It's 2AM. The concerts are finished, my friends and I are back from our end of tour celebrations, and with the exception of the flight home at "half past too early", the tour is over...
But what did the first bassoon player do on the last day of tour?
Well, one of my passions is motorcycling. My best riding buddy is Alan Baer, the Principal Tubist of the New York Phil. Anytime we're within two time zones of each other it's mandatory that we get together for a ride. I've ridden with Al in most of the U.S. states (including a 17 day, 8000 mile trip to Alaska last summer), a few Canadian Provinces... and South America is next on the agenda. So, as the tour came to a close and with enough performances in this climate zone under my belt to feel confident I knew how my reeds would respond tonight, I was relaxed enough to get together with Al for a ride.
"Nuff said... look at the pics.
Photos
Some words from the Tour Doc
May 23, 2010
It has been my pleasure to serve as the doctor for the LA Phil for the last 15 years. It is a welcome respite from my day job. During my non-tour days I work as a busy pulmonary and internal medicine physician at Cedars Sinai Medical Center. Many of my patients have life threatening illnesses. Incontrast, on tour most often I am dealing with common ailments such as bronchitis, sinusitis, aches and pains, cuts and gastroenteritis. There are the occasional more serious problems such as appendicitis, trauma and heart disease. When traveling domestically my job and preparation is quite simple as pharmacy and prescriptions are readily available. For international travel, I try to take most of the the medications we might need with us. Additionally I try to have foreign physicians available if needed. As a result of my experience, I have been giving a yearly lecture on travel related illness for the traveling musician at The Colburn School of Performing Arts. I like to refer to my tour travels as my vacation with 120 of my closest friends!
Photos
Photos: Final Concert of the Tour!
May 22, 2010
As the tour winds down, the orchestra plays one last concert at Lincoln Center.
As I sit here backstage at NJPAC before our penultimate concert of this exhilarating tour, I remember the last time I was here, 7 years ago, playing alone on the stage for Zubin Mehta when the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra was on tour – that was the very night I picked the very violin I am currently playing on…
Speaking of memories, playing in Lincoln Center last night brought back a lot of powerful emotions, and, for the first time on this tour, I was nervous. I grew up in NY – studied at Juilliard for 7 years and around Manhattan for 4 more, and my formative musical experiences took place in Lincoln Center. I remember how tickets to Avery Fischer Hall New York Philharmonic concerts were a rare and treasured gift, and on days that I might be fortunate enough to get a ticket from a teacher, my Mother would drive me all the way to New York City (70 miles from home upstate) and circle Lincoln Center in the car, sometimes in the freezing cold (because parking was ridiculously expensive…and still is) as I heard the concert in the Hall, and then drive me back home another 70 miles. Certain days, after Pre-College lessons every Saturday, she’d extend her 14 hour day to an 18 or 19 hour day, just to have my brother and I hear those concerts. These were my first orchestra concerts – my first Dvorak 9, my first Mahler 5, the first time I ever heard Itzahk Perlman or Lynn Harrell. When I was a little older and studying with Glenn Dicterow, (the Concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic) I’d have lessons at Avery Fisher, usually in his dressing room on the 5th floor, but sometimes he’d pull me onto the stage before a competition or audition, to hear me in the Hall (and I would see other New York Phil members – my buddy Joe Pereira included). Like I said, my most formative musical experiences.
Avery Fisher Hall was a magical place for me. It was a pantheon of music I experienced growing up that shaped me as the musician I am now. I had performed at Carnegie Hall, and I had played at Alice Tully, on stages all over New York and all over the world, but I never played a concert on the stage at Avery Fisher.
That changed last night. And the orchestra never sounded better. Tchaikovsky 6 in the first hall I ever heard Tchaikovsky 6. Several of us were close to tears on the stage during the last two lines of the symphony.
