A young oboist is taking apart the staple of an oboe reed. He seems to think the metal is copper.
It’s just kind of cute. Maybe it’s because I’m a mom. Or I teach younger students.
“… double part of the wooden panels.” Hmmm.
“… and that’s … all ….”
Josh Kornbluth. Oboe. Klezmer. In Berkeley. With another player.
You can get the info here.
Info:
Saturday, 7.30pm in the courtyard of Berkeley Rep.
Kornbluth says, “Frankly, I can’t think of a better way to warm up than playing the oboe.”
Me neither. 😉
And no, I doubt I’ll get to this event; it’s about the gas expense and trying to be responsible and not drive and all that jazz. You know? But still, it’s tempting.
FUN FACT The score was composed by Oscar winner Elmer Bernstein (Thoroughly Modern Millie). So that explains all the oboe solos during the sentimental parts…
Well duh. That explains all those oboe solos.
Or not. Not when the movie that they bring up is Throughly Modern Millie, anyway. (Couldn’t they have chosen a better movie as “his”?) Hmmm.
Then again, the quote above is from Entertainment Weekly, suggesting I see the movie Meatballs. (I do like Bill Murray, but somehow I doubt this movie would be my cuppa.) And yeah, Bernstein did win an Oscar for TMM. I find that fairly amusing, but I guess they don’t judge the music by the movie.
“Music is fluid like water,” the conductor, Edwin Outwater, calls over the rumble of breaking waves. “Like water, music’s this ever-changing force that is bigger than you, but you can’t let it overwhelm you.”
He stops paddling and straddles his surfboard. Facing the open Pacific, he bobs like a cork on waves not yet worth riding.
He waits. In surfing, as in music, timing is everything.
Time has been on the 36-year-old’s mind lately.
Outwater is just weeks away from officially beginning his tenure as music director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, charged with the unenviable responsibility of rebuilding the institution from the rubble of near-bankruptcy.
Okay … the guy is a surfer. And his name is Outwater. And he’s going to be conducting the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.
I mean, well, it made ME laugh. But some might suggest I’m all wet.
I do hope the guy can keep his new orchestra afloat.
This guy doesn’t sound like a “serious classical musician” to me!
The Swedish clarinetist — a serious classical musician with plenty of high-brow credentials — often glides on in-line skates during performances, dances or dons elaborate costumes and stage make-up, in an effort to bring elements of modern dance and theater to classical performances.
Here’s the thing: classical musicians can be quite fun and extremely funny.
Now I’m guessing the author meant “serious” as in being earnest and diligent in one’s craft, but I always get a kick out of people who assume we are pretty darn staid and boring folk.
In Other News … I finally took a music “test” to see if I could distinguish between male and female performers. It’s called the Music Gender Identification Survey, brought to my attention by Peter Kaye. Check it out.
I went in a skeptic, and I remain so. Aside from hearing some breaths being taken by a few wind players (and even then I wasn’t certain of the gender) I haven’t a clue what gender the players are. Nor do I care; music simply about gender to me. BUT … you knew there’s be a “but” didn’t you? … it did make me think about what gender I “randomly” (not believing much of anything is truly random) decided to choose. Was it about the instrument? Is cello more male than flute? Does the instrument’s range make me choose a certain way? Is a trumpet so masculine I can’t choose female for that? The style of the work? Would slow and romantic make me choose a woman and were the works that were more angular sounding masculine? The answers to these questions won’t be answered here; I don’t want to sway any of you. Well, except even asking them can sway you, can’t it? (Sorry!) I sure wish they would have provided the answers at the end. Will I be left forever guessing?
So that test did make me think a bit.
Seriously.
