It’s great to be back on stage! Symphony Silicon Valley is back for what looks to be a fun set. We are doing Amram, Ellington and Gershwin and I’m playing English horn on all the works. It’s pretty unusual to have English horn on every work of a concert; not all works include the “pregnant oboe” (my term due to the bell … yes, I’m that silly) so this is a treat! (Not only that … my colleagues won’t roll their eyes and say I earn far too much for doing far too little. What can I say? Some string players think they should be paid per note. Some folks think they should be paid because they play a difficult instrument or have a lot of solos. I think I should be paid, when on EH, for the stress—sometimes I wait 30 minutes to come in on one very difficult solo and that’s all I play! That’s it: I blow that, I blow everything. AND since it’s a solo I might be butchered in a review. But I’m rambling … and, besides, this particular concert I don’t have that sort of part. Whew!)
Okay … back to whatever I was writing about … Paul Polivnick is back as conductor, and it’s always good to have him here. I think he’s especially good with tricky rhythms and the Amram is difficult for some folks, so it’s good to have him on the podium.
Of course everyone knows the Gershwin. Fun piece. Especially if you’ve seen the movie, I think. I don’t know the Ellington, so I can’t say anything about that (yet). The Amram is the toughie for the orchestra. It features three quintets: woodwind (flute, oboe (go Pam!), clarinet, French horn, bassoon), brass (two trumpets, horn, trombone, tuba) and jazz (alto sax, bari sax, electric bass, piano, drum set), and of course a full orchestra with a barrel full of percussion. I have a feeling it’ll not only be fun to hear, but fun to watch!
So have you purchased your tickets yet?
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