tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5977015619369827832024-03-17T23:03:56.314-04:00Blog BSOUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-39538609680399589552013-04-23T14:18:00.000-04:002013-04-23T14:18:57.115-04:00My First Violin!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0_K916qma60G5Q5Gpykf2era2y6jn1NWSRI240_ZDiXoRyeRiHgDIwESHqhJa1xyQGVzpNcPBRTA8cgHccKzh4cPoYlFhDZRPeIXiVHqP5vLlIK51Q_xRVy35AfCZGKErxxcGKi4JRI/s1600/TamiLeeHughes_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0_K916qma60G5Q5Gpykf2era2y6jn1NWSRI240_ZDiXoRyeRiHgDIwESHqhJa1xyQGVzpNcPBRTA8cgHccKzh4cPoYlFhDZRPeIXiVHqP5vLlIK51Q_xRVy35AfCZGKErxxcGKi4JRI/s200/TamiLeeHughes_2.jpg" width="142" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I was four years old, my father came home with a tiny
black case. I didn’t know what was
inside but I could tell it was something special. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Tami,” he said, “I
bought you a violin. You’re going to
start taking lessons!” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I felt a sudden rush of excitement. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">‘<i>THIS,’ </i>I thought,
<i> ‘will
be my new favorite toy</i>!’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I begged him to let me play right away, but he said, “Not
now . . . you have to take lessons. You
will learn.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Looking back at this moment, I am amazed at how his words
have permeated every part of my experience.
As a violinist, I am constantly learning, striving to fully master an
instrument that is as challenging as it is beautiful. As I reflect on my time with the BSO, I am
grateful for the things I have learned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Playing in orchestra
full time is like playing football.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before moving to Baltimore, I didn’t think much about the
Ravens. However, football is a hot topic
everywhere I go– in stores, at church, and even at work! The Ravens play hard. They run up and down the field, take hits,
and tackle opposing players. After my
first few concerts with the BSO, I felt as though I had been playing in a
Ravens game and had been tackled multiple times by a guy named “House!” “<i>I’m so
sore!!!’</i> I thought, “<i>Am I on a
concert stage</i> <i>or in a football war
zone?” </i>Musicians make it look easy,
but playing in orchestra is very demanding physically. Although I have played violin all my life, I
have had to condition my body for the physical rigors of playing in orchestra
each week. The Ravens are amazing, but
there is another team of enduring champs in town: The Baltimore Symphony
Orchestra.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Playing in an orchestra
is completely different than playing as a soloist.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before this concert season, I performed primarily as a
soloist. I worked painstakingly to
memorize pieces, develop musical nuance, and perfect stage presence. I carried the weight of my performances,
working to present renditions that reflected my personality and taste. As orchestral player, I walk onstage with an
opposite goal in mind: to avoid sticking out.
If I play a solo, it’s a big problem.
I’m either playing out of turn or playing differently than everyone
else! Orchestral playing requires a
heightened awareness of the other players onstage, and, absolute commitment to
uniformity at every level: in pitch, bow stroke, vibrato, rhythm, expression,
and everything in between. Although
these elements play a key role in solo performance, orchestral performance
requires skillful synchronization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Orchestras are
exceptionally dynamic organizations.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The modern symphony orchestra is one of the most dynamic
music organizations in the community. In
addition to presenting world-class performances, orchestral organizations can
make a positive impact on the community. During my time with the BSO, I have
become convinced more than ever that orchestras can not only champion great
music, but also unite diverse groups of people.
Orchestras can effectively bringing these initiatives to the forefront
of music scene. I am excited to be part
of this dual mission and have a renewed purpose as a performer who hopes to
make a difference in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After many years, the violin is still my favorite toy! Whether it is part of my journey to football, learning to play well with others, or discovering of a deeper purpose, it is an integral part of my adventures. I can only imagine the beautiful sounds, wonderful people, and lessons that lie ahead!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoC1fX1VBltT6nPJPU66oV3u40lXtrUFUvqoqjg_EBRHScmbk6gFU1Q90RaO3x01EWq_s8mRDYNprC_zutl4C5qwIiou8YbNHxBxUWgZnSj_PqgDC801Agay0iLakjeAXvPVCbezY9zA/s1600/TamiLeeHughes_200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoC1fX1VBltT6nPJPU66oV3u40lXtrUFUvqoqjg_EBRHScmbk6gFU1Q90RaO3x01EWq_s8mRDYNprC_zutl4C5qwIiou8YbNHxBxUWgZnSj_PqgDC801Agay0iLakjeAXvPVCbezY9zA/s320/TamiLeeHughes_200x300.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com21212 Cathedral Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA39.303954 -76.61904900000001814.448577999999998 -117.92764300000002 64.15933 -35.310455000000019tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-87405920844170996462012-12-18T16:14:00.000-05:002012-12-18T16:15:56.186-05:00A Game of Trust<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0_K916qma60G5Q5Gpykf2era2y6jn1NWSRI240_ZDiXoRyeRiHgDIwESHqhJa1xyQGVzpNcPBRTA8cgHccKzh4cPoYlFhDZRPeIXiVHqP5vLlIK51Q_xRVy35AfCZGKErxxcGKi4JRI/s1600/TamiLeeHughes_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0_K916qma60G5Q5Gpykf2era2y6jn1NWSRI240_ZDiXoRyeRiHgDIwESHqhJa1xyQGVzpNcPBRTA8cgHccKzh4cPoYlFhDZRPeIXiVHqP5vLlIK51Q_xRVy35AfCZGKErxxcGKi4JRI/s200/TamiLeeHughes_2.jpg" width="142" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Tami Lee Hughes</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
As I child, I loved playing outside with my friends. The weather in Baton Rouge was warm and sunny
most of the year and our backyard was perfect for playing hide-and-seek or
simply running around in circles. One weekend,
my friends and I decided to play a trust game.<br />
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The object was to blindly fall backward and trust a friend to catch
you. As the oldest and biggest child in
the group, I was designated to catch first.
I stood behind the little girl who lived next door and prepared to break
her fall. As she turned her back to me,
she looked behind her to be sure I was ready.
She saw two strong and sturdy arms extended in anticipation. Fully assured I would catch her, she fell
gracefully into my arms. We immediately
switched places. With my back turned to
her, I looked behind me to check her position.
Instead of seeing two strong arms, however, I saw two puny arms unfolded
from a small frame. I thought to myself,
‘<i>Are you kidding me? She couldn’t catch a feather! I’m going to hit the ground hard!’ </i> I
turned around and took a deep breath. ‘<i>I’ll count to three</i>,<i>’ </i>I thought, ‘<i>and then I’ll
do it.</i>’</div>
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<i>Ok . . . here we go .
. . 1. . . 2 . . . </i>“Wait!” I shouted. “Are you sure you’re ready?”</div>
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“Yes! I’m ready!”</div>
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<i>Alright . . . I can do
this . . . 1</i>. . . 2 . . . 2<sup> </sup>½ . . . “Did you hear my mom call
me?” I asked. “I thought I heard
something!”</div>
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“No! Now hurry up and
fall back!”</div>
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<i>Deep breath . . . 1. .
. 2 . . . 2 ½ . . . 2 ¾ . . . </i>“Ah man!
I need to go to the bathroom and it’s an emergency!” I took off running, leaving the trust game
far behind. I learned an important
lesson that day: Trust is a matter of life and death.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoC1fX1VBltT6nPJPU66oV3u40lXtrUFUvqoqjg_EBRHScmbk6gFU1Q90RaO3x01EWq_s8mRDYNprC_zutl4C5qwIiou8YbNHxBxUWgZnSj_PqgDC801Agay0iLakjeAXvPVCbezY9zA/s1600/TamiLeeHughes_200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoC1fX1VBltT6nPJPU66oV3u40lXtrUFUvqoqjg_EBRHScmbk6gFU1Q90RaO3x01EWq_s8mRDYNprC_zutl4C5qwIiou8YbNHxBxUWgZnSj_PqgDC801Agay0iLakjeAXvPVCbezY9zA/s200/TamiLeeHughes_200x300.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Three months into my time with the BSO, I have settled into
my performance schedule and have grown to admire so much about the group. Maestra Alsop and the players display the
highest level of technical and artistic mastery, professionalism, and passion,
but from my perspective, these factors alone do not define the orchestra’s
success.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZaTSomgv26TW5hojnis7af3EGWjDMAm_pv8HTVr3LDmkrtWcj-JE4id0mjMjkgNQscg70CHTd-dEibnxZuUh7J5YgEsyTYYL3hibCJjVxcSCkE395uXiXetJrVb73J-aQ_1v5Ks5W5A/s1600/Meyerhoff_NYT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZaTSomgv26TW5hojnis7af3EGWjDMAm_pv8HTVr3LDmkrtWcj-JE4id0mjMjkgNQscg70CHTd-dEibnxZuUh7J5YgEsyTYYL3hibCJjVxcSCkE395uXiXetJrVb73J-aQ_1v5Ks5W5A/s200/Meyerhoff_NYT.jpg" width="200" /></a>The orchestra really thrives
because of trust. Maestra Alsop has full
trust, confidence, and respect for the players.
She knows that every musician will play the right note at the right time
and commit to the inspiration she provides. The players, in turn, trust Maestra
Alsop. They have faith in her judgment
on musical matters great and small and hold her artistic vision in high
esteem. In addition, the players trust
each other. Each player depends on
others in his or her section, and in other sections, for melodic support. With trust as a cornerstone, the BSO’s
success is not a reflection of individual expertise, but of genuine cooperation
and teamwork. </div>
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As an adult, I still cling to the idea that trust is a
matter of life and death. My closest
friends are the most trustworthy people I know and I love cultivating new
friendships with people I believe I can trust.
I’m truly grateful to spend a year performing with an orchestra that
demonstrates this concept so beautifully through music. Because of trust, playing with the BSO is not
a mere exercise in musical proficiency, but a joy!<br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">-Tami Lee Hughes, December 2012</span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall39.303836 -76.6189739999999814.448459999999997 -117.92756799999998 64.159212 -35.310379999999981tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-63826312380085454442012-11-06T15:33:00.000-05:002012-11-06T15:37:24.853-05:00"Success unshared is failure." (Tami Lee Hughes - BSO Fellow)A few years ago, while reading about John Paul DeJoria,
co-founder of Paul Mitchell hair products, the following words hit me like a
bolt of lightening:<br />
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Success unshared is failure.</div>
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This is DeJoria’s personal mantra. A self-made billionaire and philanthropist,
he has donated millions of dollars to fight hunger, develop community programs
for inner city children, and provide resources for medical causes. </div>
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I could hardly contain myself as I read the sentence over
and over again:</div>
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Success unshared is failure.</div>
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Success unshared is failure.</div>
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Success unshared is failure.</div>
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Each word has meaning but together, the words create
something so powerful: the guiding principle that our greatest success is not
realized through accomplishments for personal gain, but rather, through the
active use of our talents to make a difference in the lives of others. </div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0_K916qma60G5Q5Gpykf2era2y6jn1NWSRI240_ZDiXoRyeRiHgDIwESHqhJa1xyQGVzpNcPBRTA8cgHccKzh4cPoYlFhDZRPeIXiVHqP5vLlIK51Q_xRVy35AfCZGKErxxcGKi4JRI/s1600/TamiLeeHughes_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Tami Lee Hughes - BSO Fellow" border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy0_K916qma60G5Q5Gpykf2era2y6jn1NWSRI240_ZDiXoRyeRiHgDIwESHqhJa1xyQGVzpNcPBRTA8cgHccKzh4cPoYlFhDZRPeIXiVHqP5vLlIK51Q_xRVy35AfCZGKErxxcGKi4JRI/s320/TamiLeeHughes_2.jpg" title="" width="227" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tami Lee Hughes - BSO Fellow</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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During my time with the BSO, I have the opportunity to work
<a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=11,1" target="_blank">OrchKids</a>, a program that provides music education, instruments, academic
instruction, meals, and performance and mentorship opportunities to students in
Baltimore City neighborhoods. On my
first day with OrchKids, I entered a classroom filled with wiggly, giggly
kindergarten students who are not only learning to tie their shoes, but also to
play the violin. The students can hardly
contain themselves when it’s time for class as they proudly take their
instruments to their assigned spots in the room. They soak everything in as fresh sponges,
from note reading to playing techniques to learning new songs. Each time I
visit, I can’t help but think of how the class resembles my own kindergarten experience. Like these little ones, we were full of energy
with a spark for learning. However, we
had limited resources for exploring our creative talents. Through OrchKids, the young students I see
each week are not only learning to play a beautiful instrument, but they are
also developing a creative identity, learning to think in new ways, becoming
disciplined, and grow in responsibility.
