Only play the oboe if you have big lungs
Today I teach two students, finishing up at 12:15. At 1:30 I have a symphony rehearsal, and I have yet to even see the music. I know the theme is “Hurray for Hollywood” and I believe it will include music from Gone with the Wind, Dr. Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia and James Bond (and more, I’m sure). I know that there are separate parts on some of the works for both English horn and second oboe. But that’s all I know at this point. Needless to say, I’ll have to arrive early to the rehearsal so I can go through the parts and see what I should play. I had thought the conductor might have answers, but maybe not. (Sometimes the conductors get the music rather late as well, so perhaps that’s the case with this. I honestly don’t know.) I wrote to our librarian to ask if she could contact the conductor and I heard from management receiving a “just decide what part you should play,” answer. Okay. I can do that!
First thing I do? Look for English horn solos. If there’s a solo, that’s the book I’ll play. Obviously.
Because this is an outdoor concert I can’t really go back and forth between the two parts; everything is clipped to the stand with laundry pins (remember laundry pins!?) and there’s no quick and easy way to keep pinning and unpinning while switching instruments. If it is absolutely necessary to go between parts I guess I’ll ask for two stands. We’ll see.
I’m not much for playing outdoors in many ways: it’s not great for our instruments, it’s difficult to hear and yet I have to wear earplugs because it’s so loud on stage, it’s sometimes difficult to see the conductor (I bring sunglasses but I really dislike playing with them on), it’s sometimes windy so our music is hard to deal with and I also worry about my instruments falling over. BUT, and this is a huge “BUT” as you can see (no jokes inserted here, please), I also love them for the crowds we get. They are large. They are varied. They are so very enthusiastic. And that’s what this is all about!
And hey, if you come to the concert tomorrow evening at 5:30 (but get there early!) to 4th Street and San Carlos Street, you also can get free Treat ice cream!
Need info? Go here. Oh, and there’s a show tonight as well. It’s a big band concert — big band doesn’t usually call for double reeds. Go figure!
Now to hunt down my red Target t-shirt for the concert tomorrow!
He may strike some New Yorkers as a one-man band whose occasional off-key comments can strike a discordant note, but that won’t stop Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg from conducting an orchestra Oct. 25 to celebrate the reopening of City Center. Not bad for a guy who quit piano lessons after a year because he hated to practice and whose favorite piece remains the C major scale.
In homage to the dedication of the West 55th Street building in 1943 by his predecessor Fiorello H. La Guardia, Mr. Bloomberg will conduct the Encores! orchestra at the gala reopening to start a celebratory season at the landmark city-owned hall originally built as the Ancient Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine in 1923.
I want to play drums… and the mandolin… and the oboe… (jk on the last one)
Okay … because my dear friend dk said she’d miss ’em, I guess I’ll see if I can find more. They may not all have to do with music … we’ll see! (But dk, this one is no reflection on you. Really!)
The Great Wakkarotti: The Master and His Music (from the Animaniacs)
