So, traveling with my colleagues has been mostly great.  I love hanging out with these guys.

But…

It can also be a tad intense.  Heh.

We eat together, play music together, and in some cases, sleep together.  (TO BE PERFECTLY CLEAR, by “sleep together”, I mean share a hotel room. This is a family orchestra!)  This is quite a bit more togetherness than we are accustomed to, but for the most part, we are holding up well.  I am happy to report that there have been NO instances of BPO-on-BPO violence.  In all seriousness, we are having a good time and enjoying each other’s company.

Probably the most intense period of togetherness, and everyone’s least favorite aspect of the tour, has been the bus.

Goooood morning, everyone.

Most of the orchestra travels by bus between the stops on our tour.  Most mornings we wake up, re-pack our suitcases, and drive a few hours to the next city.  (Incidentally, I’m finding the suitcase management to be increasingly difficult as the trip goes on.  It’s a real mess in there.) I cannot lie to you, the driving is getting a little tiresome, and I doubt anyone will be sad to bid the daily road-trip, adieu.

Some of us opted to rent a car (at our own expense) so that we could travel independently and have a mode of transportation on our days off.  I get carsick pretty easily so I was happy to go in on a car with Dinesh, Ed and Rob.

Meet the mini-van, our home away from home away from home:

The van’s not fancy, but she gets us where we need to go.

The daily drive may be getting tiresome, but the company is good.  The sheer number of hours spent together in the car has made for some funny conversation.  Yesterday Dinesh and I had a whole conversation about what wild animal would make the best pet in “pygmy” form.  He says dolphin, I say elephant.  I think a pygmy-dolphin would be too much hassle (you’d need a big water tank) for too little reward (isn’t a small dolphin just a big fish?), but a pygmy elephant could just tromp around in the backyard with the family dog. We’ve also spent a great deal of time imitating and mocking the electronic voice of our GPS.   “In one qu-oorr-ter mile turn right.”

Do not fear for our mental health.  We were actually like this before we even left on the tour.  The extreme BPO-togetherness is not to blame.

Alright, I’ve got to get back in the van for the daily drive.  See you in Gainesville!

-Kate Holzemer 3/18/10

BUT, I’ve got a few quiet minutes now, so I thought I’d fill you in on the latest goings on of the Florida Friends Tour.

On Saturday afternoon we arrived in Daytona Beach to find ourselves smack dab in the middle of Spring Break.  It was quite a scene, and one that we observed with no small amount of amusement.  I’m 34-years-old, which doesn’t feel ancient in most settings, but I sure felt like an old lady strolling down the main drag on Daytona Beach.  All I really have to say after observing Spring break for a few hours is, it’s a miracle we survived adolescence!

The concert itself was at the Peabody Auditorium, and we were all very pleased with the vibrant hall.  It was pretty cool to step off the wild streets and step into a serene and responsive concert hall.  Saturday evening was also our reunion with Fabio Bindini and the Ravel Piano Concerto.  The Ravel is one of my very favorite concertos to play, and Fabio has been a real treat to work with this entire time.  He’s a gem!

Here’s a tale of culinary adventure from Daytona Beach: After the concert I had a lovely meal with Patti and Amelie at the steakhouse in our hotel, and at the end of the evening we ordered a piece of chocolate cake to share.

This is what we got:

I’m not sure this picture does the cake justice.   This is the BIGGEST “slice” of cake I have ever seen.  Ever.  In the history of the world, there has never been a piece of cake as big as this one.

The three of us did our best with the cake, but we barely made a dent.  It was delicious but we had eaten a full meal, and we were stuffed.  That’s when Patti got the idea to call in reinforcements!  Patti called Glenn and told him to get down to the restaurant because we had a cake situation on our hands and we needed help.  Glenn was so hilariously workmanlike in his approach to the cake that he practically rolled up his sleeves before digging in.  And he got the job done!

Glenn was the right man for the job.

Yesterday (Sunday) we had a day off, and we scattered to every corner of Florida.  I was part of a small crew (Roman, Antoine and myself) who drove to Tampa to see the Tampa Bay Lightning play the Pittsburgh Penguins.  Those who know any of the three of us personally know that we are all true hockey nuts and will not find it at all surprising to learn that given a day off in sunny Florida we chose to drive two and a half hours to sit in a cold arena.  It was a BLAST and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.   Unfortunately, I only took two pictures, and neither of them include a BPOer.