The impact of the program extends to every area of their lives,
including who they will become and how they will achieve academic success. One of the elements I most appreciate is the
interaction between the OrchKids students and instructors. The students are comfortable with the
teachers so they love to ask questions.
In the kindergarten class, one student often says with a big smile,
“Miss Tami. I need help!” He really enjoys playing the violin and wants
to get it right. When class is over, he
sometimes gives me a hug before I leave the room. It’s his way of saying, “Thank you for
helping me! I’m glad you’re here!”</div>
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Success unshared is failure. I am reminded of this every time I open my
case and see these four words on a little sign I posted inside. Having incorporated music outreach into my
work for many years, I know programs like OrchKids make a big difference. I
love performing and hope to develop a wonderful career as an artist, but I know
my greatest achievement will be the impact I have on the lives of others. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The students make my work truly meaningful and inspire me
to make the most of my gifts and talents.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall39.303836 -76.61897439.302299999999995 -76.621441499999989 39.305372 -76.6165065tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-89991102366731550802012-10-25T14:26:00.003-04:002012-10-25T14:29:35.074-04:00BSO Fellow - Tami Lee Hughes<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was a beautiful sunny morning in Baton Rouge.</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a quick breakfast, I grabbed the few
remaining items in my room and put them on the back seat of my car- my laptop,
a few toiletries, and, of course, my violin.
When I finished loading, I shared hugs and “goodbyes” with my family
before getting in the car and turning the key in the ignition. I took a deep breath and said a prayer as I
pulled out of the driveway. This was a
big day for me. I was beginning a
twenty-hour drive across the country to embark on the opportunity of a
lifetime: to play with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra as its first Fellow.</span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoC1fX1VBltT6nPJPU66oV3u40lXtrUFUvqoqjg_EBRHScmbk6gFU1Q90RaO3x01EWq_s8mRDYNprC_zutl4C5qwIiou8YbNHxBxUWgZnSj_PqgDC801Agay0iLakjeAXvPVCbezY9zA/s1600/TamiLeeHughes_200x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><img alt="Tami Lee Hughes - BSO Orchestra Fellow" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoC1fX1VBltT6nPJPU66oV3u40lXtrUFUvqoqjg_EBRHScmbk6gFU1Q90RaO3x01EWq_s8mRDYNprC_zutl4C5qwIiou8YbNHxBxUWgZnSj_PqgDC801Agay0iLakjeAXvPVCbezY9zA/s1600/TamiLeeHughes_200x300.jpg" title="" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tami Lee Hughes - BSO Fellow</span></i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A little over one month later, I took a deep breath as I
pulled out of my driveway in Owings Mills.
I was heading to my first rehearsal with the Baltimore Symphony. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>A million thoughts raced through my mind.</b> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Would I remember everything I practiced? Would I be able to follow the conductor? Would my sound blend with the orchestra? When I walked onto the Meyerhoff stage thirty
minutes later, I was overcome with emotion.
The hall is even more breathtaking from the stage than it is from the
audience . . . the tiers of balcony cascading from the ceiling, the plush red
velvet seats, and the beautiful wooden paneling onstage. I paused for a moment to enjoy everything my
eyes could see. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After tuning, we began rehearsing “The Golden Age of Black
and White,” a program that featured classic tunes from the 1940’s and 1950’s
with BSO SuperPops Conductor Jack Everly and vocalists Karen Murphy, Kristen
Scott, and Chapter Six. When Maestro
Everly began the rehearsal, I knew I would love performing this concert. His baton seemingly became a magic wand,
transporting all of us to an age of black and white television, girl singers,
doo-wop groups, swing and jazz tunes, and even early rock and roll. I was captured by the music- the nostalgia,
passion, energy, and warmth infused in rich luxurious melodies. It reminded me of the music my grandmother
played on the radio when I was young. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the night of our debut performance, I arrived at the hall
a few hours early. There was a buzz
backstage as orchestra musicians, singers, stage technicians, and other staff
members prepared for the performance.
Although I didn’t feel nervous, I was very excited. I felt a swift rush of energy as Maestro
Everly gave the opening downbeat. With
the audience lights dimmed, the stage came to life. Lights, costumes, singers, and
instrumentalists filled the stage with Maestro Everly at the center of it all waving his magic
wand. By the time we played my favorite
tune of the night, Mambo Italiano, we were in full swing! The energy was so contagious I wanted to get
out of my seat and dance. For a brief moment
I imagined I was in a fiery red dress doing the mambo in the streets of Sorrento. A quick glance at the audience assured me
that I was not the only one dreaming of dancing in Italy!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">During my drive home after the concert, I
reflected on the evening. I thought
about the sheer wonderment and joy of experiencing live music with everyone-
musicians and audience members alike- and of indulging in an era in which I
didn’t live but one that held special memories for so many concert goers. I also thought about how much my life had
changed so much since I’d left Baton Rouge. . . there are new faces, new places
and new friends. I sang bits and pieces
of the music we’d performed as I got out of the car and opened the door to my
home. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>So far, I’m having the time of my
life and I love every minute of being part of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra!</b></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall39.303836 -76.61897439.302299999999995 -76.621441499999989 39.305372 -76.6165065tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-22332701986808544402012-07-17T16:24:00.000-04:002012-07-17T16:28:23.164-04:002012 BSO Academy in the New York Times<br />
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<nyt_headline type=" " version="1.0">Every Chair in This Temporary Orchestra Holds a Story</nyt_headline></h1>
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By <span itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/daniel_j_wakin/index.html" itemprop="creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/w/daniel_j_wakin/index.html" itemprop="name" rel="author" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by DANIEL J. WAKIN">DANIEL J. WAKIN</a></span></h6>
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Published: July 13, 2012</h6>
<div class="shareTools shareToolsThemeClassic articleShareToolsTop shareToolsInstance" data-description="They come to Baltimore in summer, bearing instruments, and leaving behind, if only for a week, the lives and careers they chose for one they might have imagined." data-shares="facebook,twitter,google,email,showall|Share,print,singlepage,reprints,ad" data-title="Every Chair in This Temporary Orchestra Holds a Story" data-url="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/arts/music/the-campers-of-the-baltimore-symphony-orchestra.html" style="color: #333333; float: right; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 15px; margin: 5px 0px 5px 5px; min-height: 200px; text-align: left; width: 134px;">
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<i>(This is a re-posting of an article written by New York Times reporter Daniel J. Wakin, who took part in our 2o12 BSO Academy program as a clarinetist. The views expressed by Wakin are not necessarily the same as those held by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. To view the article on the New York Times website, please visit: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/arts/music/the-campers-of-the-baltimore-symphony-orchestra.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all" target="_blank">NYTimes.com</a>. Enjoy!)</i></div>
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BALTIMORE — The judge’s assistant who practices her viola in a courthouse jury room. The retired neurosurgeon who once flew surveillance flights for the United States Navy and who took up the clarinet at 63. The accountant who began oboe lessons to connect with her severely disabled daughter.</div>
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The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra brought together these musicians and others — a total of 104 amateurs of startling variety — last month for a weeklong fantasy camp of lessons, rehearsals, master classes and, finally, a concert at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall.</div>
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It was a musically enthusiastic, even obsessive, bunch. Most spend countless hours a week practicing and playing in wind bands or community orchestras or chamber groups, in many cases more than one. It’s an older group. Many returned to music with fervor in retirement or in homes recently emptied of growing children. For some, music-making is the backbone of their social ties or an escape from the pressures of work.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yFcj6FeVhD-QSO62nSla_KJB53w5jjU3ZUPUDta11tQs_U1bHfwfKIgGJi-HeV7ebm_zXrfmjrzfvcgrJ_6Thv88hxiDpAoAnRf1RXZg-d5RVt1dFywcbysdI9IBiCSVuKQnaUr1G_M/s1600/AcademyNYT_190x250.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-yFcj6FeVhD-QSO62nSla_KJB53w5jjU3ZUPUDta11tQs_U1bHfwfKIgGJi-HeV7ebm_zXrfmjrzfvcgrJ_6Thv88hxiDpAoAnRf1RXZg-d5RVt1dFywcbysdI9IBiCSVuKQnaUr1G_M/s1600/AcademyNYT_190x250.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #1a1a1a; color: #cccccc; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 12px; text-align: left;">Credit: Matt Roth for The New York Times</span>
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“It’s these kinds of people who guarantee the interest in classical music,” said Andrew Balio, the orchestra’s principal trumpeter. “They do everything in life well,” he said. It’s also these kinds of people, the Baltimore Symphony hopes, who will buy more tickets and make more donations.</div>
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Among the participants in what the symphony calls the BSO Academy were Deborah Edge of Washington, a double-bassist and retired internist who works part time for an organization that helps the homeless. She stopped playing in college, then resumed in 1986, after a 20-year lapse.</div>
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Jane Hughes, an oboist who works for General Dynamics, and her husband, William Jokela, a bassoonist and former United States Army chaplain, of Annandale, Va., met in a community band, play in a trio and came to the academy for the first time last year to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. “This is our social life,” Mr. Jokela said.</div>
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William G. Young, an actuary from Norwalk, Conn., who practices clarinet an hour every evening, arranged to be in a chamber group with his brother-in-law, Harry Kaplan, a bassoonist and internist from Towson, Md. A half-dozen enthusiastic members of their family descended on Baltimore to hear them perform.</div>
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Matthew DeBeal of Laurel, Md., 25, one of the youngest players, spent his Saturdays as a youth studying violin at the preparatory division of the Peabody Institute, Baltimore’s conservatory, and now teaches string playing to middle schoolers in Howard County, Md. Mr. DeBeal, one of the more accomplished musicians among the participants, played solos in the academy’s final concert, on June 30.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZaTSomgv26TW5hojnis7af3EGWjDMAm_pv8HTVr3LDmkrtWcj-JE4id0mjMjkgNQscg70CHTd-dEibnxZuUh7J5YgEsyTYYL3hibCJjVxcSCkE395uXiXetJrVb73J-aQ_1v5Ks5W5A/s1600/Meyerhoff_NYT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTZaTSomgv26TW5hojnis7af3EGWjDMAm_pv8HTVr3LDmkrtWcj-JE4id0mjMjkgNQscg70CHTd-dEibnxZuUh7J5YgEsyTYYL3hibCJjVxcSCkE395uXiXetJrVb73J-aQ_1v5Ks5W5A/s320/Meyerhoff_NYT.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #1a1a1a; color: #cccccc; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 12px; text-align: left;">Credit: Matt Roth for The New York Times</span>
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Ann Marie Cordial took up the viola just three and a half years ago. A judge’s assistant at the Baltimore County Circuit Court, she practices in a jury room across a corridor from a cell.</div>
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“That’s part of your sentence,” she said. “You have to listen to me practice.” Her playing, she said, once helped bring a halt to a brawl that involved sheriff’s deputies and a defendant just sentenced to life in prison.</div>
