vacation

Scrambling to get out the door this morning, I want to practice for an hour, then go to the gym and leave from there. It is about a 6 hour drive to my mom's house, so not a horrible drive but you notice it.

Picked up music for my orchestra last night - we're actually doing some fun stuff for the "symphony on the sand" concert. NOT looking forward to playing on a beach, but if the weather is perfect it could be fun. I'm hoping we do all of William Tell, we did it for a children's concert a few years ago and only did the loud part. I'm guessing we will do it all, but we are skipping the slow mvt of the Schumann 1st Symphony (which we did on our May concert). Of course, that mvt is as long as the whole W.T. so who knows. Can't wait to get back for that, keep forgetting that on Monday (same day I drive back) I have a band concert! I suppose I should get excited for that too, but I'm just glad it will be over and I get my Monday nights back.

Marcia Funebre

This is a sad day, our stupid dog slid off her tether and attacked the neighbor's dog again (last time he had a $1200 vet bill). He was pretty mad (understandably) but very understanding...I don't know what else we can do but put her down. She is a nice dog when she's around us, but I guess she must have had some puppyhood trauma or something.

Daniel (5) seems to be taking it ok, I told him Bella was not able to be around other dogs, and maybe people too, so she would have to go away. I don't like glossing over death, but in this circumstance (where we are essentially going to be responsible for her death) I think it best. We will still have our other dog Donna, who is just a big old softie.

I guess as responsible dog owners, you have to take do the right thing for society even if it means the dog has to go. Sad sad sad.

workin

We have moved all the furniture out of the kitchen now - any second now we will get the floor ripped up so we can put in the fake hardwood floor! Actually I am going to my mom's house this weekend so hopefully Jim will get it done while I'm gone (hahahaha!). That would be great, but I'm not holding my breath.

Fireworks

We also do this really cool gig in July that is called the Fireworks concert - they hire the original instrumentation for the Fireworks Music (Handel) which is 20-24 oboes, 16 or so bassoons, 8 horns, 8 picc trumpets, serpent and ophiclide (sp?) and various timpani. They always play the Fireworks music at the end of the concert, with actual fireworks shot off in tempo (more or less) which is so cool. But the first half of the concert (which takes place on a floating stage in the river, sort of like a nod to the Water Music) we play other pieces, usually from the period but not always that they orchestrate for that group. It is a blast because there are so many double reeds, and no competition since we are all just playing the same part (oboes divide into 3 when there are eh parts, bassoon sometime have 1st and 2nd). The same people sometimes come from the far reaches of the earth (we've had people from Austrailia and Germany) so it is always a great social event.

Satisfaction

I think it was somewhat unclear in my posts yesterday, I got a call at 8:30pm from G asking if I was available for a gig this morning - mere hours away! Anyway, I guess I pulled it off with all the "gods of the symphony", as my husband put it. They were all very nice and although I had a few "whoops" moments it went very well overall. The biggest thing was in the second concert I got water in the keys (very typical oboe problem, makes it sound like you are gargling while playing). Of course there is nothing you can do if you are playing, and the first I knew was when we played William Tell - the oboe has the trumpet part for the first 16 bars and it is mostly all one note, and of course that was THE gurgley note. Oh well, the kids probably didn't notice and the other players know that isn't my fault!

Now I feel like laying around the house. It is very humid and overcast today, supposed to thunderstorm tonight. We have community band tonight, will be my last rehearsal before the concert so I guess I better shape up! And tomorrow we start summer orchestra rehearsals, I'm excited to see everyone again. After our concert at the end of this month we have until the middle of August off, but I'm doing a show (Puttin it Together, Sondheim) in July so I have a lot going on.

big gig

Well, as I was tootling along, playing just because, no real gigs for a few weeks...and suddenly G is sick, and he has a gig which he asked me to play! Tomorrow morning at 9am - over an hour from my house, and it is all sight reading with the BIG symphony quintet! Exciting, scary, intimidating, fun...will my reed be ok??? Mostly I think I'll be ok - it is a children's concert, and the rest of them have done it amillion times, but I will be reading all the stuff. Mostly excerpts from Pictures, but then there will be the "this is the oboe" speech (short) and a couple of this is what the oboe sounds like excerpts that are supposed to be be memory. I had to pick up the music from G (there and back = 1 hour), and arrange for babysitting, etc etc, so I haven't really had time to freak out properly, hopefully I will wait until afterwards. I am excited to play with these really great musicians though - I'm sure they will help me along!

Seems like time is flying by - I have actually practiced every day this week and went to the gym (although the eating part is not so good!). I downloaded a freebee version of Finale (way watered down) and was able to transpose the clarinet part to C for the Mozart clarinet concerto. Our section clarinets are in need of help, and my sight-transposing stinks. I did try! But this is much better.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a lesson with G, apparently he has a gig at our usual time. I know he isn't interested in playing with the little symphony, but I feel badly because he doesn't get to play very often with the big symphony (utility oboe). Now that we get paid, it might become more interesting to him, but I don't think it is enough pay. But I love getting to play principle - I feel like I'm getting away with something because it is so fun!

My student had her band concert on Friday, I took D. As soon as we got there the power went out, and after a few minutes they decided to hold the concert outside! The band was ok, but the choir had their accompaniment cd stuck in the player, with no power to get it out! Hahaha, that'll show em to use live musicians. They didn't even do anything complex - I'm sure there were students who could have played the piano part. *sigh* But my student did great - even with her old reed (we have a lesson this week). There were a few solos, and I'm so proud - she's only been playing about 18 months, with 8 months of lessons, and she's off to the state university in the fall to study oboe!