This one….

The area around the St. Pete’s Times Forum is pretty cool.  There’s a little cluster of shops and restaurants, and a GIANT dock for humongous cruise ships.  That structure in the background is NOT an office building, but an incredibly large boat.

….and this one:

This picture also includes no BPO members, but at least it proves we were at a hockey game.

Other orchestra members found all sorts of adventures ranging from golf excursions, to training camp baseball, to dolphin-watching cruises, but the award for “Most Industrious BPO Members On A Day Off in Florida” goes to violist Matt Phillips and bassist Mike Nigrin, who ran a half marathon (!) in Sarasota.

Matt came in second in his age group and 16th overall.  He practically won the race!

After a fun and relaxing day off, it was back to work today.  This morning we all piled into the buses and hit the road for Vero Beach.

Alright, I have to start preparing for the concert. (And by “preparing for the concert” I mean “figure out if my concert clothes are even remotely un-wrinkly enough to wear in public”.)  Until next time!

Here’s the view from the stage.

Tonight’s concert was slightly different that what we will be performing at the rest of the venues.  Because of space issues (the stage at Parkers Playhouse is much smaller than what we are used to at Kleinhans), we could not fit a grand piano in the front, so instead of Fabio Bidini performing the Ravel Piano Concerto, our concertmaster Michael Ludwig played the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.  He performed with aplomb, and overall the concert went quite well I think.

It can be a real challenge to play in a hall with unfamiliar acoustics, and it will be interesting to see how the orchestra adjusts to each new venue.  In preparation for this tour, we played this program in Buffalo last weekend, so the music is still very much “under our fingers”, but when you play on the road, everything is just slightly different, from the acoustics in the hall, to the set-up of the chairs, and most importantly, to the sound coming back to each musician.  I’ve never been on a tour, so I’ve never had the experience of a new hall every night, and I can already tell that it will be a challenge (in a mostly good way).

Not to be too frivolous, but one of the BIG advantages that Parker Playhouse has over Kleinhans is this:

There was a cooler full of Diet Cokes at intermission.  A-W-E-S-O-M-E. We don’t have a cooler full of Diet Cokes at Kleinhans.  Parkers Playhouse 1, Kleinhans 0.  Of course, I don’t have a locker for my coat and purse at Parkers Playhouse, so I guess we’ll call it a tie when it comes to frivolous-but-fabulous amenities.

I should probably write more about the concert, but I’m not going to lie, I’m exhausted.  Tomorrow we have to get up and drive to Daytona, so I think I need to get to some good sleep, but before I sign off I want to give you an update on how all of our “luggage” survived on the truck.

It all survived!  Yay!

Our rehearsal this afternoon was the first opportunity for those who had their instruments on the truck to open up the trunks and see how everything looked, and I am quite happy to report, no instruments were damaged in transit.

I was also amused to see how much of our stage “furniture” came down to Florida for the tour.

We brought our own chairs!  We also brought those long pieces of wood that are attached to the leg of the cello chairs.  The cellists jab their end-pins (the long metal spike that the cello rest on) into this piece of wood so that they don’t damage the floor.

This is a terrible photo (obviously).  Sorry.  This is a giant chest of drawers that serves as command-central-station for the backstage crew.  This is also where you look if you need ear-plugs, Advil, or cough drops.

We brought JoAnn’s podium!   I was a little surprised to see this, but after a bit of thought it makes sense that we would opt to use a familiar podium.  It would probably be a little disconcerting to see JoAnn conducting from a podium that’s either much taller or much shorter than her normal podium.  When you factor in all the other variables of performing in an unfamiliar hall, I suppose it makes sense to ensure that the conductor is at the same height as she is back home.

This is our rehearsal clock (and violinist Sheryl Genco).  This clock tells us when rehearsal starts, stops, and when it’s time for break.

