"D" is for Down Time

--Which member of the SLO Symphony is vying with Rush Limbaugh and Michael Steele to be the new "voice of the Republican party"? 

--Who once showed up to rehearsal high on Robitussin and POM, ranting “they should call this group the San Luis Obispo Philharmonic. Get it? S.L.O.P.!”

--Which member of the brass section fathered one of Angelina’s Jolie’s children? 

Obviously, no one. If only it were different, I could channel Liz Smith and have something to write about. But as it is, I’ve got this “D is for Downtime” theme and I’m stuck. It’s just not working, but I couldn’t think of a better D topic. 

“D is for Dvorak?” – too narrow. “D is for David Hennessee?” – too navel-gazing. “D is for Drug Use?” – umm... no. 

Downtime is just not that interesting. In fact, it’s what we do when we’re not being interesting, i.e. playing music. “D is for Downtime” is by definition, dull. And the good parts, I can’t really write about. :) So what am I to do? I know, I’ll throw in a humorous video: “Pachelbel Rant” (cellists take note)



I just realized: the Symphony Ball was this past weekend! I should have sold some shoes or internal organs so I could afford to go (not that tickets were too pricey – it’s a benefit, after all. I’m just saving all my money these days). Maybe I could have come away with some material. Then again, whenever I attend events like this, I end up talking to the wait staff and bartenders all night. They tell great stories, but most are NSFW. 

Still, what a great honor for Pam Dassenko -- “D is for Dassenko!” I’m constantly impressed by her violin playing – elegant, sensitive, fearless – but before now I wasn’t aware that she’s also been a force for music education in the community. Congratulations, Pam!

Anyway, back to Downtime. I’ll soldier on here and do what I can. Be advised that this is not the best writing I’ve ever done (that includes checks and bathroom walls). So part of Downtime is:

Breaks
In unionized orchestras, break times are strictly mandated. The SLO Symphony isn’t unionized, but we have regular breaks. Rehearsals start at 7:30; we play till 8:15-8:45, then take a 15-20 minute break. The obvious reason: using the restroom. You can’t play when you have to pee. Breaks also mean snacks. Nuts, fruits, veggies, cookies, cheese and crackers… meat on rare occasions… there’s tea and coffee, with caffeine or without. Not all groups provide snacks – we’re lucky.

Now, I have no sweet tooth at all, so when I see a table that’s all cookies, I’m bummed. But if it’s cheese, nuts, carrots, or grapes... score! Free food is a working musician’s best friend. I once played for a wedding where the coordinator had to pry me away from the crab cakes by saying, “Umm… they’re ready to get married now.”

You do have to be careful what you eat on break. Wind players can’t eat much (or at all) because food particles could crud up their instruments, unless they brush their teeth before resuming. There are perils for string players as well. Last fall, the Pacific Repertory Opera’s Friday performance fell on Halloween, so the pit orchestra passed around a bag of candy. No big deal, right? Read on…

With opera you have to pace yourself. It can be a long haul. As Ina Davenport joked about a performance a few years ago: “It started at 8 o’clock. Then it’s 9 o’clock, 10 o’clock, 11 o’clock – around 11:30, I wondered if they’d gone back to the beginning and started over!”

So, during this Halloween performance of The Marriage of Figaro, around 9:45pm the bag of candy came my way. The wind players abstained (see above). As I mentioned, I don’t like sweets, and never eat candy, especially not before I’m usually getting ready for bed. But it was Halloween -- so I had a Snickers during a recitative. Big mistake. Not only did it make my hands sticky, but about 45 minutes later I had a sugar crash. For about 8 measures Mozart sounded like Charles Ives. Fortunately, Mary James was there to get me back on track. She does know the entire opera repertoire from memory. :)

Socializing
Usually socializing during breaks is light-hearted, but at times there’s something serious to discuss. Many of us are music teachers, so there might be student-related issues. Or we might need to coordinate an upcoming gig. Or there might be a question about the music that we need to resolve. Sometimes the winds rehearse their parts. What a great a work ethic! 

I’ve written before about the Myers-Briggs/Jung Typology, which provides a framework for understanding Introversion and Extroversion. Introverts gain strength from time alone with their thoughts. Performing spends that energy. Extroverts, by contrast, are energized by external stimuli and seek more.

