Getting In on the Act

I played one of the best concerts of my career the other night.  It was amazing--a sold-out audience, inspiring conductor, top-notch orchestra, exciting music and thrilling soloists.  It was one of those experiences that come along once in a great while.  It capped off a pretty amazing month.

The end of the concert season brought an abundance of great musical moments.  First, there was Beethoven's Ninth with our Music Director Emeritus, Lawrence Leighton Smith.  The very next week brought our new Music Director, Josep Caballe'-Domenech to conduct Bruckner's 7th Symphony.  A week later I subbed with the Colorado Symphony and played Mahler's Ninth.

The musicians reading this will appreciate what goes into preparing and performing these works.  Orchestral playing requires a very specific tool set.  We must learn our music, read our music, watch the conductor, watch the concertmaster, play with our stand partner, play with our section, listen to the rest of the orchestra in order to blend sound, volume and tuning.  Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 is performed more frequently than the others but still has to be practiced every time.  All three works are more than an hour long.  They are technically and physically wrought with challenges.  Electrifying while at the same time, exhausting.  All this is done in a concert hall with an audience that is expected to sit quietly until all the movements are complete.  Then they may clap and/or leap to their feet.

Maybe it sounds like I'm complaining.  On the contrary, performing works like these keep me inspired.  They make me look forward to next season.  Masterworks are worth every bit of the effort it takes to play them.  These pieces remind me of the training and practice I invested in myself. 

In spite of all that great, inspiring music, sometimes a girl just wants to have fun.  No Beethoven, Bruckner or Mahler were performed on my favorite concert of the season.  In fact, this show couldn't have been further from the Viennese masters.  When I told my friends, neighbors and children that I was playing Mahler some might have nodded with understanding.  It's quite a different reaction when you tell folks you're playing with Earth, Wind and Fire.  Honest to gosh.  The band came into town two weeks ago and hired a 31-piece string section for their concert at Red Rocks.  It was carefree and joyful and just about the most fun I've had with a viola in my hands.  We danced in our seats, we laughed, we cheered, we took pictures.  Never have I seen a bunch of orchestral musicians so happy.  I'm going to remember this one for a long time.  Yep, Shining Stars for one night, we danced our cares away in Boogie Wonderland.