Tuesday evening the BSO held its first Rusty Musician event at Strathmore Hall. Thankfully I had had my annual physical the day before and my doctor told me that I was due for a tetanus shot :)
Rusty Musicians was fun! The format was a 40 minute chunk of time devoted first to rehearsing, then a short performance of "Nimrod" from Elgar's Enigma Variations and then the 4th movement of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony. (We did this 4 times in the course of the evening, with each BSO musician scheduled to play either the first 2 or the last 2.)
My two stand partners were charming. The first, Lori, does research at Johns Hopkins Hospital. She told me that she had played consistently through her sophomore year of high school, so it has been a few years for her since she played with an orchestra, I think. Nevertheless, she was able to hand in there and contribute!
My second partner, Jay from Columbia, was clearly very well prepared. After rehearsing the first few bars of the Tchaikovsky, I said to him "you've played this before, haven't you?" He was getting every note! He nodded yes. As it turns out, Jay plays with the Annapolis Symphony, Concert Artists, and other local orchestras. I wasn't expecting that I would be sitting beside a violinist with as much ability and experience as Jay has. It was a treat!
Overall, the combination of BSO musicians and "Rustys" sounded pretty good. Tonight we do it again; I wonder who I will meet?
I had a great time being a rusty crusty just kinda hanging out and playing. Im actually a professional musician and in the past have gotten to perform with other BSO musicians but it was really fun playing at the Strathmore. Good seeing some of my friends and it was a enjoyable night. The only down part was one of the people that was a "rusty" was a little bit of a pain but I was not going to let them spoil my experience. I really enjoyed playing at the beautiful Strathmore.
ReplyDeleteHi, Greg
ReplyDeleteIt's Jay from Columbia.
I just wanted to say that I was very touched by your wonderful humbleness and musicianship. Again, I was very honor to sit next to "True Musician."
Hope to see you soon!
Jay Kim
(443)538-4806