So, Extroverts come into a break jazzed up, ready to socialize, while Introverts look to a break as exactly that -- a break – a chance to be alone, or talk to a few people, or just walk around and look at things.

Getting Ready
Another issue for downtime – what to do before performances. Musicians have different ways of preparing. Some practice like crazy. Some joke around. Others get really Zen.

I’ll never forget the sight of Kathie Lenski in a yoga position before we did a chamber music concert a few years ago. She looked so peaceful and centered. And then she played the Brahms Trio like it was nothing.

Afterwards
So you play the concert, it all goes well (hopefully). Then what do you do? You’re mentally fired up but physically drained. You’ve got a bunch of tunes swirling around your head. Plus, you’re beating yourself up for any mistakes made, or patting yourself on the back for parts that went well, or wondering how the concert will be reviewed. How to unwind?

When I was in my 20s, it was time to hit the town. After a couple of Long Island Teas and some dancing, cares just melt away.

These days, it’s more like hit the hay -- after some SNL. I can usually stay awake through Weekend Update.

It’s odd, but on Sundays after a Saturday concert, there’s a part of me that’s resting on laurels, glad it’s over, but there’s another part that wants to do it all again. And then I see the folder of music for the next concert.

Best, DH

PS. Why did the violist fall asleep in the middle of the concert?
The viola part indicated 16 bars of rest.

Tickets for Symphony at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sale February 5th

On Sunday, June 8, 2008 at 2 pm, the San Luis Obispo Symphony, under the direction of Michael Nowak, will make their debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Tickets for this landmark event will go on sale TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH beginning at 10 am online at www.ticketmaster.com and locally through Gulliver’s Travel in San Luis Obispo (details below.)

The concert will showcase new music by Los Osos, California composer Dr. Craig H. Russell and will feature special guest artists performing with the orchestra in three different Russell compositions: Concierto Romántico, a guitar concerto featuring Spanish guitarist José María Gallardo del Rey; Rhapsody for Horn and Orchestra with acclaimed French horn virtuoso Richard Todd and Ecos armónicos with violinist Kathleen Lenski (premiered at Mission San Luis Obispo on January 12th.)

Tickets and complete travel packages to Los Angeles for the concert, including transportation, lodging, meals and extras, are available locally through Gulliver’s Travel in San Luis Obispo by calling (805) 541-4141. Tickets may also be purchased through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (866) 448-7849 or (213) 480-3232.

Take a look at who's talking about us in the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Blog!

Music at the Mission Premiere

On Saturday, January 12th, Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa was filled to capacity for the first San Luis Obispo Symphony concert there in over fifteen years. The reason? The world premiere of Craig Russell's Ecos armónicos. (seen in rehearsal at the Mission on the right) Commissioned by conductor Michael Nowak and written especially for violinist Kathleen Lenski, the piece will be presented at Walt Disney Concert Hall later this year (more on that later!)

For those of you who may have missed the concert, check out the review below by Jay and Marisa Waddell. You can also check out the pre-concert article about Craig Russell and Ecos armónicos, in The San Luis Obispo Tribune from January 10th by clicking here.

And please don't forget to come back often to the "real. live. music." blog for Symphony news, thoughts, reviews and more about our debut at Walt Disney Concert Hall on June 8, 2008.

Symphony Chamber Concert Premiers New Russell Composition
By Jay and Marisa Waddell

An enthusiastic audience enjoyed a special concert by the San Luis Obispo Symphony Chamber Orchestra at a packed Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa Saturday, January 12, 2008. Titled “Music at the Mission,” the program featured violin soloist Kathleen Lenski performing Ecos armónicos, a new composition by Dr. Craig Russell; The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi; and Battalia (the Battle) by Heinrich Biber. The beautiful mission church, with its gorgeously restored interior, trompe l’œil effects and lively auditory quality, was a perfect place to enjoy this fine concert. Conductor and Artistic Director Michael Nowak’s programming choices were complementary to each other and well suited to the mission setting. Russell’s Ecos armónicos employed thematic ideas from the mission period of Mexico and California. The other two works were European pieces from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Symphony Chamber Orchestra can be proud of their highly capable presentation of the diverse and challenging pieces. The string players are led by professional and highly competent section leaders who help to unify their sections, playing responsively to Michael Nowak’s knowledgeable and well-prepared conducting. Kathleeen Lenski, an internationally recognized violinist and a SLO County community treasure in her own right, gave us lovely soaring melodies and technically inspiring passages as featured soloist in two of the evening’s pieces: Ecos armónicos, the new work by musicologist and educator Russell, and Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

