French Horns Rule!

Principal French Horn Jane Swanson posted this as a comment a while back, but I think it deserves to be in the "main" part of the blog:

"David writes about various ways musicians unwind after a performance. I offer a few comments about what some of us do to prepare for a performance.



Some orchestra members have probably observed over time that the horn section tends to do mini-problem-solving before, at breaks, and after rehearsals. What you wouldn't have a chance to observe is that for every concert, we also have one or two section rehearsals at one of our homes. Scheduling these is no small feat, but we find them very useful. We can hear each other better so that we get each others' parts in our ears and fine-tune lengths of notes, intonation and style. It is kind of magical how it boosts confidence.



I would also like to take this opportunity to thank each member of the horn section for her/his terrific teamwork. I am the main beneficiary, as the section helps me pace my chops and offers kindly words of wisdom when performance anxiety rears its unwelcome head. Larisa, Jennifer and Kelli have long felt like immediate family, and for the last two concerts with "heavy" horn parts, it has been very helpful to have Greg Magie on board as assistant first horn.



The Tuesday before our Mahler performance, Jennifer ( who is young) and I (not young) drove to Disney Hall to hear the Vienna Philharmonic perform Bruckner Sym. #9, getting back to SLO after 2 a.m. Nutty but very worthwhile! It was inspiring to hear Vienna's clean playing, perfect blend, and huge dynamic range. I do think it helped us to aim a bit higher as we approached the Mahler performance. Hopefully we can keep some of that inspiration alive for Beethoven in May!



Enough of what the horn section does! We really could not have any fun at all without the rest of the orchestra, so thanks to strings (devils included), winds, our brass friends ( and spouses of Larisa and Jennifer) across the way, and the percussion and keyboard sections for making the whole picture work!"

Blog Updates and Michael Jackson

Hi everyone, I hope the summer’s been fun and relaxing for you so far. The blog’s on a summer hiatus, but recently Patty Thayer and I attended a “webinar” (isn’t that a great word – means web seminar) on blogging called “Is Blogging Yesterday's News? No Way!: The Why and How of Blogging.” We were pleased to learn that a lot of what we should be doing, we’re already doing. What can I say, we rock. Nevertheless, we did pick up a few tips.

We’ve added a few features to the blog. You see to the left that you can now subscribe via email. Just click the link, follow the instructions, and you’ll have new blog entries delivered right to your email inbox. (Don’t worry about clutter – as you know, I only write about 2-3 blogs per month). At the bottom of the page, there are other options: adding the blog to Google Reader, following, etc. Also I’ve updated with links to a few other blogs of note (if you know of any others that would be good to link to, let me know).

In terms of content, I’ll keep writing about A-Z in the orchestra plus anything else that comes up. We’d also like to have some guest bloggers – perhaps we can encourage our soloists to write a bit, and if you would like to write something, that would be great. The more the merrier! If you have any ideas for the blog, please let me know.

As must be known by now, I have a serious YouTube addiction. Here are a few videos I’ve found recently that I thought you might enjoy. In honor of summer, here’s “Summer Nights” from Grease.

Following up on the webinar, I did some checking on the SLO Symphony’s online

presence and found this gem: our own Peggy Whitson, violist, teacher, TV star.

While I’m writing, I can’t not mention the biggest news in the music world we’ve had for some time: the death of Michael Jackson. You’re probably tired of the non-stop media coverage, so I won’t add more commentary. Except for a few things: when the video for “Thriller” premiered in 1983, I was 12. Even at that age I was aware that it was event television. I knew kids in junior high who wore the red jacket and one sequined glove to school. I was never a huge MJ fan: never bought his albums or attended a concert, but his music was all around, inescapable. I was talking about him with my 20-something viola student, whom I suspected of not remembering him in his prime, but she replied, “My older sister had a fan club! We would dance to his music at slumber parties.”

People have spoken at length of MJ as groundbreaking, a trailblazer, crossing boundaries. Here are a few videos that speak to his influence on young classically trained musicians. First is a violinist.

This version of “Billie Jean” for cello quartet (same guy on all parts) is pretty awesome.

This is not for faint of heart: an electric violinist improvising on “Billie Jean” in a subway tunnel.

This guy is too much fun.

Here’s MJ himself.

Best, DH