Tuesday is the New Day of Rest.
Today, I have no services with the orchestra. This is lovely. I slept a ton because my back has been killing me (too many hours in crappy chairs waiting to play and driving in my car, which is starting to show signs of The Sat-Out Driver's Seat, a typical affliction for a Buick Regal who has reached 138K). It's snowing lightly outside, and I'm looking forward to an afternoon of practicing and lounging about with a book. The evening? The same.
A couple of my symphony colleagues invited me out last night, but I wasn't in any shape to do it. Some of the concerts we are playing are really difficult emotionally. Here are some links about what we're commemorating:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_Race_Riot_of_1908
http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/1996/iht329622.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/2986/
http://www.abrahamlincolnassociation.org/
The diversity of the crowd last night - in all senses of the word - was incredible. Being in an orchestra can be a difficult thing for me; I often don't feel like what I'm doing in that chair is seen as anything more than entertainment for a bunch of well-off people. I had a long philosophical discussion about that with a friend yesterday. What can I do as a musician to work for the forces of good that are out there?
Because our conductor stuck to the script (she can sometimes speak extemporaneously, and that leads her into murky and insane places from time to time), the concert was incredibly moving and deeply heartfelt. The orchestra sounded like something too - it was an evening where everyone played WELL together - and I was completely tapped out at the end.
We have another performance, in Bloomington on Wednesday night. I think it will be similarly great.
One more thing: I grew up in this state. Never, ever before in my LIFE had I heard ANYTHING in school about this race riot which lead to the founding of one of THE most important associations in the United States. Why do we INSIST upon sanitizing our history? We will keep making the same damned mistakes if we do.
A couple of my symphony colleagues invited me out last night, but I wasn't in any shape to do it. Some of the concerts we are playing are really difficult emotionally. Here are some links about what we're commemorating:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_Race_Riot_of_1908
http://www.lib.niu.edu/ipo/1996/iht329622.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/2986/
http://www.abrahamlincolnassociation.org/
The diversity of the crowd last night - in all senses of the word - was incredible. Being in an orchestra can be a difficult thing for me; I often don't feel like what I'm doing in that chair is seen as anything more than entertainment for a bunch of well-off people. I had a long philosophical discussion about that with a friend yesterday. What can I do as a musician to work for the forces of good that are out there?
Because our conductor stuck to the script (she can sometimes speak extemporaneously, and that leads her into murky and insane places from time to time), the concert was incredibly moving and deeply heartfelt. The orchestra sounded like something too - it was an evening where everyone played WELL together - and I was completely tapped out at the end.
We have another performance, in Bloomington on Wednesday night. I think it will be similarly great.
One more thing: I grew up in this state. Never, ever before in my LIFE had I heard ANYTHING in school about this race riot which lead to the founding of one of THE most important associations in the United States. Why do we INSIST upon sanitizing our history? We will keep making the same damned mistakes if we do.