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The retired neurosurgeon and cold-war-era Navy pilot, Edward Layne, 78, of Cockeysville, Md., took up the clarinet 15 years ago. He called his first moments on the stage at last year’s academy “one of the signal minutes” of his life.</div>
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“I looked around, and I couldn’t believe I was sitting there,” he said.</div>
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Barbara Bowen, an accountant from Reisterstown, Md., plays oboe in three community orchestras. She started the instrument at 10, played through college, then took a 22-year break.</div>
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“The reason I went back into music was the connection it gave with my daughter,” who has multiple disabilities, Ms. Bowen said. “If I could change my career tomorrow, I would be a music therapist.”</div>
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For many of the first-time participants, the unusually demanding repertory, the high skill level of some fellow campers and the unforgiving standards of a professional orchestra came as a bit of a shock. Gradually, over the course of the week, confidence grew. Technique sharpened. Coherent musical lines emerged.</div>
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The reality of it struck on Monday, June 25, when the campers gathered by instrument in rooms at the Baltimore School for the Arts for the first rehearsal before the Saturday concert, which featured works by Tchaikovsky, Elgar and Falla.</div>
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“I couldn’t get a proper note,” said Dianne Cooperman, 65, of Rockville, Md., an information technology consultant for federal agencies and a self-taught French horn player. “Everything sounded generally out of tune. I was a mess. I didn’t want to play anymore.”</div>
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Ms. Cooperman faced the extra challenge of a tremor from Parkinson’s disease, which causes her knee to shake. Horn players generally rest the instrument on the right thigh. Because of the tremor, Ms. Cooperman had to use an extra chair to support the instrument.</div>
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The next day’s master class, in which the members of the section were to play for the orchestra’s principal horn player, Philip Munds, did not go much better for her.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4FxicFHa04mIKx50SXdYhjku-83YHYX794AoUz8WCncnTNOB6x8tOwzjrl-EQCTejx_7Xbr1_4ijCJIFWrDoAvVT0DzIsYBEiCX6GIvSpRbPrIUd0Rn3U4rSs5eYOt1KfKm_IrmXwTZ0/s1600/MHoffHall_NYT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4FxicFHa04mIKx50SXdYhjku-83YHYX794AoUz8WCncnTNOB6x8tOwzjrl-EQCTejx_7Xbr1_4ijCJIFWrDoAvVT0DzIsYBEiCX6GIvSpRbPrIUd0Rn3U4rSs5eYOt1KfKm_IrmXwTZ0/s320/MHoffHall_NYT.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #1a1a1a; color: #cccccc; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 12px; text-align: left;">Credit: Matt Roth for The New York Times</span>
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“It sounded like somebody was dying,” she said. “The more it came out bad, the more nervous I got.” Mr. Munds set her mind at ease and imparted a tip about hand position that brought immediate improvement.</div>
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As the week went on, Ms. Cooperman’s confidence improved. She timed her medicines better, so they took maximum effect at rehearsals. Her performance went up a notch. On Saturday afternoon she took a long nap before the concert, then went over her parts mentally without playing them on her horn.</div>
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Days later, she wrote about the experience in an e-mail: “I told myself: ‘I am incredibly lucky! Who else gets to attend five first-rate concerts in a row while sitting in the midst of the orchestra?’ All tremors, jitters and self-doubt were banished with that one realization.”</div>
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“And the good news is,” she added, “I definitely played all three pieces, especially the Falla, the best I had played them by far! I left no footprints as I walked off the stage that night. I was floating three feet off the floor.”</div>
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall39.3039192 -76.618516339.3023832 -76.620983799999991 39.305455200000004 -76.6160488tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-55697281690257342212012-04-04T10:08:00.010-04:002012-04-04T10:38:18.117-04:00Out West with the BSO<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0zBb5c528A2JEWy6MfMv7Z5mq96CJKl1iaC3sKefBm1ukl4ocGKajFGYT9IczkNYbnfrg7H0kjvG3YbK-awP2wSJ0QTpoDRoY01rIZ1byL06EbqEAyHlysTh6vbnzzMrq-rEFQHKdBw/s1600/Ivan_WestCoastTour_Pic2.jpg"></a><div><span><i>Here's another report from the Mild West, where the Baltimore Symphony has been touring. Violinist Ivan Stefanovic offers this report from the weekend the orchestra spent in Berkeley:</i> </span></div><div><br /></div><div><span>Dear blog readers, greetings from a land of huge eucalyptus,</span></div><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 307px; height: 228px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKu1bYMhSB5tIHEfkjHHK5B1w7tLID0tX92ZKqkB6EhHhoAGdPQRiaHAObyInIrqOL8MVpGa9GoTc5BYE3f0P-83ticyDasV0aGOpyeUTyhcoz2U56A0XynkoPMo_3BdAYA3JHPQJAoyQ/s320/Ivan_WestCoastTour_Pic.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727548010069776498" /><div><span>old olive, stately pine and tropical palm trees, town of many incredible farm-to-table restaurants, unsavory but entertaining characters on the sidewalks, ever-present fog and mist in the hills, and, of course, great coffee shops.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>The BSO arrived in Berkeley on Thursday evening after battling rush-our traffic and crossing a bridge (not the Golden Gate) that, height-wise, makes our own Bay Bridge look like child's play.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>The town is not very big, and the hotel we're staying in is near University of California at Berkeley, whose campus is adorned with the aforementioned beautiful tree specimens.</span></div><div><span>The campus paths are strangely empty and quiet this week, as most students are gone for their Spring Break.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>On Friday morning, the BSO had two concerts. The matinee, "LIFE: A Journey Through Time," was tailored for school children, as it featured the incredible photographs of nature by the world-renowned National Geographic photographer Franz Lanting.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid0zBb5c528A2JEWy6MfMv7Z5mq96CJKl1iaC3sKefBm1ukl4ocGKajFGYT9IczkNYbnfrg7H0kjvG3YbK-awP2wSJ0QTpoDRoY01rIZ1byL06EbqEAyHlysTh6vbnzzMrq-rEFQHKdBw/s320/Ivan_WestCoastTour_Pic2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727548171192801602" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline; float: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; cursor: pointer; width: 224px; height: 300px; " /><div><span>Music that accompanies the movie was written by Baltimore native minimalist composer Phillip Glass. It requires at times razor-thin precision on part of the conductor in order to match the rapid movement of photographs on the big screen that hangs above the stage.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Our Music Director Marin Alsop, who has done this score (and many other live movie scores) many times with great success, yet again managed to bring it all to life with great accuracy. The children in this concert showed almost too much enthusiasm while we were playing, but that just may be preferable to them being bored.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>The evening concert started with a pairing of two fanfares, by Copland and Joan Tower, which gave our brass a chance to shine even in the less than ideal acoustical environment.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">Our featured soloist was the energetic, yet so cool and composed percussionist extraordinaire, Colin Currie, who displayed his rhythmical superiority (which he still matched with great sensitivity in slow and calm sections) on many instruments, and while he darted from one part of the stage to another in order to reach different groups of instruments.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Jennifer Higdon, who wrote the Percussion Concerto, ingeniously paired the soloist in front of the stage with orchestra's own percussion section in the back, often having them play off of one another in rapid succession, and especially so in the extended and rock-like cadenza.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Our guys were a great match for Colin, proving that the great distance between them and the soloist that they had to overcome didn't matter to musicians with great ears.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Second half of the concert featured Prokofiev's great Fifth Symphony, which gave a chance to the orchestra, under Marin Alsop's leadership, to show both its expressive capability and great sense of drive.</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>The Berkeley audience responded accordingly, and was quickly rewarded with a short excerpt from Borodin's "Polovtsian Dances."</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>Keep cheering us on from afar!</span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>-<i>Ivan Stefanovic</i></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div><div><span>(PHOTOS FROM TOP: A mission-style church across from Zellerbach Auditorium; Many choices of salsa in one of the excellent restaurants in Berkeley)</span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; "><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-73312192628487206832012-03-19T16:57:00.006-04:002012-03-19T17:21:19.308-04:00<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; "><strong>Dear blog readers,</strong></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; "><em>I do know that it's been a while. So long a while, as a matter of fact, that you might have (gasp!) moved on to some more frequently updated blogging sites. But despair not, I'm back, after some busy times, and I won't leave you wondering alone for this long again (famous last words). As a matter of fact, it's been so long, that I started the blog below in the throws of our non-winter, just after the holiday season. This is what I wrote:</em></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; ">I do like the holiday season. Not everything about it, mind you, but many things. First, as an avid skier, I love the weather this time of the year—snow is my friend, and I don't mind the cold either (and no, I am not happy that we've not had much of either). Second, I love (most of) the decked-out houses in Baltimore neighborhoods. They range from tasteful white lights in trees to a myriad of biblical characters in various types of plastic, lit up in various colors, from Disney characters of the same make-up, to, of course, the pink flamingoes (that odd, almost quaint Baltimore tradition), all sitting peacefully one next to the other, on people's lawns.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; ">I even like the music this time of the year. Being from Europe, a New Year doesn't start for me until I've watched the broadcast of Vienna Philharmonic's New Year's Concert, featuring many of the eternally elegant waltzes, coupled with the Lipizzaner horses, originally from the Slovenian Republic of my old country of Yugoslavia, dancing in sync with the music. Even the carols don't phase me, at least not in the first week or two of the season (though that period seems to come earlier every year, doesn't it, therefore lasting longer yet?).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; ">This holiday season, I had an opportunity to hear an orchestra concert made up of talented students of A. Mario Loiederman Middle School in Montgomery County, that featured some of that holiday music. This is because I was given an opportunity to help them prepare (in a role of a conductor), during three visits, for a performance of Leroy Anderson's Sleigh Ride, that culminated in that concert.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; ">Most of these kids are learning their instruments without the benefit of private lessons. A lot of them haven't even had a chance to learn how to properly hold their instrument or decipher some of the very basic note reading, let alone learn ways to mold a phrase or deliver dynamics the composer is requiring. But they make up for it in enthusiasm and youthful energy.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; ">This is where their music teachers, in this case Ian Stuart and Liz Jankowski-Carson, enter into the equation. I have always considered the grossly underpaid music teachers in elementary and middle schools in this country to be the real heroes of our music industry. Day in and day out, they deal with kids who are playing on instruments that are sometimes missing proper reeds, strings, or are impossible to tune, kids that are sometimes lacking the capacity to be quiet, listen and concentrate at the high level that is required for any progress to occur in an ensemble rehearsal. Sometimes they have to politely ask and plead, other times turn into task masters the likes of boot camp officers, in order to get anything done. To say that rehearsing a 3 minute arrangement of the Sleigh Ride with these kids for a couple of hours is a challenge is a gross understatement.