Disappointed
Because I feel like the exact opposite has happened since my last entry and because Robby gave me a cyber penny [for someone who abhors any mere mention of terrorism*, it sure does bring me back to ye olde blog when I've been away too long]...
Oh yeah, I know that one is not supposed to talk about work on one’s personal blog, so I’m going to be using thinly veiled initials. And it’s not like they’re that thinly veiled, I mean it’s how we refer to them at work (ay yi yi, more trade secrets!). I figure if you really want to know about whom I’m speaking you can look it up. None of this ’not their real initials’ business (ha ha ha, I love Susan Jane Gilman)… I don’t really mind if the OSL knows how I feel about them at this point.
So last week, I was feeling SO INSPIRED by Sayaka Shoji and all of our peeps at the IPO J
And now I’m feeling SO DISAPPOINTED by the OSL L
They have this wee UK tour coming up consisting of Edinburgh and London, and at this point, they could probably get their instruments on the plane, but not get them home. I mean the regulations could change any day (though I don’t how and when they should), but of course we have to prepare for the worst case scenario. [If I hear one more American complain about not being able to take liquids on the plane, I’m going to break out in my own rendition of Gershwin’s you don’t know ‘The Half of It, Dearie, Blues’.] So we started working on contingency solutions, and I think that we came up with a lot of good ones. First of all, we had the EIF contact the SCO to see if they would lend the orchestra instruments in Edinburgh. Then I called the ECO and the ASMF to see if they would lend them instruments for London and/or the entire tour. PG at the ECO was so great and said that she would ask their musicians but wasn’t sure if they would be willing to lend their instruments. We also discussed how playing an unfamiliar instrument can be a bit tricky. On a string instrument, the size isn’t going to be exactly the same, or the bridge might be a bit higher, etc. But we said that we’d see, and she even suggested that I get in touch with some London dealers to see if they might be able to lend some instruments. It could be a great story and good publicity: local dealer saves Proms date after terrorist threat!
CW was also awesome at the ASMF. He was going through a similar hassle since he now had to truck all the musicians’ instruments overland since they couldn’t fly to Germany with them in the cabin either. He recommended these special instrument cases which we agreed were a bit safer then the musicians’ normal habit of tossing them into the overhead compartments. But artists have their funny ways, and to be parted from their ‘babies’ can be a difficult separation, and most musicians won’t put their instruments underneath or let them out of their sight. Because of the time constraints, we’d also be flying the instruments instead of shipping/ trucking them, so putting them in the unpressurised and freezing cargo hold probably wasn’t going to work for anyone (even though the NYP was going to lend them cases…). So then CW and I discussed flying them in and out of Paris and Eurostar-ing them in and out of London. If they’re going to be all weird about having their own instruments, this to me seemed like the best option since they’d get to keep them in hand, and everyone could be happy-I mean who doesn’t love Paris and the Eurostar?!
Well, apparently the OSL. For some reason the orchestra wasn’t keen to do this either. So we’re basically at the point that they would rather cancel than borrow/rent instruments or redo their travel. I think that’s pathetic. Especially for NEW YORKERS who know better. Or at least they should. The thing that’s so frustrating to me is that I can solve their problem. I can get them instruments locally-probably for free! But they’re just being babies. I think about fourteen year old Midori who ripped through three violins without missing a note^. And she had to play with markedly bigger violins twice over-not these fiddly bridges being millimeters off. And I think about poor Sayaka with no violin and no clothes, and she can bloody play a concert in hall that could get bombed any minute. These musicians aren’t even in danger-they’re just being inconvenienced. They are adults that can’t even behave as well as little girls. I mean isn’t this their livelihood? Aren’t they professionals?? If they cancel, that’s letting the terrorists win. And that’s the last thing that any of us should want. And it’s pure selfishness if they don’t recognize that.
I take Robby’s point that a loss of our freedom is a tragedy, but I think a greater tragedy is us not getting on the plane. If there’s one thing that I’ve gotten good at, it’s flying trans-Atlantic. My a** is going to find the cutest clear plastic bag ever (OMG am I developing British resignation?), and it’s going to fly roundtrip to New York in November and (hopefully) twice in December. To see Robby perform at the Hammerstein Ballroom.
I’m actually quite excited to participate in this new challenge of simplistic packing. Heaven knows that I lug around insane amounts of junk. I still won’t be happy about not having a book though ;-P
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*Since I hate the news, I don’t know if this is another Al Queda thing (and I don’t want to blame anyone for anything that they didn’t do), but if it is, I’m going to find this all increasingly difficult not to take personally (why does the terrorism always make me so self-centred? Hmmm…).
^In the fifth movement, Midori broke the E string and was quickly passed the violin of the concertmaster, continuing to play without missing a beat. When the unthinkable happened again and she broke the E string on the concertmaster's fiddle, she took the violin of the associate concertmaster. Both borrowed instruments were different in size - and both were larger than her own instrument - yet Midori was unfazed. When she came to the end, the audience and the orchestra erupted in applause and Bernstein fell to his knees. The following day, the front page of The New York Times read, "Girl, 14, Conquers Tanglewood with 3 Violins."