Sound shields.  You use one of these when there is a very loud instrument sitting right behind you.  Violists occasionally use these when the trombones and trumpets are extra feisty.  (BPO Trivia: The sound shield was invented by recently-retired BPO violist, Bernie Fleshler.)

About the only thing onstage tonight that we didn’t bring from Buffalo were the music stands.  These stands belonged to the Parker Playhouse, and I am pleased to report that they worked just as well as the stands back home.

-Kate Holzemer 3/12/10

]]> http://bporchestra.wordpress.com/2010/03/13/one-concert-down/feed/ 3 bpostaff parkerplayhouse DietCokes chairs blackbox podium clock sheild musicstand http://bporchestra.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/the-bpo-has-landed/ http://bporchestra.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/the-bpo-has-landed/#comments Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:53:12 +0000 bpostaff http://bporchestra.wordpress.com/?p=62 ]]> WOOOOOOOO!

The BPO has arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

As far as I can tell, the BPO arrived in Fort Lauderdale 100% unscathed and no worse for the wear.  There are so many potential logistical nightmares involved with organizing a trip like this like this, and I think I heard the entire BPO staff give a collective sigh of relief as our plane landed.  It all worked out!  Hooray!

It’s warm and wonderful here!  (I have a small confession to make- I’m a teensy bit annoyed that Buffalo is having such beautiful weather while we’re gone.  Of course I want my fellow Buffalonians to be happy and comfortable, but a warm climate trip is always a little sweeter when you can smugly congratulate yourself for avoiding a blizzard back home.  But, just to be clear, I do NOT wish a blizzard on Buffalo.  No sir.  I’m smug, but I’m not a monster.)

I was a TERRIBLE blogger during the trip down here.  I failed to take any pictures except for this one, which as you can see is one of the worst photos in the history of the earth.

My only defense is that it was 8am.

But actually, upon further inspection this photo did give me a good laugh.  Almost everyone in this picture is in the BPO (there are a few innocent bystanders here, but for the most part these are all musicians), and when I took it, I pleadingly asked everyone to look at the camera.  At first glance it appears that absolutely NO ONE paid any attention to me, but when I pulled this picture up on my computer I saw that I did have two obedient allies.

Janz and Dinesh are team players.

Janz took a ton of pictures during the trip, and hopefully tomorrow I’ll put some good ones up on the blog, but for logistical reasons, this is all you’re gonna get tonight.

When I got to the hotel I promptly took a nap, but a lot of musicians almost immediately swung into action.  One small group of musicians took an airboat tour in the Everglades.  (Again, pictures are coming soon- including an alleged photo of one of our violinists petting a crocodile.  I haven’t seen this picture yet so I cannot actual confirm its actual existence.)

The award for The Most Industrious Musicians goes to the BPO trumpet section, by a mile. All three of our BPO trumpeters (Alex Jokipii, Geoff Hardcastle, and Phil Christner) gave a masterclass class in Miami.  For readers who may not be familiar with this term, a masterclass is essentially a cross between a performance and a music lesson.  A student performs a piece in front of an audience, and then the “master” (or in this case “masters”) offers pointers and suggestions on how the student can improve.

I think almost any professional musician would agree that masterclasses are a vital part of a music education.  Masterclasses are a chance to perform, a chance to be critiqued (in a fairly high pressure situation), and are almost always good for inspiration and invigoration.  Many of these students will be attending the BPO concert tomorrow night!

This particular masterclass was hosted by the University of Miami and the participants were students of the trumpet professor, Craig Morris.

BPO trumpet section Phil Christner, Geoff Hardcastle, Alex Jokipii, University of Miami Trumpet professor Craig Morris, and students.

I myself did not spend my evening doing anything as noble or as professional-minded as teaching a masterclass.

Mostly, I ate a lot of shrimp.

____________

Stay tuned, dear readers!  Tomorrow (Friday) the tour really begins.  We’ve got an afternoon rehearsal and then we play the first concert of the Florida Friends Tour.

- Kate Holzemer 3/11/10

These trunks will carry percussion instruments down to Florida.

You can’t really pack a tuxedo in a suitcase, so the orchestra has provided these “trunks” to keep everyone reasonably wrinkle-free.  The cardboard boxes aren’t fancy, but they should get the job done.