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; ">Yet they (the teachers) perform small miracles every day. It was intriguing to see Mr. Stewart get them pepped up, yet keep them disciplined and quiet as they were preparing for their performance.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; ">I listened to several jazz, pop and rock music-influenced holiday tunes backstage while waiting to conduct them in the Anderson, and observed the same types of communication that are necessary to pull off a performance anywhere, on any stage. Smiles and stern looks rained on them from their conductors'/teachers' faces, other sections were listened to for cues, eyes darted alternately from the music to conductor's baton, it all was there. Not all the notes were there, of course, and not every nuance came through, but it was all done with a great amount of energy and pride.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; ">The same was true with the Sleigh Ride. I saw the whites of their eyes in crucial spots in the percussion, smiles from cellos in their fun counter-melodies, heard strong rhythm from brass and woodwinds and great dynamics from the violins and violas. The crowd, made up of very enthusiastic parents, teachers, and fellow students, exploded in appreciative applause. A great reward for the many hours of work the kids and their teachers put into the challenging program.</span></p><p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVOWzXS4a6nBIMerhGZGFBks55zfYPtsLl5bf-Qb2LfyjlLRr-8KxlkbEewWL-FIjABdq7pRmABKWtNZsY2VyNH2aG1XZMHHvzJAZB4T5pJXH4sq3suJ8H203aQV_1KN83oLCjpbLHKWk/s320/BlogPics1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721718314117462738" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; ">So, even though it may seem like a distant memory now, I remember with fondness the good time we all had in the last holiday season, and look forward to returning to the Loiederman School for more coachings and rehearsals in the spring, when this winter also becomes a just a distant memory.</span></p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzb-Hx30B7L9Pfon0dWHScq4Hr0kCqPnQ_JJbdDw3ox3Hx33a4TWbScfoI48xhM0yngFUfHj9k3gFUUepLA3v05h4U_RoecBMkhjDjar-Krhljc40R5tBaYwWx4k5d2on_tzzGfml6Yk4/s1600/BlogPics2.jpg"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzb-Hx30B7L9Pfon0dWHScq4Hr0kCqPnQ_JJbdDw3ox3Hx33a4TWbScfoI48xhM0yngFUfHj9k3gFUUepLA3v05h4U_RoecBMkhjDjar-Krhljc40R5tBaYwWx4k5d2on_tzzGfml6Yk4/s320/BlogPics2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5721719000522876370" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Helvetica; "><i>-Ivan Stefanovic</i></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-38467027741890156962011-11-30T09:24:00.008-05:002011-11-30T09:37:10.105-05:00A Walk in the Park<div style="text-align: left;">Dear readers,</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm writing this from a bus (yes, it's the bus again, saves time in these busy times) on the way back from a brief and very successful weekend the BSO had in the great New York City, performing Honegger's Joanne of Arc at the Stake with our Music Director, Marin Alsop and a big cast of singers, actors and no less than three choirs.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>The ride there was blissfully uneventful, and, after dropping stuff backstage at Carnegie Hall, I took a short, but very sweet, walk to Central Park. It was one of those perfect Fall days, with warm sunshine shining down from deep blue skies threaded with contrails upon throngs of people that had come out to enjoy it in every way possible. The active ones, ranging from pick-up soccer games, Frisbee throwers, joggers, rollerbladers, kids frolicking in piles of fallen leaves and on playgrounds, to the passive ones, strolling along and occasionally stopping to watch one of the many performance artists, taking in the sun on the grass at Sheep Meadow, sitting on one of the walls and just observing the people passing by (and speaking many of the world's languages), or enjoying a ride on a horse drawn carriage, feeling and looking romantic all the while trying to ignore the fact that they are, indeed, only feet away from a big animal whose bathroom habits are as controlled and mannered as those of a baby.</div><div><div style="text-align: center; "></div></div><div><br /></div><div>And, speaking of performance artists, that's where Central Park really stands out. Not only are they as varied here as anywhere, they also are the cream of the crop. If you can attract the crowds here, where they always have a choice of walking a hundred yards further to hear and see something that is more interesting, or moving, or just plain crazy, then you can make it anywhere! From the always-present caricature artists, to oversize bubble makers, and bicycle and rollerblade tricksters, to the many musicians of all kinds, there's definitely something for everyone.</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZX1d2dxm14bOQDZjnVRW6XFta_fUG_wpkZRR6cPOzb9kBkV-aIPGgaT7CvhoRtQa9Tj2bnV6DexCieoUiHcFsVnLr7fS2Dql8YZ8dzQwbSM6RlKUqkV-aGghIb8Y2wm9KdNWsx1Ba0Y/s400/NYC+blog+1.bmp" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680795112392656210" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /><div><div style="text-align: center; "></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>One particular musician caught my ear as I was descending the steps towards the Mall and the beautiful pond. </div><div><br /></div><div><div><div><div style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJ5JIuvuhSGpYH3jmhWU7PjtuEXq4lWuTbqkzCI4DwSoQEUQi-i69znoRtBYOGp7erwXDZlTRfisWSUkARFwaVzB38uuqwRR8xec0cVgO2hzWs0nahdK17fbH6ecBhUIeVTiinGUaAIs/s320/NYC+blog+2.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680796257543307890" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></div></div></div></div><div><br /></div><div>He was seated on the wall that surrounds the now dry fountain, playing movements of solo suites by Johann Sebastian Bach. His sound was beautiful, his intonation impeccable, his style just right. Yet there he was, in not so ideal conditions (were the cool temperatures a reason he was holding his bow the way a lot of bass players do-German style?), surrounded by masses of people speaking many languages all at once, with competition from other musicians nearby, minding his own business of making beautiful music. His open cello case, lying by his feet, the top leaning on the wall of the fountain, was full, and getting fuller by the minute, of one dollar bills. An elderly Grandmother, a young German couple, a little girl clenching the doll she took for a walk in the park, were all moved and felt like they had to contribute something to this classiest of street artists. As a colleague, I contributed more, and started walking briskly back to Carnegie Hall, so I could make it back in time for my rehearsal. But, there was another wonderful distraction waiting for me. A couple had stopped on a path and was quietly looking up at something. On a low branch on one of the golden-yellow linden trees, near the children's carousel, stood a large peregrine falcon. His head moved left and right, as his small but sharp eyes, separated by his razor-sharp beak, surveyed the park, probably looking for a snack. After a couple of minutes, his body stiffened, his head perked up, and he lifted his large wings to get what had caught his attention.</div><div><br /></div><div>At that point, pressed for time, I had concluded that I'd had enough inspiration for one day, and it was time to go make some beautiful music.</div><div><br /></div><div><i>-Ivan Stefanovic</i></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-87026639428609125522011-11-07T09:25:00.007-05:002011-11-07T11:02:44.009-05:00Opera Update<div style="text-align: left;">So, here we are in the pit of the <b style="text-align: left; ">Lyric</b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-align: left; ">, ready for the three hours of overt emotions, death, unexpressed love, and great music that <b>Verdi's </b><i><b>Traviata</b> </i>offers. And then, the unthinkable happens: the computer that controls the lighting crashes, and the many hundreds of Baltimore's finest patrons, that have been waiting way too long for the Grand Opera to show its presence in this fine city, have to wait another thirty minutes for the show to start.</span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div> But all is forgiven and quickly forgotten when the first notes of violins start playing a melody that is heart-wrenchingly beautiful and yet hints at the tragic things to come, and the glorious curtain rises to reveal a party scene that starts the story...</div><div><br /></div><div><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilpoBb9YyT8t2HB2aWyZ1vlbPuoVy5WznaUOCFpmBmtbWiE4jvHNtlFSjHPkiejSZA-3izN1qdcXcr5BuOxNul9zGeNwtY-WArOf2cHQl_B542BXVTWuoHciC0XsVz93yCrl8UuXhWI_o/s400/Opera_Pit_View.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5672262121637611282" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 301px; " /><br /></div><div><b>Grand Opera is back in Baltimore! </b></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-80373174474324030712011-11-04T14:29:00.015-04:002011-11-04T16:25:26.007-04:00"Ides of October"<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJ3sbKc-eJpxudDR3HWLJPmn_fyGGCQyh8LAJMLV73qvJVAoo0vtBZ03Aot3ANc0vT4EcH_zt8lizWTp-26Y-9fG8BAfkNgI9wFBOlUHh5ldCVQrc9c9XXUkl7GnqCqhu5KjLX7ghFlQ/s1600/3_IMG_0744.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJ3sbKc-eJpxudDR3HWLJPmn_fyGGCQyh8LAJMLV73qvJVAoo0vtBZ03Aot3ANc0vT4EcH_zt8lizWTp-26Y-9fG8BAfkNgI9wFBOlUHh5ldCVQrc9c9XXUkl7GnqCqhu5KjLX7ghFlQ/s200/3_IMG_0744.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671219458526898978" /></a><div> So Mother Nature decided to poke fun at us last Saturday (<i>and didn't even have to use Facebook’s poke button for it</i>). Just a couple of weeks after relishing in how the aforementioned "Mother" was right on the dot in sending flocks of Canada Geese due North, I was flying due South on I-83 early one Saturday morning to start my teaching day at Peabody, when she sent a full-fledged winter storm into the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast before October even had a chance to have a last word. People were sent scrambling to find car brushes and shovels; cities had to re-equip their trucks in order to push snow off of highways; all this just a few days after our sand boxes got delivered to hilly street corners (ours was still empty)! Also, I must say that hibiscus trees, butterfly bush flowers and marigolds look oh so wrong with a snowy white background behind them.</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><u><br /></u></span><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmMgAzHBZTqUQf18YE_wmjgtjCfLtEaBv0v6pg3Fr130LFxN9H4ytwGWsK9D7Q9tilmAureOL6LzEre2jWsAfCwJQw6KwSYsXPWmWdte4R79DjT0EU_ngkVw_BOHTG5P5aWRev8LFnKA0/s320/4_IMG_0742.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671219885764717058" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: underline; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u><br /></u></span></div> The BSO's trip to Strathmore was, fortunately, accident-free as we traveled to play an energy-filled concert with <b>Barry Douglas</b> as a soloist and <b>Vasily Petrenko</b> as guest conductor, featuring <b><i>Rachmaninov's Symphony #3</i></b>. Mr. Douglas used to play with us fairly often when David Zinman was our Music Director, and we recorded the #3 , together with #2, many years ago in my first few years in the orchestra.<br /><br /></div><div> It's funny how a brain plays games and tricks with musicians. Many times in my career, while playing a rehearsal or a concert, a very quick image of something or somebody from the past would appear in, and just as quickly disappear from, my mind<b> (you'd be surprised how, despite the hundreds of bytes of information we are required to keep track of while performing, our brains sometimes venture off to mundane things like what we need to get at the grocery store!).</b> After this happened one too many times, apparently at random, I started to come to a conclusion that I must have been playing that very same music when the given event happened. Now I don’t really have time to keep a diary of all our weekly programs and events from that week, but it would be interesting.</div><div><br /></div><div> Speaking of interesting (and new), this Friday evening will be the very first time I’ve played a performance of a genuine opera in a pit, as the BSO brings the opera back to Baltimore in concerts in two performances of <a href="http://www.lyricoperahouse.com/showdetail.php?showing_id=28"><b>Verdi’s dramatic La Traviata</b></a>. It’s been an amazing experience, with a great cast of singers, beautiful sets, and an extremely capable conductor who holds it all together. It has also been great listening to my colleagues that have been in the BSO just slightly (and a few, a lot) longer than me (coming up to my 21st year!) tell the many stories and memories from their days at the <a href="http://http//www.lyricoperahouse.com/"><b>Lyric </b></a>(before the <b><a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=0,1,4,1">Meyerhoff </a></b>was built).