oboeinsight

I neglected to celebrate, but I began blogging on January 17, 2003. Time flies …

With no formatting whatsoever, here are my first month’s posts from way back when. Since these early posts there have been losses and changes, and yet some things never change. For instance, Bill Trimble, whom I mention below, is no longer with us. AMTSJ is no more. But cell phones are still ringing at concerts and my writing skills haven’t exactly improved!

January 17, 2003
Putting it Together
Welcome to my oboe blog. At this site you will eventually find links to greensheets (for university students), links to interesting oboe sites, information about any upcoming concerts I am performing as well as other concerts I think are worth a mention, and any other news and information I feel like relaying to the world.
Please be patient … getting all of this together may take a while.
January 18, 2003
Meanwhile …
Tonight is opening night for AMTSJ’s Sound of Music.
I loved the movie as a child. I remember my family getting reserved seats at the nearly new Century Theater, and I remember the huge screen (they hadn’t yet split the theater in half or thirds) with Julie Andrews on the top of a beautiful green mountain as the camera swirled around her … or was she doing the swirling? Or perhaps both were swirling? I remember being thrilled. I remember wishing that I was “Sixteen going on Seventeen” (oh to be so old!). I remember my heart pounding as the family was attempting to leave their home in the dark and they were caught. I remember, too, feeling as if the Von Trapp family was cheated because they had to quickly escape rather than pick up their first place trophy.
The musical differs from the movie which was news to me; the last time I played it the director must have rearranged everything so that it matched the movie rather than the original staged version.
Some of the differences: In this version Maria sings “My Favorite Things” while in the Abbey, and Mother Superior even joins in. Rather different than singing it with the children to calm their fears during the thunder storm! And to calm the kids she sings “The Lonely Goatherd” so there’s no puppetry as there was in the movie. Or maybe there is! How would I know? I can’t see the stage.
Is this a favorite show of mine? Far from it! But I still find that there are certain lines … “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help” … or the simple song “Edelweiss” … that can make the emotions swell.
What is it about music that can cause that to happen? And why doesn’t it happen to everyone?
January 25, 2003
New updates!
You can see, to the left, that I’ve added a Students’ Corner. I’ve included not only links to pages for SCU, UCSC and my Private Students, but a list of my upcoming performances as well. Simply click on Performance Schedule and you should see what I’m up to these days.
I will continue to update my schedule as I get more information about what I’ll be doing.
Exciting news:
I will be performing Michael Touchi’s Tango Barroco on March 28th! I love playing this work and it’s great fun to listen to. The work is for soprano sax, English horn and strings. William Trimble will be playing the sax part. We’ll be playing with the San Jose Chamber Orchestra, under the direction of Barbara Day Turner.
January 26, 2003
My resumé has been added to the site. Nothing big, but now people can see what I do in the exciting world of music!
January 27, 2003
And people think the soap operas are wild …
I’m playing Il Trovatore with Opera San Jose; opening night is this coming Saturday. I’ve played operas for years, but this is the first time I’ll do this particular Verdi work. I decided I really should read the synopsis to understand what is going on so I did a search online. You can read all about the plot at the the Met’s Il Trovatore synopsis page.
Anyone who ever jokes about the wild and crazy soap opera plots ought to read some opera synopses!
In the writing vein …
I have a new corner at the site. I put up some of my poetry. This is risky; readers may despise it, or I might shatter some notions you have about musicians.
But I’m not asking for critiques. (That’s a not-so-subtle hint!)
Now I wonder … will I need another corner to have a nice triangle, or perhaps two more to be the square sort?
Or maybe I’ll even need five corners. Quintets can be nice.
January 29, 2003
Thinking of auditioning?
Tonight at 9:00, KQED will be showing American Masters: Juilliard. I’ve not seen it, but I would suspect it would be a good thing for any serious music student to watch; if you are considering auditioning for a conservatory this might help you … or scare you away!
One of my oboe teachers gave me an article after I had decided I was going to go into the music profession (why after I’ll never know!). The main point of the article was that a person should attempt this profession only if it’s the only possible profession he or she could possibly imagine. That article was written back in the sixties I think; now it is even more difficult to succeed in this business. Just read the articles at the Arts Journal site and you’ll see how many orchestras are struggling.
Still, I don’t want to discourage students entirely … I just want people to go at this with eyes wide open.
January 30, 2003
Thinking of a performing career?
So you’ve decided the performing life is for you? You’ve weighed the pros and cons and you still know it’s all you’ve ever wanted and you know you simply can’t breathe without it?
Here are a few questions:
1) When did you last attend a live performance?
2) When is the last time you paid to attend a live performance?
Now consider these thoughts:
1) If you don’t attend live performances why do you expect anyone else to yours?
2) If no one pays to attend your performances why and how should you get paid?
So ponder. You can even argue with me! (I know that there are some somewhat “sane” arguments … I’ve come up with a few myself.)
I have more things you could ponder too, but I’ll save some of my thoughts so that I don’t run out entirely in only one post.
Sound of Music and Il Trovatore
What a contrast!
Having the two jobs overlap is wild, indeed. Everything about these two works is so different.
This is a part of my career that I truly love: I get to be in so many different worlds. I get to play such different styles. (I get to see such contrasting audiences!) I get happiness and heartbreak (yesterday, today and Saturday I get them both in one day).
Psst!
The woman playing Maria in Sound of Music is somewhere around 6 months pregnant. I love hearing her tell the Mother Superior that she is “ready to take the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.” I feel like yelling out “Too late!”
So far I’ve resisted that temptation.
***Those annoying rings and beeps…
Prior to the AMTSJ show, an announcement comes on telling people to kindly shut off all cell phones and pagers during the performance. I’m always wondering just when during the performance people will turn them off. Some people must have decided to do so after they receive that all important phone call.