Tour Update # 2

On Friday, the factory whistle blew and it was back to work. Okay, perhaps what we do is a little easier than working in a factory, but it's turned out to be much more difficult than I expected. Also tremendously rewarding. We got on the bus Friday morning and drove to Birmingham, England. It's a pretty cool town with a very modern concert hall, lots of canals, and more nightclubs than you've ever seen in a space of 6 blocks. Shortly after arrival, we had one of only two full rehearsals on the tour. We covered all the repertoire we're playing, which is a logistics nightmare for the percussion section - very stressful. We played the first concert a few hours later to a completely sold out house. This concert hall was a refreshing change for us, acoustically. Jones Hall, our Houston home, is very mediocre in terms of acoustics. It's not the worst place to play, but it's difficult to hear each other well, and the sound doesn't really make it out into the audience as well as it does in a nice hall. The result? The orchestra can't play as precisely and we can't play as softly as we otherwise could. This becomes a real challenge when put into a new space like this, where we can hear each other, and the audience can hear even the most subtle details, including imperfections. I think we responded pretty well, and played a great concert - there was a real sense of excitement for this first concert on the other side of the Atlantic.
      The next day, we drove to Leeds. It's a former industrial town that has seen a lot of retail development in the last 20 years. It's become a shopping destination in England. It still retains its roots though - the British accent here was very unrefined (think My Fair Lady), and it's not a real attractive place. The concert was held in an awesome old facility. Part government center, part concert hall, the Leeds Town Hall was built sometime around 1865. The inside of the hall was absolutely gorgeous - I'll be posting pictures once I get back. It sounded beautiful too. But it was very small. Some of these old halls were just not meant to hold a huge orchestra. So the percussion section was up on this riser about 6 feet above the rest of the orchestra. I found this exceptionally difficult - very difficult to hear the other musicians, and difficult to find sightlines down to the conductor.
     On Sunday, I ditched the tour group. The last time I took a lengthy tour with an orchestra was when I was a student. Things are different with a professional group, and much more fun. There's no checking to see if everyone made the bus, no group dinner outings or anything like that. This affords the freedom to do things like take the train. It was a 7 hour bus ride, so I was delighted to spend three hours on a semi-high speed train chatting with friends and enjoying some amazing scenery as we headed north into Edinburgh, Scotland. Some of the views were just what you'd imagine - ocean waves crashing against rocky cliffs, beautiful green golf courses along the shore, lighthouses, and lots of green fields filled with sheep. After settling in at the hotel, it was time to go to our usual preconcert sound check rehearsal. Before each concert, there is a 30 minute rehearsal - the main purpose being to adjust to the acoustics of that hall and touch up any rough spots from previous concerts. The pieces we're playing on this tour use a ton of equipment - two sets of chimes, numerous tam tams, and an octave of tuned gongs. These 30 minute rehearsals are really stressful, often going through things very quickly, requiring fast equipment changes for the percussionists. The playing part is usually easier than the logistics. And I couldn't believe it, this hall was even smaller than the last one, with the percussionists again perched up in the choir loft. The temporary floor they had set up had steps up and down as you moved across, it was cramped, and it was again difficult to hear the rest of the orchestra. After the concert last night, I was absolutely beat - it just took so much brainpower to deal with all the extra challenges in addition to the usual ones of playing hard music. But there were some wonderful rewards. If you're familiar with the Planets by Holst, you may remember the piece concludes with a women's chorus singing off stage. They are the last thing heard as they fade away into silence. It's an exceptionally difficult part for the chorus, and ours in Houston is not very good. Usually, this is a subpar part of the performance, and I routinely let my mind wander at that point to avoid the disappointment. Last night though, we were joined by the Edinburgh Women's Chorus, and wow, these ladies can sing. I was caught off guard a bit - the music there is just gorgeous when done well. We've performed it a few dozen times now and I was surprised to find myself re-engaging in that spot and my eyes getting a wee bit moist hearing it performed so beautifully. Despite feeling a bit beaten down by the challenges of the last few concerts, I am relishing the satisfaction that comes from dealing with the adverse conditions and working hard to overcome them by playing well. Today was a day off - a climb up the mountain outside Edinburgh, laundry, St Giles cathedral, and dinner with friends. Tomorrow, chop chop!