Apparently we’re bringing lots of cords and outlets down to Florida.  In the compartment on the right are many stand lights…..because what if the stage is too dark?!  It’s best to be prepared.  That’s what we say.

The orchestra members and staff are flying to Florida on Thursday, but we are also sending a truck down ahead of us.  In order for the truck to get there in time, it has to leave tomorrow morning, so it was packed today.  That meant that the orchestra members who play instruments too large to carry onto a plane had to pack their instruments up after our Education Concert this morning.

Here’s a fleet of cello trunks. As you can see, a lot of our trunks are OLD and have been through the wringer.  I was asking around, and a lot of the musicians prefer these old ones to the more modern fiberglass travel cases.  These old wooden monstrosities are real heavy and therefore less likely to tip and more likely to be handled with extreme caution.

I have no idea what kind of trunks these bad boys require.  I assume they have cases, and I assume those cases are large.

I told Dinesh that I wanted a picture of a comically large and difficult-to-pack percussion instrument for the blog (I was hoping for a marimba, but I guess we’re not bringing any of those) and he immediately whipped out the measuring tape he had in his pocket and pretended to measure this bass drum.  He’s not really measuring that drum.  Faker.

I’m sure it will come as a surprise to no one when I say that musicians are SUPER fussy and neurotic about their instruments.  I’ve traveled so much with my viola that when I don’t travel with it I periodically experience a jolt of anxiety, as if I’ve forgotten it somewhere.  It’s a similar sensation to temporarily losing sight of a child in a crowded public place.  It’s a short burst of “OHMYGAWD!” followed immediately by the calming thought that, “Oh yeah.  That’s right.  I decided not to bring my kid viola back to Minneapolis for Christmas.  My viola is safe at home.”  Sometimes I lug my viola back and forth on vacations even when I’m pretty sure I won’t practice a note, just because it feels weird not to have it with me.

So, as you can imagine, packing instruments into trunks is a source of some anxiety.  Our stagehands are SUPER-DUPER-MEGA-PROS (and we love them), and the truck is climate controlled (string instruments in particular can suffer a lot of damage if they get too hot or too cold), so in reality there is probably not much to worry about.  But still.  We fret.

Today Daniel had to pack his bass into the BPO-provided travel case and say goodbye to his baby until they are reunited again in Florida on Friday.

When I saw the little inflatable side-pads I joked that the case would be extra buoyant in the very unlikely event that it wound up in the ocean.  Daniel didn’t think that was a very funny joke.

It fits!  Hooray!

And finally, here’s a little video I shot of Daniel sending his bass on its merry way.  (Sidenote: Apparently the digital camera I bought in 2006 is pretty shoddy by today’s HD standards.  I’ll try to get my hands on something that can shoot reasonably decent video before I post again.  Who wants to buy me a new camera?  Heh.)

Bye, bass!

-Kate Holzemer 3/9/10

I think I can speak for all of the musicians when I say that we are really excited for this trip. This is the first time the orchestra has been on tour in over twenty years, so many of us have never experienced anything like this before. I’m sure there will be plenty of surprises (hopefully more good than bad) along the way.

Contrary to what our formal attire might suggest, the BPO is actually a fairly fun-loving and laid back group. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of amusing trouble we can stir up while traveling in a herd. I have no doubt that there will be plenty of good blogging material from the road, so please stay tuned for a behind-the-scene glimpse of our trip.

If you are a Twittering-type, there are four of us in the orchestra who will be twittering extensively while in Florida.

BPOKate (that’s me)

BPODinesh (percussionist)

BPOJanz (violist)

and BPODaniel (bass)

It might be a bit tricky to find time to blog while traveling, so our twitter accounts will be for the more pithy day-to-day observations and pictures. The Twitter accounts would also be an easy way to ask questions of me, or anyone else on the tour. We’ll do our best to respond to all of your questions and tweets.

Thank you Buffalo for your wonderful support of the Buffalo Philharmonic. For each of us in the orchestra, this job is the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. We are so proud to be Buffalonians, and we are so excited to represent our wonderful city down in Florida. We’ll do are best to represent the city well!

Lets go Buff-a-lo!

-Kate Holzemer