</div><div><br /></div><div> This will be a truly memorable weekend for the city and its music lovers. If there are any tickets left, it’ll be the place to see and be seen this weekend, so <b><a href="http://www.lyricoperahouse.com/showdetail.php?showing_id=28">hurry and get some!</a></b> We promise at least a few tears and many laughs, accompanied by some of the most beautiful music ever written. I also suggest a visit to <a href="http://www.littleitalymd.com/"><b>Little Italy</b></a> before and after-you’ll surely be craving some great Italian food after this!<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwaJ45ASJY529UnKXfytT72n2f05eANJ5O7dZHdYolmvueHuvcZ4TC3pmZM4Sbd5rb0HTSW77dDHAtfOna3px0z6HR9lQkVPPRKa36ztN4vrWFUIIZND-RYrDvycI3TW5nkU5kVKXFG4/s1600/Little_Italy_Baltimore.gif" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdwaJ45ASJY529UnKXfytT72n2f05eANJ5O7dZHdYolmvueHuvcZ4TC3pmZM4Sbd5rb0HTSW77dDHAtfOna3px0z6HR9lQkVPPRKa36ztN4vrWFUIIZND-RYrDvycI3TW5nkU5kVKXFG4/s400/Little_Italy_Baltimore.gif" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5671221036812110642" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 270px; height: 185px; " /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><i>(Little Italy, Baltimore)<br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">-Ivan Stefanovic</div></i></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-81563855854006763302011-10-21T10:35:00.008-04:002011-11-03T11:39:10.082-04:00"Beautiful Days"<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">The way Beethoven expresses his feelings: <i>"I love you"</i><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">The way Debussy expresses the same feeling: <i>"It's a beautiful day"</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">This is how this weekend’s guest conductor, Louis Langrée, explained the way Impressionist composers convey their feelings to audiences. His audience was one drawn by <a href="http://www.freefallbaltimore.com/">Free Fall Baltimore</a>, which allowed many to attend a working rehearsal of two masterpieces each of Mozart and Debussy that are part of a beautiful program that also features a masterful violin soloist James Ehnes. There are two concerts remaining, <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,1,1,3&PerfNo=9784">Friday</a> and <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,1,1,3&PerfNo=9801">Saturday evening</a>. Don't miss this treat for the ears!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><b>Bolt for the BSO Update</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Last Saturday, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/BoltfortheBSO">Bolt for the BSO</a> came to a rousing end in the form of the <a href="http://www.thebaltimoremarathon.com/">Baltimore Running Festival</a>, which we all lovingly call the Baltimore Marathon. Many musicians, administrators and Board members, as well as our Music Director, Marin Alsop (together with her son), ran an array of races from 5K's to the full marathon. Some ran as veterans of these events, many more ran for the very fist time. </span></p><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEismWKR0JSI5VMuZHuYd5d74GXBbNHdXOZFBLagdE8J0CmNKE4H-nh8Zswqh6Gth_hVaOZJ7KYqnH4tNS6PxfbeR1trisSbPPCz3Is1u1E7AElhG7Ikzl5VAG-XPXrcFL5UZVdhSXFhsPA/s400/Bolt_for_the_BSO_picnic.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5665968609004082546" /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">It turned out to be a glorious day, with full sunshine backed by azure-blue skies and just enough of a breeze to make sweating a negligible side-effect. Some 25,000 runners from all states of the <st1:place st="on">Union</st1:place> and 24 different countries participated in this incredible display of humans working together for the common cause: to exercise, to lose weight, to achieve and surpass personal records, and, primarily (for most of us, one can hope), to have fun</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">BSO's "Bolters" had an additional goal - to, in a way, justify and thank all of the generous donors </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">who helped us get, as of today, very close to our goal of raising at least $50,000 for our beloved </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">orchestra. The good news is that there's still time, until November 1, for you to pick and sponsor a runner and therefore contribute in this inspired and oh-so-</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">well run and organized effort by Cynthia Renn, our Governing Member Extraordinaire (and many others) to help this incredible arts organization continue contributing its talents to the city and state it's in, at the highest level of excellence. You can do so by going to this link: <a href="http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011">www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011</a>, or, if you really like my blog, here's my personal Bolt fundraising page: <a href="https://mail.baltimoresymphony.org/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011/B2011IStefan" target="_blank">http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011/B2011IStefan</a>.</span></p> <div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br />Here are a few of my impressions from the race:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">-<b>Favorite moment (other than the obvious one of crossing the finish line)</b>: The start of the race, after a heart-felt rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner, with thousands cheering and confetti flying. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">-<b>Favorite sign alongside the race:</b> "WORST PARADE EVER". Made me laugh so hard that I lost my pace for a few seconds. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">-<b>Favorite scene</b>: Coming down the hill from <st1:street st="on"><st1:address st="on">Harford Rd.</st1:address></st1:street> and seeing the first few hundred racers already circling the deep-blue waters of picturesque <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">Lake</st1:placetype> <st1:placename st="on">Montebello</st1:placename></st1:place>, leading a long snake of runners that stretched for miles. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">-<b>Favorite not-so-legal, yet so Baltimore-like scene</b>: A couple, set up with a small table in front one of the colorful row-houses in Charles Village, handing out beer in open cups to runners, as a Baltimore Policeman stands, ignoring them, a few feet away<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">-<b>Favorite revelation</b>: That the waters of the above lake were such a deep blue color because of the wind which, as we circled the lake and noticed whitecaps forming, hit us dead-on and followed us to the finish line, probably slowing down each runner's time by a few precious seconds. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">-Favorite way to take advantage of a captive audience</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt; color:black;background:white">: Several musicians (bands) set up along the way, of which the one somewhere on <st1:street st="on"><st1:address st="on">Howard St.</st1:address></st1:street> takes the cake for the least inspiring singing/playing. Made me run faster, just when I was starting to loose energy!</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">-Favorite effort at getting their sign noticed</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black; background:white">: A guy from Occupy Baltimore, near <st1:place st="on"><st1:placename st="on">Patterson</st1:placename> <st1:placetype st="on">Park</st1:placetype></st1:place>, running on the side of the course in the opposite direction of hundreds of participants , holding a 99% sign. </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">-Favorite side-effect of the race</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">: The many policeman manning the intersections in the impoverished parts of town, allowing some of our fellow citizens to feel safe enough this one time in a year to come out on their stoops, many in their pajamas, and heartily cheer on (and for some, sing and dance) the strangers that would otherwise be too scared to even drive through their neighborhoods. Touching and inspiring. </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); "><br />And now, I think I bought myself some bragging rights:</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">Half-Marathon time 1:51:59 (about 8.5 minute miles), significantly better than last year's 1:57:something, which was my first ever race, after I had just started running that summer.<br /></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">120th in my age category</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); ">1,200 overall (of about 11,000 half-marathon runners). </span></li></ul><p></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:black;background:white">Not too bad for a second violinist :)<o:p></o:p></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-64256702038919636312011-10-14T09:56:00.011-04:002011-10-17T09:33:52.078-04:00"Lessons"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><i>(This is the first response to the</i><b> <a href="http://bsomusic.blogspot.com/2011/09/dear-blog-readers-now-that-bsos-season.html">BOLT donation challenge</a></b><i> I wrote about below.)</i><br /></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><b>Lesson</b>:<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>–an amount of teaching given at one time</span></div><div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>–a period of learning or teaching</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>–a passage from the Bible read aloud during </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; ">a church </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; ">service</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>–to learn one's lesson</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>–to teach someone a lesson</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; ">So many meanings, yet they all really mean one thing. I especially like the last one. Even with its oh-so-</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; ">obvious</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "> meaning in the music world, it still carries that admonishing connotation that I never want to convey when I am, indeed, “<b>teaching someone a lesson</b>.”</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; ">So, the word itself essentially means that there is <b>some kind of learning process happening during a usually pre-assigned period of time</b> (hey, maybe I should send that meaning to Webster's, I think it's pretty good?). If one looks at it that way, the implication is that there's a teacher (coach, trainer, etc.) doing the teaching, and a student (apprentice, sports player, etc.) doing the learning. However, anyone that's devoted any time to teaching (in my case, over 20 years) knows that it is much more of a <b>two-way street</b>.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><img src="http://www.bsomusic.org/img/academy/Mus_Test_25_250x167.jpg" border="0" alt="" style="float: right; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 250px; height: 167px; " /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; ">In music, this couldn't be more accentuated (excuse the pun). A musician (student) spends countless hours being instructed (taught) on so many different levels: holding the instrument properly, having the correct body posture, specific (and countless) technical exercises; but all that work ties into the “product” they are creating: the glorious music that's supposed to come out of their instrument. <b>And therein lies the catch</b>. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; ">It's hard enough for a teacher to put into words what he/she knows at that point in their career (hopefully) so well, especially with regards to purely technical aspects of playing: the tricks to playing with a straight bow, control of a good spiccato (a bouncing stroke), the various widths and speeds of an expressive vibrato. Even those concepts require a lot of “<b>translating</b>” from what comes so naturally and what our teachers so capably put into words for us so many years ago. The real challenge comes when a teacher is confronted, whether with a new student or for the first time altogether, with having to convey a meaning of a musical phrase, a direction of a certain musical idea, or a style of music from many centuries ago. <b>That's the real challenge in teaching</b>.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; ">Even after so many years in the profession, I still find it stimulating to exchange ideas with my students about what all those symbols on the page are trying to convey, to get them to discover for themselves how to use all those techniques we worked so hard on in order to make sounds that move and, yes, entertain, the listener. <b>And that's a lesson that teaches both the student and the teacher.