a block or so away, we saw a tire shop, and after some faffing (mechanics worldwide don’t really seem to know the word “urgent”), they managed to fix the flat. Our wiggle room gone, we raced off hoping to make up lost time. About half way there, our Mapquest directions led us towards oblivion- thank goodness for Google Maps on the iPhone, which got us back on the right road.<\/p>\n

Finally, we got back to Manchester airport. I left David to sort the car and raced to the check-in counter, as I knew that checking in with the cello can take extra time, and extra time we didn\u2019t really have. The agent was nice, but quickly got “that look.” She called over two more agents, who also got “that same look.” David came and checked in, as did Caroline, and strolled up to the gate, while my agent stood holding a phone, face still frozen in that look. I felt myself slowly sinking into a mire of irritation and despair. \u00a0And so it remained, while Southwest Airlines spent over an hour trying to print my boarding pass and that for my cello. An entire football team (UNH) came and went. Seasons changed. Children were born and old men died. Finally, in despair, the agent gave me \u201ca security pass\u201d so I could go to the gate, hopefully to pick up my boarding pass there. This \u201csecurity pass\u201d had an interesting effect on the TSA- it was a bit like printing up a sheet of paper that said \u201cI bomb planes\u201d and handing it to them. TSA agents circled like vultures, held back only by curiosity about what the supervisor\u2019s supervisor would do when he arrived. The head of Southwest was summoned (who didn\u2019t seem to be the least bit surprised that I\u2019d been waiting to check in for well over an hour). Grudgingly, they let me pass. When I got to the gate, Caroline was waiting with a turkey sandwich- my first food of the day (and destined to be my only food until after the concert)<\/p>\n

At the gate, the new agent was waiting for me- she’d been briefed on my approach. \u201cWe\u2019ll just print that up for you now!\u201d she chirped. Then she<\/em> got” that look.” Then she got back on the phone. “The look” now frozen on her face- a mixture of perplexity and contempt, as if daring me to roll my eyes, she cupped the mouthpiece and told me \u201cthis happens all the time with extra seats, especially with our \u201clarger customers.\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n

In the end, I never did get a boarding pass- the other gate agent just shrugged, waved me on, and said \u201cwe\u2019ll print it tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n

When we arrived in Philadelphia, there were other things to worry about- notably the bow situation, which would take priority over lunch or dinner. I took the Hill back to the shop where it had been done- they were pretty apologetic and offered to loan me another bow for the concert. I also showed them my newly-hexed J W Lee bow. The shop owner said something snooty about me tightening the bow too much and playing on the stick- who do these guys think they are? Fortunately, the \u201cbow guy\u201d was super cool. He was mortified that the Hill had given out after being played only 20 minutes, and offered to do an instant re-hair on mine, rather than loaning me a foreign stick. 1 hour later, I had my bow back, playing like a dream, even if it was tightened too tight and I was playing on the stick.<\/p>\n

That was 5 PM on Friday- time to get to the concert hall. We fought our way across Philly in rush hour traffic. I hadn\u2019t played a note since our concert in Halifax on Wednesday. I also had to rosin in the bow- a newly re-haired bow is bound to have slippery spots. We touched a few spots in Schnittke, Smith<\/a> and Beethoven, with me re-rosining every few moments. The bow felt great, the cello sounded totally transformed, and it was a nice hall. In what seemed like five minutes, the audience was there, and we were playing. Not a huge crowd, but a nice one, and I think we played pretty well- it was great to have Kile Smith there to hear Thrice Blest, which we’ve enjoyed immensely- we’re looking forward to premiering the expanded version of the work in May at the Two Rivers Festival. I was particularly happy with Schnittke and Beethoven, and we played the alla Marcia<\/em> from G\u00e1l as an encore. After all day\u2019s dramas, starting with the flat tire, it was just a huge relief to have gotten to, and through, the gig.<\/p>\n

Tonight is the final concert of our run in Princeton- tomorrow we teach all day at a chamber music retreat and I fly back that evening to London. The pace starts to pick up from here- two piano rehearsals with Mahler soloists on Monday when I arrive, string sectional on Schumann and Gal symphonies with OOTS in Stratford on Tuesday, more coachings in London on Wed, then Friday, we\u2019re recording Das Lied von der Erde and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen in Shipston. I feel like I\u2019ve been on the skis going full-tilt for a long time, but I just realized I\u2019m only at the top of the hill, and the big moguls are still ahead.<\/p>\n

___________________<\/p>\n

PS- you can follow Ensemble Epomeo on our Facebook Page here.<\/a><\/p>\n