Well nothing gets your inbox hopping like having your picture on the font page of the Sunday edition of the state-wide paper.<\/p>\n
The Oregonian ran a huge feature article by their senior music critic, David Stabler, on the Oregon East Symphony\u2019s performance of Mahler 1 two weeks ago. We\u2019d known the story was coming- David and Stephanie Yao, the photographer, had been out for most of the week doing endless interviews and photo-shoots. You can read the article \u201cRound-Up the unusual suspects: Two months after a disastrous fire guts its offices, Pendleton’s unlikely symphony orchestra gives Mahler the ride of his life\u201d\u00a0 here<\/font><\/a>, and see the video\/multimedia piece, which is brilliantly done,\u00a0here<\/font><\/a>.<\/p>\n In addition to hearing from friends, I\u2019ve had a few requests for comments or clarifications on the piece, which, in the new world of horizontal media, I\u2019m happy to make here.<\/p>\n First, let me say how much it meant to the organization that David and Stephanie put so much into this story and that the editors of the Oregonian thought we were important enough to merit such huge coverage. For a couple of years now, orchestra and musicians coming through town have been telling us that they sense something special is happening in Pendleton- hopefully this also causes a couple of light-bulbs to go on in Pendleton itself that important changes are afoot in their town. I know David had wanted to cover even more ground in the story- it must be very difficult working with editors. I\u2019m glad I don\u2019t have one here.<\/p>\n My one disappointment, and I\u2019m sure this is a reflection of how things got edited in the end, is that there was not as much of a focus on the long-term, local members of the orchestra as there could have been. It\u2019s actually made me feel that I should maybe make a new feature here- \u201cwho\u2019s playing.\u201d Something that would give me a chance to highlight the unique musical lives of some of the key musicians I work with in all my orchestras. Stay tuned this week, and I\u2019ll see what I can do\u2026.<\/p>\n One factual error- Cheryl Marier has been the orchestra\u2019s principal oboist for 20 years, not 2. She\u2019s been board president twice and was our executive director for four years, during which she gave up her medical practice to run the orchestra. She\u2019s one of the many amazing and inspiring people in the orchestra. She also delivered our current executive director\u2019s baby this year- what other orchestra could that happen in. Also, I don\u2019t wear a watch- I looked at the official rehearsal clock. For the record, we had 21 violins, 6 violas, 6 cellos and four basses in the final concert. That\u2019s far from ideal, but we were fighting a number of scheduling conflicts. The horn player who came only to the concert was not exactly sight-reading- he\u2019s played the piece many times, just not with us, and he was playing sixth horn. The piece is written for 7 horns, but most orchestras use an assistant or bumper to take over or double bits of the first part.<\/p>\n Life\u2019s work<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n One quote from me is shortened to the point that the meaning of what I said could be misconstrued to be the opposite of what I intended\u2026. Here\u2019s what ran in the story-<\/p>\n Woods\u2026 says he plans to stick around. “It’s really important the orchestra get better. It’s my life’s work. I’m doing this not just as a stepping stone.” What I meant, and this is significant, is that it\u2019s really important to me the orchestra continues to\u00a0get better. It\u2019s one thing working with a small orchestra for a couple of years when you\u2019re young and trying to build your resume- you can overlook certain things and fight your way through others. Seven years in, I\u2019ve seen people\u2019s lives changed by the orchestra, but I\u2019ve also had friends and colleagues die, get divorced and go through all sorts of intense changes and challenges. At 38, I\u2019m very acutely aware that I am no longer just getting started, learning the ropes, I\u2019m out in the world, doing my life\u2019s work. That means I\u2019ve got to believe in what I\u2019m doing. That applies to every orchestra I work with and every project I\u2019m involved in, not just OES. I\u2019m wise enough now to recognize the value of what I\u2019ve found in Pendleton, but if I ever feel that we\u2019re not continuing to improve or if I feel that I\u2019m getting bored or dis-spirited musically, then it\u2019s time to leave and continue my life\u2019s work elsewhere. When David quotes me as saying \u201cI\u2019m not doing this as a stepping stone,\u201d that\u2019s right- my work with the OES has to be worth it on its own merits, but, again, Pendleton is not my life\u2019s work, my life\u2019s work is just that- the totality of my professional life, and Pendleton is a valuable and important part of it, and always will be, whether I stay for one more year or thirty. All the good things that are happening in Pendleton are happening because we\u2019ve put the focus on the music- if we take the focus off the music and start looking at this as simply a human interest story, all of that will disappear overnight.<\/p>\n The big questions<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n David\u2019s piece also brings up interesting important questions about how we rehearse and what makes musicians feel the way they do about the orchestra, and I\u2019m going to try to tackle those as honestly as I can in my next posts.<\/p>\n David\u2019s piece also brings up interesting important questions about how we rehearse and what makes musicians feel the way they do about the orchestra, and I\u2019m going to try to tackle those as honestly as I can in my next posts. \u00a0c. 2007 Kenneth Woods\u00a0<\/p>\n
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