The concert opened with Biber’s Battalia, a programmatic composition in eight short movements, written in 1673. It began with a coordinated and rich string ensemble sound. Then, in a manner rare for its time, the composer had the musicians use numerous unusual devices to create the effects and sounds of an army being assembled and trained. The violinists actually tramped their feet briefly to simulate marching. There were the sounds of fencing and cavalry practice. Dissonances, pounding on strings with overturned bows, and over-layering of folksongs, represented a drunken evening of singing and revelry among the soldiers. At one point, the bass viol had aluminum foil placed in the strings to imitate a snare drum to accompany the principal violin sounding as a fife. Forceful plucking on the strings made the sounds of cannon. Audience members laughed aloud as these effects were carried off with cheerful enthusiasm by our musicians. Finally, beginning with descending melodic lines, in statements and responses between the higher and lower strings, the last movement reminded us of the tragic losses in war. This performance was most entertaining, but could have had tighter ensemble playing, with more definitive starts and stops.

Dr. Russell’s new work, Ecos armónicos (Harmonic echoes), written specifically to feature violinist Kathleen Lenski, had its origins in Russell’s study of music written by monks at the early Spanish colonial missions in Mexico and California. The piece includes passages that feature Lenski’s preferred mode: to make her violin sing. In six movements, it outlines some of the activities of a mission day, including worship, meditation, marching and celebration. Many of the melodies and the themes used and developed by Russell were found during his deep and dedicated research in mission libraries, where he discovered the music of a number of masses and other forgotten manuscripts. The opening passage, taken from the Introit of a Mass, uses the violins to whisper a melancholy and beautiful “Gaudeamus” theme. Low strings fill in the bottom and soar louder in the “Alleluia” section, as if the sun was dispersing a fog. A Swiss march was included, impulsive and jaunty, with bouncing bow effects from Lenski. Russell’s occasional modern harmonies, nicely voiced and resolved, reminded us that this melodious and pleasing work is contemporary. Lenski pulled a high and singing cadenza off of her fine, historic Guadagnini violin in a tocatta section. Then a peaceful O que suave (O how gentle!), a popular song of the mission period, preceded the closing Spanish-sounding Fandango. One could almost hear castanets in the Fandango’s rhythmic patterns in the strings while Lenski’s violin yielded Vivaldi-like flourishes over the orchestra’s pulse. Immediately after the last note, the audience rose and applauded enthusiastically. Russell was called to the front to take bows with the soloist while audience members in the front rows showered roses on the musicians. The capricious Russell celebrated the moment by catching a rose and offering it to Lenski, then caught another and placed it between his teeth. Cheers and laughter rose simultaneously.

In Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the orchestra members had a chance to show their strengths. The tempos were up where they belonged and the players rose to the challenge. All the effects of cheery birds, languorous heat, thunderstorms, and dry, icy cold were played with good accuracy, speed, and energy. The audience had the satisfaction of hearing a familiar piece well played. Concert master Pam Dassenko played many duets with Lenski and nailed them admirably well. Her bird chirps in the first movement of Spring were right on. Principal cellist Nancy Nagano also was most reliable and frequently featured in a nearly perfect performance. Harpsichordist Barbara Hoff was solid, providing a subdued but vital backbone in the continuo part. Principal violist David Hennessee also had first rate moments. The highlight of Lenski’s solos was the Allegro non molto in the first movement of the Winter concerto. She was precise and drove it like she was driving a Ferrari.

After the concert, several musicians remarked that they love the Vivaldi. Over all, they played together, and on note. One audience person asked; “How can you not be happy listening to this music?” Other comments included; “Thrilling!” Exciting!” In spite of the rare missed note or trouble with togetherness, the evening was a fine success for the musicians as well as the audience.