Hi there. This is Mark writing. It's 11:30 at night on January 28th, and I'm writing from a hotel room in New York City. I want to put a few thoughts here while they're still fresh in my mind. The orchestra just finished playing a concert in Carnegie Hall, an important concert that I hope is the start of an uphill climb for the Houston Symphony.
A few years before I joined in 2004, this orchestra was one of the more respected in the country, had a high profile conductor, and was doing some pretty neat things - frequent recordings, tours of Asia and Europe, and regular trips to Carnegie Hall. (It's important to note that visits to this city and concert hall are one of the ways reputations are made and upheld, perhaps more than any other single performance.) Some time around 2001, the reality hit that there just wasn't the financial support to continue these activities. When I started, it was with a roster of players feeling very let down - knowing that ours was a great orchestra but sliding into anonymity.
We've lost some key musicians during these years, and we feel our identity as a top notch ensemble is unclear. I suppose the critics will decide that. Regardless, tonight's concert - in front of the people who hear the world's best orchestras on a weekly basis - was a major step toward climbing out of that position of anonymity. We performed Gustav Holst's Planets as the main work, accompanied by a film of high definition images assembled from recent NASA footage of the actual planets. It's a neat idea, and most people seem to like it. It certainly has garnered a whole lot of interest - five sold out concerts in Houston, full house tonight in New York, and another tour this fall in England. And that's part of what made tonight truly memorable - there was a tangible excitement in the air, a real buzz surrounding the event. It's definitely the first time I've experienced that so strongly since entering this profession. I felt extremely fortunate to be part of something that people were really excited about. It truly is a mighty blessing to play alongside such a talented bunch of musicians, and tonight, in such a wonderful concert hall.
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4 comments:
Wow Mark, that sounds awesome! Glad to hear the concert went well. Is that the same "Planets" that we did in highschool marching band? (I'm sure Katherine would know) If so, I loved that music.
Yes, it is. As far as I know, it's the only Planets piece out there. Crystal came to the concert, and was remembering some of her flag routines from your marching show. Cool!
I love the Planets! I still hum it randomly. Mark, I echo Kim in how awesome what is going on with the orchastra is. :-)
Wow, to play in NY must be so amazing! Like Melissa, I still tend to hum the planets - I think since we performed it our Freshman year it will forever be stuck in our heads!
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