A busy, busy, busy week (and last week was, too!). We opened our US Bank Pops series with Broadway Rocks last Friday, a Sampler on Saturday, and numerous Inside the Classics meetings scattered throughout the week. On deck this week; … Continue reading →
I’ve been avoiding commentary on Michael Jackson’s death (because, given the coverage on all the major media outlets, what could there possibly be to add??), but I had to share this with you: [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYTwzq1FLd0] (Organist Robert Ridgell plays a Jacksonian … Continue reading →
As we await the arrival of legendary violinist Joshua Bell, our soloist for this week’s concerts as well as our upcoming European tour, I thought I’d share one of my favorite virtuoso violin videos from a master of a bygone … Continue reading →
Fun moment in rehearsal today: one of the pieces we’re tackling this week is Ravel’s Alborado del gracioso, which is basically eight minutes of (hopefully) organized chaos, with a French accent. It’s been a while since we’ve done it, and … Continue reading →
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5cepKlb4K4] Most Americans my age or younger probably think of Dudley Moore (if we think of him at all) as the kindly, bumbling alcoholic from the Arthur movies. We may have a vague memory of him playing some piano in … Continue reading →
…for the rehearsal for the Piano-e-competition on Thursday afternoon. The kid were great – all poised and prepared, a few quite exceptional – but the kicker was when the orchestra finished with the concertos and went to work on Tchaikovsky’s … Continue reading →
Here’s a fun story from out East, where the Boston Symphony’s young assistant conductor Julian Kuerti was making his subscription debut last week. It seems that piano soloist Leon Fleisher was taken ill at the last minute before Tuesday’s concert, … Continue reading →
In case anyone was in doubt about the lengths to which Sarah will go in fulfilling the duties of her assistant conductorship with our orchestra, the following cell phone photo, which I took backstage tonight during our pops concert, should … Continue reading →
In last week’s podcast, Peter McGuire and I talked a bit about the challenge he’ll be facing when he takes the stage as a soloist in this week’s Inside the Classics concerts. For an orchestral player to step into a … Continue reading →
Our latest question comes from Don Picard, who asks… Q: From your two perspectives, what skills mark the difference between an average orchestra conductor, a good conductor and a truly great conductor? Don, you may or may not know it, … Continue reading →