</b></span></div></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-size: medium; "><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>-Ivan Stefanovic</i></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-64244829125893592712011-09-29T15:03:00.010-04:002011-10-14T10:32:24.366-04:00Bolt for the BSO Challenge<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYqNsHV8leb0LZtsmZD4_I9xTqkwjF_yH7EcgKafbqH0shITsoiM2s6ntVZvcr70l7ohZoqhSchUWJwHOIqxIwdwkj_ZVe-q38SkafkiOSxsUCy7n-cH91dzU7NlXVxanLlj-QjtHtNs/s1600/Bolt_for_the_BSO.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 210px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIYqNsHV8leb0LZtsmZD4_I9xTqkwjF_yH7EcgKafbqH0shITsoiM2s6ntVZvcr70l7ohZoqhSchUWJwHOIqxIwdwkj_ZVe-q38SkafkiOSxsUCy7n-cH91dzU7NlXVxanLlj-QjtHtNs/s320/Bolt_for_the_BSO.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5657861550153495330" /></a><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span>Dear blog readers,</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><span>Now</span><span style="font-weight: bold; "> </span></span><span><span>that the BSO's season (and other ensemble's seasons that I am involved in) is in full swing, and my kids are all settled in their schools, and, after I spent many hours on the phone with a not-to-be-named company whose name starts with the letter V and finally got my phone and Internet service troubles squared away, I promise to write more often, like I did last season. To help me with that, I propose to you a unique challenge: if you donate $25 or more (and do feel free to be more generous:) to <b><a href="http://www.facebook.com/BoltfortheBSO">Bolt for the BSO</a></b> (see more on that in a <a href="http://bsomusic.blogspot.com/2011/09/bolting-in-montenegro.html"><b>recent entry below</b></a>) in my name, you will buy yourself a right to ask me to write a blog (not just 2-3 sentences, I promise) on any topic that you choose, music-related or not. I know, I'm really putting myself on a limb, but wonderful people that organized this effort are working so hard on this, and I feel like this is a great opportunity to help from my end in this unusual way. As soon as I see your donation (I get a notice of it right away), I will write to you and ask you to post your topic of interest on the blog (as an answer to this post), or send me an e-mail with a topic, and I'll write a response within a few days.</span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"><span><span>And speaking of the season being in full swing, don't miss this weekend's performances with <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,1,1,3&PerfNo=9800"><b>Yan Pascal Tortelier</b></a>, one of our favorite guest conductors, as he leads us in Sibelius' atmospheric Fifth Symphony (with a most dramatic ending) and Elgar's powerful Concert-Overture named <i><span style="font-style: italic; ">In the South</span></i> (as in Italy, which is the South to Britons). Cuban pianist Horacio Gutiérrez, who is an old friend of the BSO (we have produced several recordings with him under the baton of David Zinman), will play Mozart's opera-induced Piano Concerto No. 19 (make sure to listen for quotes from his operatic opus in the last movement!).</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span">Check out this YouTube video of Tortelier, whose father was the eminent cellist Paul Tortelier, as a young and virtuosic violinist in a performance of the difficult <i><span style="font-style: italic; ">La Tzigane</span></i> by Maurice Ravel: <span><span style="color: blue; "><a title="blocked::http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15XGTHaJIu0" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15XGTHaJIu0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15XGTHaJIu0</a></span></span></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in"><span><span><span class="Apple-style-span"><span><i>-Ivan Stefanovic</i></span></span></span></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-62536934001081832592011-09-08T09:45:00.010-04:002011-09-22T14:23:55.249-04:00Bolting In MontenegroHi, Ivan here. <br /><br />I just wanted to clarify why I started this blog with "Dear fellow Bolters". Bolters, as I named ourselves, are members of the orchestra, administration and friends of the BSO who are running in the 2011 Baltimore Running Festival in October. We are members of Bolt for the BSO (hence "Bolters"), an organization that was started last year by a BSO Governing Board member in order to raise money for the organization. <br /><br />We were very successful last year, and plan to be even more so this year. The fun aspect of this (other than running) is that you can sponsor me by going to this page: <a href="http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011/B2011IStefan">http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011/B2011IStefan</a>, or any of us on the home page: <a href="http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011">http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011</a>.<br /><br />Thank you all for being our supporters in so many ways!<br /><br />___________________________________<br /><br />Dear fellow Bolters, I have spent the last couple of weeks in beautiful Montenegro (part of former Yugoslavia), where my sisters and I used to spend our summers in our parents' house, built some 50 years ago. I'm here now with my family of five (my wife Jennifer and our three boys), and also my older sister and her two children. <br /><br />After recuperating from an overnight train trip from Belgrade to the Adriatic Coast which took much longer than anticipated due to some technical problems, and taking a few days off from training, I started running again. <br /><br />My parents' place is located on the beach of a beautiful town called Sveti (Saint) Stefan, whose crown jewel is a unique city-hotel situated on a rocky island (now connected by a small bridge to land) that originally housed fishermen, starting around the 15th century, and now houses the rich and famous that can afford it. To get to that spectacular view and the beginning of my running path, there's a good warm-up in the form of a few stairs between the beach buildings. Then I am greeted by this view:<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxk0urICF_W2bouUCm7nSg52RsciyWj6Vxi-iTUXn8hR5z8Y6WU3dFi2oTjC6lhxsFntOoQ8hIetcKgL4JQ_JeTl3haeISeE0lpDoXOxQFDjP_FwwvhhrZ2JjunjLmMKZzP1IUVQhVks/s1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLxk0urICF_W2bouUCm7nSg52RsciyWj6Vxi-iTUXn8hR5z8Y6WU3dFi2oTjC6lhxsFntOoQ8hIetcKgL4JQ_JeTl3haeISeE0lpDoXOxQFDjP_FwwvhhrZ2JjunjLmMKZzP1IUVQhVks/s320/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649984949322624514" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Next comes a downhill, with views of spectacular mountains just being touched by the sun, through these tall pines:<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFJtqzRaNBAlD4mbY67eO71VfQJ5KBFogi0_dchh7MeiUJnmo6b9muLekgNGqINn_IPvVT7FH5DX_hXU2gRJZj1BppJPAEbtb4eUDmhl93AkP_YpNC-OHDupPFIWjG1LMjGhG5O53iaY/s1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZFJtqzRaNBAlD4mbY67eO71VfQJ5KBFogi0_dchh7MeiUJnmo6b9muLekgNGqINn_IPvVT7FH5DX_hXU2gRJZj1BppJPAEbtb4eUDmhl93AkP_YpNC-OHDupPFIWjG1LMjGhG5O53iaY/s320/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649985387997497490" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Further down, ok the side of the road, I take note of the newly ripe wild blackberries, which I consume on the way back:<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrirzGSRgG0X9ZBNmSL5xJUV5phGQyat39w__f2tZ1GbzxCefmusgss11XUtSp4S1ZAPldGa4iEhBeOfAsx_ThvnbzK4gwbRAzOyPQ-4-coqPHBAgrl15bbhhrn4-lJjdp5xDnwNhQLSQ/s1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 224px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrirzGSRgG0X9ZBNmSL5xJUV5phGQyat39w__f2tZ1GbzxCefmusgss11XUtSp4S1ZAPldGa4iEhBeOfAsx_ThvnbzK4gwbRAzOyPQ-4-coqPHBAgrl15bbhhrn4-lJjdp5xDnwNhQLSQ/s320/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649985579302850834" /></a><br /><br /><br />The same fate awaits these figs:<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMc6SZuqKDYzp5b18gettfX49AcHPo-l6y7HWgxK_0HydurQ87r62qfsmfdJ7OllRCIaWk-tDUmXzKJ6ZVhFsKtjb5vwtdpm39rZRvQrP98coDpc7PHC5UL96-0xIHxwpCw1_B734VVus/s1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMc6SZuqKDYzp5b18gettfX49AcHPo-l6y7HWgxK_0HydurQ87r62qfsmfdJ7OllRCIaWk-tDUmXzKJ6ZVhFsKtjb5vwtdpm39rZRvQrP98coDpc7PHC5UL96-0xIHxwpCw1_B734VVus/s320/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649985782815972610" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />In the middle of my path, I come upon two gates like the one below, which used to be stationed by guards watching over the royal grounds.<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWQuOlv8DEfiTsigTEf8SKjJVRstsgoCus4mCa6UW01Q7VWj57x4vSlyu7TLzWnThYIcsWjuo2HFjnhtlDazYpQnzn5fCG2bXdbmcJdJXX6boEsykN58UV21WoEP7On3OoyfNVvnXTuU/s1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqWQuOlv8DEfiTsigTEf8SKjJVRstsgoCus4mCa6UW01Q7VWj57x4vSlyu7TLzWnThYIcsWjuo2HFjnhtlDazYpQnzn5fCG2bXdbmcJdJXX6boEsykN58UV21WoEP7On3OoyfNVvnXTuU/s320/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649986130825740802" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Montenegro used to be a kingdom, and the king's palace is still standing on a beautiful stretch of beach, now also turned into a luxury hotel:<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QvfCY7-jFllK2_gg2JFUV5GSPyaZc9Jo-VDk_5VAA43ddRmBMvIu0izaNWFg-F2Bi0As-_SGQNoeUZlxV_s3JdagpyWNxmHY0D2Vz7EVn_-CFG60WczeWwxnEUJxttdX7bsU1fz5XCE/s1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7QvfCY7-jFllK2_gg2JFUV5GSPyaZc9Jo-VDk_5VAA43ddRmBMvIu0izaNWFg-F2Bi0As-_SGQNoeUZlxV_s3JdagpyWNxmHY0D2Vz7EVn_-CFG60WczeWwxnEUJxttdX7bsU1fz5XCE/s320/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649986305196875874" /></a><br /><br /><br />Next is the tiny and precious Queen's beach, where one can imagine she could escape from her husband's ramblings about his prowess:<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtKjgWalRbc5_Q8nTSPW8UbRLTy7N5yVxnYghlH5fYiHIix-ddC8tLmnTZkBHH58Nxjzn__LNoSRUrFBn4wHBZIhwOWJn0YcsXtYywSwQTFgJoU17ub5YucABKoJRI2KGk3Yk4x8a1CQ/s1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 296px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbtKjgWalRbc5_Q8nTSPW8UbRLTy7N5yVxnYghlH5fYiHIix-ddC8tLmnTZkBHH58Nxjzn__LNoSRUrFBn4wHBZIhwOWJn0YcsXtYywSwQTFgJoU17ub5YucABKoJRI2KGk3Yk4x8a1CQ/s320/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649986465944201570" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />At the end of a longish uphill, the rays of Adriatic sun haven't yet reached the cozy fisherman's village of Pržno, where the catch of the day means literally just that in the beach-side restaurants, as the seafood is brought right to them and then presented to patrons on big circular platters for their perusal, in place of a menu:<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisz7ndrrD1SpAtBw7UaS_FPQX427xclGUqTXhrUeXcy3P5rhPGSoQvnONzQrR9-bJ5jVVdPKmWF-lvZ7g9dn9gmrYKv2Z2kM2Y-7ngL6tajld5ITp6xG0VEUu8sqsfqKFot4Zz7LORKwI/s1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisz7ndrrD1SpAtBw7UaS_FPQX427xclGUqTXhrUeXcy3P5rhPGSoQvnONzQrR9-bJ5jVVdPKmWF-lvZ7g9dn9gmrYKv2Z2kM2Y-7ngL6tajld5ITp6xG0VEUu8sqsfqKFot4Zz7LORKwI/s320/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649986621055696434" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />Upon my return, I usually get right into my inflatable kayak that I travel with, and meander over to some isolated beach in the stillness of the early morning for a refreshing swim, as I await the sun to reach over the mountains into the blue-green water:<br /> <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-aPNnt_SSrSZqjqqCyCSFgB4hx-HSqhZyhnVTtsVuZLPKS1d4YJTM4d5UXn_cfYgjmPbXABufVX6gI71uSDAfNXpd0KhpqO-XLR8PtJ0r1RzmY21_qL189cNCyZ5N6p8DDW6o4GC99A/s1600/clip_image002.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3-aPNnt_SSrSZqjqqCyCSFgB4hx-HSqhZyhnVTtsVuZLPKS1d4YJTM4d5UXn_cfYgjmPbXABufVX6gI71uSDAfNXpd0KhpqO-XLR8PtJ0r1RzmY21_qL189cNCyZ5N6p8DDW6o4GC99A/s320/clip_image002.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5649986807498384802" /></a><br /><br /><br />Then it's time for a jog up many stairs to the village for some fresh bread, eggs and oatmeal, and a hearty breakfast. A great way to start a day, get exercise, and then continue the "cross-training" with spear fishing, and more swimming, kayaking, climbing over rocky islands, and general beach fun with my wife and our three boys. <br /><br />My batteries will, I trust, be fully charged and ready to go for both the Bolt for the BSO Half-Marathon in October, as well as the next great season of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. <br /><br />-Ivan StefanovicUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-68991864205802465702011-06-06T09:52:00.002-04:002011-06-06T09:57:17.999-04:00Monday MuseGood morning!<br /><br />This week the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra performs our last concert of the 2010-11 Season, <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=3,1,6,10">Verdi's <span style="font-style:italic;">Messa de Requiem</span></a> on June 9-12. <br /><br />But don't worry! You can still join the BSO at any of our <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,29">summer concerts</a>!<br /><br />___________________________________________________<br /><br />"I adore art...when I am alone with my notes, my heart pounds and the tears stream from my eyes, and my emotion and my joys are too much to bear."