Skip to content

Great minds

Apparently I choose my friends according to very specific criteria.

In response to my tagging entreaty from the other day, both Ms ACB and Mr Tonic Blotter found exactly the same book within reach of their blogging posts, In Defense of Food - an Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan. Interestingly, the sentences that each quoted differed slightly, somewhat in accordance with their respective occupations…

Mr Tonic Blotter:

[B]eing the precise lawyer that I am, I am going to follow rules 3 and 4 literally. Rule 4 states only that one should “find the fifth sentence”. It does not state that one should then post that fifth sentence. Instead, only rule 4 expressly asks us to “post” the “next” (presumably following) three sentences. So here we go, sentences 6, 7 and 8 from p.123 of the aforementioned Pollan

Ms ACB, being the imprecise, diva-like artistic type, posted sentences 5-7. (This, as a diva-like flute player, is exactly what I did as well!)

Mr DecSimp, proudly breaking all the rules, posted a turgid, 14-line extra sentence that outlined the ways in which all of Bruckner’s symphonies sound the same. (This will make my Bruckner-phobic ensemble mates very happy.)

Posted 03 May 2008 † Tim § eighth blackbird ‡ Comments (1) °

Microfestival

Back at DePauw University for our last of four visits, we took part in Carlos Carrillo’s Microfestival, the idea of which was to unite students and teachers for a week of concerts. The programming centered on works from the last thirty years, including music by Takemitsu, Crumb, Andriessen, Tom Albert, and Chen Yi (who had recently visited the school), among others.

Our involvement included performing in a version of Tom Albert’s Thirteen Ways (sort of 8bb’s “theme song”) for members of 8bb and a clutch of students. Below, Sarah Chamberlain takes on the virtuosity of the work’s Glass-influenced 11th movement:

IMG 2897

Below, the Alb looks on critically as Jeremy Eberhard tears up one of the movements. Carlos Carillo conducts:

IMG 2899

The audiences were very small; music students’ “juries” were also taking place, and finals week occured soon after the festival.

Senior Sarah Wachter had the wonderful opportunity to work on Crumb’s Vox Balanae with the Phot and the Kap. Given the Phot and the Kap have been playing the work from memory for six years, this was a unique experience for Sarah, and she really delivered, performing the piece with great panache and technical command.

In the late-night concert on Wednesday night, a large scale performance of In C took place. Although it was a very rough-and-ready performance, which was more or less fortissimo all the way through, students seemed to get a kick out of the experience: there were broad smiles on the faces of all the players, and one of the students as he came off afterwards said, “I think that is the most fun I’ve ever had onstage.”

Below, the Mac and his “clarinet choir.” (He will hate me for writing that!)

IMG 2905

Below, the Alb takes a rest. Also in the picture is Mr Musical Perceptions, making a rare appearance on trumpet:

IMG 2902

Posted 03 May 2008 † Tim § eighth blackbird ‡ Comments (1) °

Taming the beast

(This is a continuation of Perpetual Students.)

IMG 2786

Another unique UMich residency activity was coaching two of the University of Michigan’s student orchestras.

(A personal digression: Orchestras can be savage beasts: impatient, unruly, defensive, arrogant. I have seen them turn conductors into aggressive ring-leaders, wielding batons only for protection from potential physical, musical or psychological harm. It is simultaneously inspiring and nerve-jangling to play a concerto with a professional orchestra, which I have been lucky to do on several occasions. Playing the Nielsen Flute Concerto in 1999, I was given “helpful” secondhand advice from one of the players: “The concertmaster thinks your rhythm is not good, and several string players think you are taking off too fast in the second movement. Oh, and watch your intonation; the winds are saying things.” No pressure.)

The UMich orchestras were playing student compositions, and we had just an hour to work on two pieces. Both pieces were very accomplished, which was no surprise given the school’s strong reputation and the high level of quality and diversity in the composition studio.

With little time, we divided our time between working directly with the composers (suggestions of balance, orchestration, structure) and talking directly to the conductor and players. It was an unusual and singular experience. We made it up as we went along, taking turns acting in various roles, trying not to step on each other’s toes: Matthew and Matt talked to the composers (”You might consider thinning the orchestration here;” “Have you thought about adding some expressive marks here?”), Michael passed advice to the conductor, and I barked obnoxious orders to various orchestral players (who looked less than delighted at being lectured by a new music flutist with an unintelligible accent).

More residency fun tomorrow, from our last visit to DePauw University.

Posted 02 May 2008 † Tim § eighth blackbird ‡ Comments (0) °