I almost forgot to tell you.... So, we were in rehearsal with our assistant conductor, Courtney Lewis. It was for a pair of Symphony for the Cities outdoor shows. After running through the national anthem with our soloist we pulled out local composer Steve Heitzegs piece, Blue Liberty which he wrote with thoughts after the 9/11 attacks. It starts with a very solemn tattoo from the snare drum with the snares off for that empty, hollow sound we associate with a tragedy. In the 5th measure, the trumpet plays an extended, mostly a cappella solo reminiscent of a lonesome bugle call. Ive played it many, many times. This particular time, as I was playing it, I said to myself, Wow, this feels really easy... its right in the pocket. Cool It was at that point I started to notice, out of the corner of my eye, Courtney looking at me a bit quizzically. I also noticed a few brass colleagues kind of do that oh-so-subtle what the heck? thing we do when something isnt quite right. Thats when my eyes began the quick scan of possibilities when we sense something just aint right. The scan revealed that I was playing the solo a full step lower than written. Dang. At that point I made my second poor choice of the morning. Rather than just finish it in the wrong key I played the last four notes correctly which only succeeded in making it sound stranger. Courtneys raised eyebrow and smirk could only be responded to with a Hey, gimme a break... its been two years! #unintendedconsequencesofthelockout
Posted on: Wed, 02 Jul 2014 22:49:21 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015