<br />-Giuseppe VerdiUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-5716163341216597512011-05-31T09:33:00.002-04:002011-05-31T09:44:21.450-04:00Monday MuseGood morning! <br /><br />We hope that everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!<br /><br />This week the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra welcomes piano great <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,9,2,1,1,3&PerfNo=8815">Emanuel Ax</a> on June 2-5.<br /><br />___________________________________________________<br /><br /><br />"It is not hard to compose, but what is fabulously hard is to leave the superfluous notes under the table."<br />-Johannes BrahmsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-42321712414858059332011-05-26T10:52:00.006-04:002011-05-26T11:14:15.857-04:00One Note at a Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_C_2lc6wAcDumwiYpbkoxFKYCcK-ThVQrbyOFVV9DXmtw2vqx3L9005wgAZQQBAlqc0RdKu66ar7HDIWFalyJMIUlCgL_Nb0oTHiyc07bR00qLzE3aGY7O_a5OSdvDjVFmK7cq4lHLU/s1600/photo.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL_C_2lc6wAcDumwiYpbkoxFKYCcK-ThVQrbyOFVV9DXmtw2vqx3L9005wgAZQQBAlqc0RdKu66ar7HDIWFalyJMIUlCgL_Nb0oTHiyc07bR00qLzE3aGY7O_a5OSdvDjVFmK7cq4lHLU/s400/photo.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5611042264166952274" /></a><br />Last weekend, as I was putting together some raised vegetable and herb beds in my garden, I had my two younger sons as my helpers. They really enjoyed themselves when I asked for their help with drilling holes in the wood, and then fastening the screws, as much as any boy enjoys using power tools. We also make our own compost and we find that it's such a pleasure to not only recycle paper and plastic, but to also reuse our leftover food to grow more food. That task, of getting it out of the compost bin and mixing it with the soil before planting, I left for myself, knowing what kind of "yuck" reaction I'd get from them (I, for one, think it smells slightly sweet, a testament to how much fruit we all eat). <br /><br />Then there was some clean up to do, left over from the winter and spring, around the new garden beds-leaves, twigs, general yard refuse. My middle son started raking it, but it was a relatively big area, and he got tired and discouraged after a while. When I saw how he was doing it, I walked over to him, marked several smaller square-shaped parcels, and told him to do them one at a time. His face brightened, and, like any parent would, I saw a teachable moment. I reminded him how I have, in some of our cello practice sessions, told him to never look at any big problem straight in the eye, and to instead divide it into many more manageable problems, ones that can be solved without him feeling overwhelmed. Then I took a step further, and said that he can use that tool in any life situation that requires problem solving. That was of course a step too many, because at that point he rolled his eyes in the "there goes Dad lecturing me on life again" and proceeded to do as advised, but still, he got the point.<br /><br />I had a couple of opportunities lately to practice what I preach. First, I realized that I use just such a way of thinking when I, in my typical fashion, made myself go up the steep Falls Rd. to Roland Ave. hill for the second time in a run, as I get myself ready for the Bolt for the BSO-in my case, Half-Marathon in October. Instead of looking up to the top of the hill, I usually look at the beautiful houses on the side of the road, one by one, and then it seems so much easier. The next opportunity came when i was facing hundreds of seemingly unrelated, fast (REALLY FAST) sixteenth notes in a really cool William Walton Symphony #1 that I had to get ready for the first rehearsal on Tuesday, for this weekend's concerts. It seemed a daunting, almost impossible task to look at the endless black circles with stems on the page and think, "I am going to have to play this in front of thousands of people in a concert soon." But, when approached slowly, one measure, one phrase, one furiously paced page at a time, it became, well, possible that I might survive. Not to mention that I was encouraged by the fact that dozens of my colleagues were using the same practice method at that very same time.<br /><br />Come this weekend and see how well it worked! As I said, the Symphony, which we have not played in decades (if ever), is quite a power house of emotion. The rest of the program, led by the very methodical and very musical guest conductor Carlos Kalmar with Karen Gomyo on violin, is <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,1,1,1&EventID=Clas22_1011">Mahler, Sibelius and Walton</a> on Friday, May 27 at the Meyerhoff and Saturday, May 28 at Strathmore.<br /><br />P.S. Check out this beautiful rainbow I caught on a walk last week, between a rehearsal and a concert, as it was trying to imitate the graceful architecture of Strathmore Hall.<br /><br />-Ivan StefanovicUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-27042071269095704512011-05-23T09:47:00.000-04:002011-05-23T09:54:12.817-04:00Monday MuseGood morning!<br /><br />This week we are preparing for our Classical Concert of Mahler, Sibelius and Walton with Carlos Kalmar, conductor and Karen Gomyo, violin. Our Monday Muse celebrates the composer Gustav Mahler. <br /><br />___________________________________________________<br /><br />"A symphony must be like the world. It must contain everything."<br />~Gustav MahlerUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-89488305320729636962011-05-16T10:47:00.000-04:002011-05-16T11:27:44.779-04:00Monday MuseHere is your second Monday Muse quote to get your creativity started for the week!<br /><br />Our BSO SuperPops concert this week features <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=5,9,1,1&prid=20110519_1&type=event&season=1011">Rodgers and Hammerstein at the Movies</a> and some of their most well known movie musical favorites such as <span style="font-style: italic;">Oklahoma!</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">The King and I</span> and <span style="font-style: italic;">Carousel</span>.<br /><br />_____________________________________________________________________<br /><br />"After the Rodgers and Hammerstein revolution, songs became part of the story, as opposed to just entertainments in between comedy scenes."<br />~ Stephen SondheimUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-83895154604607223382011-05-13T13:56:00.000-04:002011-05-17T10:06:17.663-04:00Memories of SchumannA boy is lying in a hospital room bed in the Swiss Alps, listening to a beautiful orchestral piece on a radio that is sitting next to his unfinished meal that most Moms, including his, would not call a meal for their son. The son in question is 14 years old, and he just underwent a minor, yet for him, frightening, surgery on his big toe. He's now enjoying the ebb and flow of the piece, almost as much as the view out of his hospital room window, through which he is following hang gliders as they gracefully descend from the snow-capped mountain peaks, circling ever so slowly, until they finally land on a grassy field. This nirvana is only occasionally interrupted by cheers coming from a few rooms down the hallway, the common room, where the patients that are able and allowed to move are watching the Los Angeles Olympic Games on a TV set.<br /><br />That boy is me, many years ago, and the setting is a city hospital belonging to a small town of Samedan, just up the valley from Interlaken (my colleagues reading this will get a kick out of this, since I am one of only a few that didn't go to the well-known American summer camp, Michigan's Interlochen). I was a representative of my native country, then called Yugoslavia, in this camp where the Youth Orchestra of European Countries was rehearsing for a 10-day long Tour of Europe. Great experience for a budding musician except for the fact that, after having gone through a week of rehearsals, I got an ingrown toenail after a strenuous hike (and wearing some ill-fitting shoes) in the Alps just at the end of that week, and landed in the hospital with blood poisoning that could have ended something a lot more important to me and my loved one than that Tour.<br /><br />The piece that I was listening to from my hospital bed was Schumann's darkly dramatic <span style="font-style: italic;">Manfred</span> Overture, one of three Schumann pieces we are playing in this week's concerts, and one that we had rehearsed so diligently in the week prior, while enjoying the gorgeous vistas through the oversize windows of the orchestra room. That's why this piece always stirs up some strong memories in me, and why I look forward to playing it every time it's on the program. Robert Schumann had a very interesting life, and it shows in his works, so what better way to grasp it but through the BSO <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?erube_fh=tessitura&tessitura.submit.CalendarPerfLink=1&PerfNo=8795">Robert Schumann - A Romantic Original</a> concert this week on Thursday and Sunday in Baltimore. And on Friday at Strathmore and Saturday at Baltimore Marin Alsop, in her usual casual, yet informative style, will unravel Schumann's life in front of your eyes (and ears, of course) for the Off the Cuff performance of <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?erube_fh=tessitura&tessitura.submit.CalendarPerfLink=1&PerfNo=8798">Schumann's Beautiful Mind</a>. Not to be missed!<br /><br />And during the Overture, if you look carefully, you might see small figures flying through thin mountain air in my eyes.<br /><br />-Ivan StefanovicUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-79963124129038624072011-04-28T14:22:00.000-04:002011-05-17T10:06:50.383-04:00The BSO & The EconomyImagine that you are in charge of a company during these hard economic times, and you are told by your financial advisers and colleagues that you have to make some tough cuts in order to keep it floating. Your responsibility is to bring down a 1.5 trillion dollar deficit, a bit over one-hundredth of one percent of your budget. And imagine knowing that such a cut would basically shut down what most people consider not a luxury, but a necessity, especially in hard times. Would you say, "Yeah, go ahead, do it"?<br /><br />Well, that's what has recently been the talk of the town among our legislators, who make decisions for a "company" called USA, in regard to cutting down the National Endowment for the Arts. Now, you may say that the NEA sometimes uses its funds to support things you, or I, or just about nobody considers art and many other more concrete things in our life (like sports scores for example) is in the eye of the beholder. But, even if you say you don't care for art at all, you have no use for it in your life, and we need to make sure our cities survive these crises. So, if you don't care to feed not just the mouths but also the souls of our fellow citizens, let's just talk sheer numbers: the Arts are responsible for bringing hundreds of millions of dollars to cities in which they thrive, and lead to over $5.7 jobs annually. In the Baltimore area alone, all things put together, <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=2,13,1">BSO's contribution</a> to the region's coffers is estimated about $18 million!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=2,8"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 347px; height: 194px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUQ48lrk5TgkhmTb3ZbOHF2agJ5jV7sevsY2-QnjxhiuBiDMn0DtJPAMgUo0ZoioINoStdUh8rIKnbNW1MFmDfsdOAMu958xd7UtL2OTfesSJrsWdQRase-96MohciVcFCBCmOmKDJTI0/s320/Donate.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5602512290699575714" border="0" /></a>On Wednesday, we had about 20 very special people on the Meyerhoff stage with us during our rehearsal of Brahms' Second Symphony. What makes them special is that they commit to the BSO not only financially (and very generously), but also in so many other ways. They are <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=2,2,3">BSO's Governing Members</a>, and they go out of their way and organize fun gatherings in order to meet us, get to know us personally, and help us stay afloat. They spread the word about what we do, bring people to concerts, and organize fun and lucrative fund raising events (see <a href="http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011/B2011IStefan">Bolt for the BSO</a>, coming up this fall). They are the ones that really care about the music, many of them know it well, and also know that without them we wouldn't be here.<br /><br />Dear Legislators, please don't let people like that be the alone in keeping our cities in the black. We all deserve better.<br /><br />And now, let's forget the numbers and talk music: this week's concerts are sure to move your soul, with some great masterpieces led by a conductor new to the BSO, Cornelius Meister, who is bringing the best in us. The program includes Bruch's rarely heard Violin Concerto #2, with our great Concertmaster, Jonathan Carney. See you there.<br /><br />-Ivan StefanovicUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-36078211794875821492011-04-25T10:24:00.000-04:002011-04-25T10:38:40.360-04:00Monday MuseHello fans! We thought this would be a nice addition to our blog to include every Monday a quote from a Classical artist or about music. We hope this gets those creative juices flowing for the week! Please tell us what you think and share your responses to the quote.