Remember my Mr. Nut photos from the Nutcracker run? If you don’t, just click on this to find a few I posted back then. (There were a lot more on twitter!)
Well … friend and French hornist Beth Zare sent me this Craigslist item.
I think Mr. Nut would die of fear, but I sure wish I could have that guy!
I’m done with ballet for this year. I really enjoyed this run, and it was quite unstressful — I had tiny solos, but they were the sort no one even notices, I’m sure, and certainly nothing that makes me nervous. We had a guest conductor who I found enjoyable to work with. He had us seated differently and I think it was an improvement from our normal seating, even while it meant I no longer get to see a thing; I was sitting underneath the lip of the stage. Ah well … the “best seat in the pit” was fun while it lasted! This new seat does allow me to hear the strings a lot better, and I like that.
Below are a few photos of my view from the pit.
Our conductor, Andrew Mogrelia (sorry for the dim photo):
Mr. Nut visited us at the final performance:
The brass section:
Some of the strings:
I always enjoy the differences between opera, symphony and ballet audiences. It would be very rare to see people dressed this way for a symphony concert!
Next up is La bohème, but this week I have no work at all … well … aside from seventeen students!
Not much to post here at the moment. I’m busy with Nuts. As folks on Facebook and Twitter know, Mr. Nut has become the star of my tweets and FB posts. 😉
Here are a few samples:
Mr. Nut thinks it’s nap time! It’s only intermission:
Mr. Nut is feeling sort of bad about the mouse incident.
In case some of you are worried, thinking I do this stuff during the performance, take heart! I only take the photos before we begin and during intermission. The iPhone is off while I’m playing. I know there are musicians who actually text during performances, but I won’t go there. I think once that door is opened we are entering the danger zone!
And now I have to quickly have a bite to eat and head on over to the hall. It’s a double service day; shows at 1:35 and 7:35!
