An article in today’s Merc says that Opera San Jose is on the verge of getting an anonymous 2 milion dollar gift.
Whoa.
The article goes on to say that other arts groups may be receiving some generoua anonymous gifts as well. This is all very good news. As long as it is true, of course. I’m always nervous when I read something that is an almost-but-not-quite-done-deal. Still, it all sounds pretty close to definite.
Are there any anonymous folks out there who want to make a donation here?
… silence …
Yeah. I kinda figured!
Ballet San Jose just announced their next season. They are using Symphony Silicon Valley more. Nice. Only trouble is that both Carmina Burana and Swan Lake conflict directly with Opera San José. Not nice. This is the trouble with being in several groups that don’t share a hall. I guess I should just look on the bright side; Symphony Silicon Valley and Opera San Jose are both in the California Theatre. Whew.
On my way to UCSC today I listened to Copland’s third symphony. You know the one—it includes Fanfare for the Common Man. So at least you know part of it, even if you don’t know you know. There’s not a ton of English horn, but there’s a bit. I’ve played it before, and I can’t recall stressing over it. I’m hoping that’s the case. If it’s non-stressful it would be a great time to test out reeds for Ravel’s Piano Concerto. That’s a piece I LOVE to play … as long as the reed is (reeds are?) right.
It’s all about the reed, you know? Even Lance knows that. Don’t ya think? (Or do you think he knows what an oboe is? Hmmm. Kind of doubtful, I suppose.)
Driving on to campus there were deer right off the road. This is typical of this incredible campus; sometimes you’ll run into a line of cars that have stopped for a deer crossing. What a place to go to school!
More later … reeds, instruments and students for now.
Fantastic news about the OSJ donation. I’m sure they’ll use that money to give the chorus members a raise, right? … Right?
Interesting that the ballet is doing Carmina Burana again. I sang with them the last time they did it. It was lots of fun, actually (unfortunately, the other two times I sang with the ballet were nightmares). I wonder if they’ll need another singer for Carmina (since I won’t be doing Werther).
Yeah, it IS great news, isn’t it? I think all the $$ go to the oboe player so she can purchase enough oboe reeds for the rest of her career.
I guess to sing in Carmina you’d need to audition for the choir that will be a part of it. I don’t know if you’d be interested in doing that.
I find working with ballet to be a difficutl thing sometimes. Music at the mercy of dance doesn’t always thrill me. 🙂
I used to sing with that choir, and I know the director. If they need another voice, I can probably do it. Problem is, I don’t want (nor do I have the time) to commit to their full season, and/or the full rehearsal schedule. So basically, I’d like to be a diva and walk in shortly before the performances. I’m not sure they’d go for that…
And I fully understand the “music at the mercy of dance” thing. The second time I sang with the ballet, it was Beethoven’s 9th. And because of space limitations, we could only have 60 singers (not nearly enough) and for “aesthetic” reasons, we were at the very back of the CPA stage, behind a scrim, with really awful microphones hanging over our heads that only picked up the voices of the 2-3 singers directly underneath them. It was not an artistically fulfilling performance for the choir.
As for the third time, it was music I didn’t like sung to pre-recorded accompaniment. Enough said.
I missed the 9th … and I was glad. 🙂
I’m just gald that they continue to hire us; we all need the bucks, even if it isn’t our favorite thing to do!