<br /><br />Our concert this week features <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,1,1,1&EventID=Clas19_1011">Brahms' Second Symphony</a> who, besides being one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period, was a man of simple lifestyle who generous supported the causes of others. <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahms">Learn more>></a><br /><br />---------------------------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />"What would become of all historical biography if it was written only with consideration for other people's feelings?"<br />~ Johannes BrahmsUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-61717678326535325062011-04-18T10:47:00.000-04:002011-04-18T11:10:49.898-04:00Cathy McClelland: My First 5KBeginning today, we will be welcoming some Guest Bloggers who will be sharing their experience from Bolt for the BSO 2010. Bolt for the BSO is to raise money and awareness of the BSO's mission to provide programs that educate, engage and entertain music lovers of all ages. To learn more about Bolt for the BSO, <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=2,14">click here</a>.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=2,14"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 256px; height: 167px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYBft08ulvcXKZoXFflxXnAjnS3vfjXBSgeSD8G03ofaDInlB1vBfES1bMp3_lQVAJIm7jRa1d2-VsaVkm_4jBu7yuGUC92mrOaAx74vqOW8w77Z2i2-tz0dT7yNJ3382PNWRbJXRp6H4/s320/BOLT_LOGO.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5596940345738787234" border="0" /></a><br />Our first guest blogger is Cathy McClelland. This is what she had to say about her experience:<br /><br />In 2010 I did my first 5K and had the time of my life! Not only did I finish better than I could ever have imagined in the race, I had the best time raising money for the BSO. I not only walked/ran a race for the BSO but I ran a competition with other participants to see who could get the most donors and the most money. Our challenge was who could get the most contributions and from how many countries and states where involved. Everyday I would check to see where I stood in the totals. I hope that this year others will have the same great experience. Wouldn't it be great if we had donations from all 50 states? Staff from the BSO cheered us on and met us at the finish line. I know all of us who participated had a GREAT time. Please <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=2,14">join us</a> this year.<br /><br />Want to help Cathy reach her goal this year? <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.active.com/donate/Bolt2011/B2011CMcClel">Support her here</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-36838659637109223252011-04-15T13:16:00.000-04:002011-05-17T10:07:18.959-04:00The Tale of Three Captains<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7JPNSkEosh1CQIJNsmlM4TvPmj5y27p6oE1OKIh_n_7O_p3o9litBWkeK7dyXj4KZvTkQC7oI-k1Jv4qhf9YquLL534XTF7lx0CakzG_RH0g_757xyHf82Vs6xdV_C1oags6BdrPUaDE/s1600/temirkanov-web.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7JPNSkEosh1CQIJNsmlM4TvPmj5y27p6oE1OKIh_n_7O_p3o9litBWkeK7dyXj4KZvTkQC7oI-k1Jv4qhf9YquLL534XTF7lx0CakzG_RH0g_757xyHf82Vs6xdV_C1oags6BdrPUaDE/s320/temirkanov-web.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5595869051430689074" border="0" /></a>Symphony Orchestras are, in so many ways, like ships. They sail many seas, endure numerous storms, enjoy colorful and calm sunrises and sunsets, and drop anchors in many different inlets-all under many different helmsmen turning the wheel and pulling the halyards. I have been privileged to enjoy the guidance of three such helmsmen (of which one happens to be a helms-woman). The latest one is, of course, the current one, Marin Alsop. David Zinman became the first one when he hired me a bit over twenty years ago. The one in the middle, Yuri Temirkanov, I had the pleasure of hearing and seeing at Strathmore Center on Tuesday night, as he steered and navigated the mighty ship named St. Petersburg Philharmonic, on their tour of the United States.<br /><br />As I settled into an unfamiliar seat (the only ones whose feel I know were about to be occupied on stage by the orchestra members), realizing that I have never taken in a concert at Strathmore from that vantage point, I was pondering how many of my fellow audience members were wondering if the musicians' bus was running late. The stage was strangely empty, and it was about time for a downbeat. But this orchestra, like many orchestras outside of the U.S., makes a collective entrance that is as dramatic as it is, well, musically sensitive. There is something special about hearing the first piece of music in a concert emerge from a void of musical sound, rather than hearing most of the tunes from the program before the concert actually starts. As they quickly took their seats, that familiar figure of almost aristocratic poise but relatively quick pace emerged from the left, a slight but distinctive smile on his face as he greeted the audience.<br /><br />The first sounds of Rimsky-Korsakov's Russian Easter's Overture washed over the hall (all right, I'll now try to stop the maritime references) and reminded me and many of the BSO colleagues that traveled south for this concert of the type of sound Maestro Temirkanov drew from us when he was in town. Being of Russian origin, where choral tradition is strong and those deep, sonorous Slavic men's voices dominate the landscape of music, he always build his string sound from the ground up, that ground being thick and very firm underfoot (see, we're back on dry land). The basses in St. Petersburg Philharmonic are situated right behind the first violins, on the left side of the stage, and also behind the cellos, where are in the place familiar to us as reserved for second violins. The effect of this seating is startling and very, well, effective. The orchestra also seemed to sit more closely together, giving them a very cohesive sound that embraced the audience like honey hangs on a spoon. This was especially true in the Brahms' Fourth Symphony, which reminded me of a concert of, I think, his Second Symphony that Temirkanov conducted with the BSO years ago.<br /><br />The great violinist Pamela Frank was a soloist in that concert, and, she chose, like only very few of her colleagues in the soloist circles, to join us in the second half, playing from the back stand of the Second Violins. As a very inspired and heart-felt reading drew to a close, Temirkanov bowed to the audience, then looked a Pam, in order to acknowledge her once more. I watched his face turn from a smile, to a display of puzzlement, then to maybe a smirk of self-satisfaction, as he seemed to manage to move her to tears. (Another explanation of her reaction is, I think, that as soloists, these incredible musicians sometimes miss out on the many joys of making and creating great music together with so many people on stage).<br /><br />But I digress, though I really don't want to turn this into a review of the concert-that's better left for the professionals. The soloist in Tuesday's concert was a great cellist Alicia Weilerstein, who played a very deeply felt and energetic, virtuoso performance of Shostakovich's Cello Concerto. Right after, during intermission, Maestro Temirkanov was clearly pleased and touched to see so many of us there. Orchestras and conductors form a bond in every concert, at home and abroad, on tours, and that stays with us a memories never to be forgotten.<br /><br />There are many such wonderful memories we share with David Zinman and there surely will be those that we'll recall once Marin Alsop leaves town. In the meantime, the ship sails on.<br /><br />P.S. I understand there are only a few selected tickets left for our performances of Charlie Chaplin's movie <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=1,1,1,1&EventID=Clas18_1011"><span style="font-style: italic;">The Gold Rush</span></a> on Saturday night, and maybe a few more for Sunday afternoon. The music is absolutely beautiful and witty, and the movie is, well, Chaplin-definition of a genius. I strongly urge you to come and bring everyone you know. It's a rare movie that everyone in the family can enjoy, and, yes, it is very special when it is accompanied by a live orchestra.<br /><br />-Ivan StefanovicUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-597701561936982783.post-642563623503591292011-04-05T10:22:00.000-04:002011-05-17T10:07:40.570-04:00Kids : Our FutureA couple of Saturdays ago I had an unusual break in my usual day-long teaching schedule at the Peabody Preparatory, where I teach violin and coach chamber music and the strings of the Peabody Youth Orchestra. My youngest son, who takes cello lessons and group cello class there, also had a break in his schedule, and, since he has been talking about his desire to repeat our summer trip on Baltimore's free downtown bus, the Circulator, I decided it was time for a fun ride. We walked a few blocks south on St. Paul, toward the Inner Harbor, turned east on Baltimore Street, then sat on a bench on Charles to wait for the Purple Bus to take us back to Mt. Vernon Square. He kept updating me on the bus stop display, alternately looking in the other direction to check on the street how accurate the sign is ("2 minutes away, 1 minute away, arriving"). It finally arrived (I had gotten a bit tired of the updates), and we boarded it. Even though he has been in many different modes of public transportation in his short life, including his favorite electric tramways in my native Belgrade, he still gets pretty excited when he gets the chance to use one. He looked around, wide-eyed, at his fellow passengers and the streets-cape that was passing us by, then, with great aplomb, pressed the "stop requested" button as we started climbing the small hill by Peabody. A half hour later he was all concentration, tongue slightly sticking out of a corner of his mouth, busily trying to match the speed of his teacher's bow in the group class, playing several pieces by memory, even advising his fellow students on proper technique.<br /><br />Kids his age, some younger and some older, were also on the Meyerhoff stage on Thursday night and Sunday afternoon, playing their debut with the BSO in front of adoring Moms, Dads and siblings, as well as out regular audience. They come from areas of the city where even the free Circulator bus is not an option for a bit of fun because, simply, there may not be anyone available to take them downtown, as both parents might be working most of the day (and some at night). But that didn't stop them from attending the classes of the Bucket Brigade, a beginner percussion program, or later switching to cello, violin or flute, after their regular Elementary school classes, as part of <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=10">BSO OrchKids</a> program. For those of you that don't know, it's based on an extremely successful program in Venezuela, called El Sistema, which has by now created thousands of kids that play in hundreds of youth orchestras across that underdeveloped country. There are only a couple more such programs in the United States so far. And I say so far, in spite of the recent calls for cutting of public funding for arts in schools, non-profit organizations, and such. The fact is that arts bring millions of dollars to our cities' economies, and without them they could not survive. But, even if not a single of the OrchKids children ends up in the music field as part of their lives, or takes up an instrument to play it again, or even becomes one of our patrons, they will have developed life-long skills of team play, discipline, long-term work that pays off in small increments, patience, and too many more to mention here that they can't get any other way. Their brains will also develop in such way that will increase their success in other fields (and we don't need studies to prove that, OrchKids have the <a href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=2,13">stats</a> if you want to see them).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.bsomusic.org/main.taf?p=10"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 304px; height: 129px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ9gI75J8xvuMFMxjJ5PBLCqgsIgZx-yAdKRexcJeiOdpSW9lrXdrbXAyWd9Tt97mm487MGFehUwLV8jz2uMb9MutlBGCuyiJe9Si7UBCl2vkHmQ8sLRWNu7CyJiPDR2Oni-Tqq9aE5BM/s320/OrchKids.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5592115880134437490" border="0" /></a><br />So let's stop and think where our efforts and money should go. More arenas and stadiums, so that we can subsidize multi-million dollar contracts that our sports teams demand, or concert halls and opera houses where orchestras are falling one by one with minimal support from our government.<br /><br />Thank you all who have contributed to the BSO over the last almost 100 years of its existence, and let's help it reach its centennial with the musicians and staff on solid financial ground, so we can continue to entertain, and, yes, educate our children.<br /><br />They are truly our future.<br /><br />-Ivan StefanovicUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0