And my Mother came: it was the first time after coming to Manhattan for over 15 years for both her sons’ educations at Juilliard that she ever heard a concert in Avery Fisher Hall. I even told her to forget about circling Lincoln Center for parking (an inherent, sordid and unshakeable habit of hers) and spare the ridiculous parking fee to come hear the concert for which I scored a last-minute ticket. It was the first time she heard the LA Phil, and she came back around the hall after the concert (exactly to our old pickup and drop-off zone for those concerts years ago), completely bawling as she met my orchestral friends and family. I’ll never forget the look on her face as we turned to hear a low voice growl, “Gupta, Gupta!! So great to hear you and your wonderful orchestra!” (it was Itzahk Perlman). Today is exactly 3 years from the very day I auditioned for this orchestra, now my home, my family. I wouldn’t be here without them, without my Mother, or without those years here in New York.
We are almost at the end of our tour so you would think that an hour bus ride in rush hour traffic to New Jersey would be a bit trying. Not so, because our “old friends” at NJPAC always make us feel so welcome. Upon arrival, we were greeted backstage with warmth, excitement, and a sumptuous meal in the orchestra lounge.
We have experienced a jubilant audience response at the end of every concert on this tour and the Newark audience was no exception. For those of us on stage who have just poured our hearts out – and that includes Maestro Dudamel – finding the audience on their collective feet, cheering loudly is music to OUR ears. We all went home content and fulfilled. Thank you NJPAC!
Photos: Runout to New Jersey
May 22, 2010
Gustavo and the LA Phil make a trip out to New Jersey Performing Arts Center.
I'm 2,823 miles away from my studio in Pasadena, and my trumpet is safely packed on the LA Phil Transport Truck. Even if I had regular access to my instrument, playing Mahler excerpts in a hotel room is not a great way to make friends with the neighbors. Nevertheless, tonight I will be expected to sit on the stage of Avery Fisher Hall in New York City and perform some of the most difficult music in the orchestral repertoire.
Staying in shape while on tour is difficult, so the trumpet section of the LA Phil has embraced a creative solution—pocket trumpets. Not to be confused with a piccolo trumpet, these instruments are the same length as a standard B-flat trumpet, but the metal tubing is coiled more tightly around itself to create a smaller footprint. When used with a quiet practice mute, the result is an easily packable way to practice on the road that won’t get the orchestra thrown out of the hotel. I've had practice sessions during delays at the airport, right in the middle of the terminal. Not to sound like an infomercial, but it even comes with a convenient travel case.
The downside of the pocket trumpet is its unusual appearance. Walking around on tour with the small case on my shoulder, colleagues regularly mention its “cuteness.” So embarrassing.
Incidentally, our NY hotel is less than an hour away from my original practice room on Long Island where my father gave me my first trumpet lessons many years ago. (I bet my parents wished I had a quiet way to practice back then!)
Okay—it’s time to get to the hall and show how all those hours of hard work paid off. Enjoy the concert!
I have been looking forward particularly to this leg of the tour, a chance to reconnect with friends and colleagues who I met during my six years in New York (three attending Juilliard, three living and working in Manhattan). Two of them now live in Philadelphia, and this morning I visited with them and their four year-old daughter who was born six days after my own four year-old daughter.
My plans for NY include lots of time with old friends and visiting my favorite spots--hopefully in three days I will have receipts from H&H Bagels, Zabars, Gray's Papaya, Empire Szechuan (the good one on 72nd, not the mediocre one on Columbus), Popover Cafe, the Museum of Modern Art, and many coffee spots where the natives like to hang out. After I re-learn my jaywalking skills, I'll be ready to go.
Today was an excellent tour day--incident-free travel, a nice hotel, and a great concert at Lincoln Center. We are all looking forward to two more exciting days in The City.
Philadelphia….the City of Brotherly Love, Dr. J, Rocky Balboa and our very own John Lofton.
Philadelphia….the City of Brotherly Love, Dr. J, Rocky Balboa and our very own John Lofton. We took the Amtrak Acela yesterday from DC and a mere 90 minutes later, we arrived in Philadelphia. Train travel is so civilized, but it must have looked a little like herding sheep, getting the orchestra through the train station to the correct departure platform. When we arrived in Philly, we had our very own police escort from the train to the buses…they must of heard about these musicians from the other side of the country. Of course, as soon as we arrived at the hotel, the majority of the brass section took off for the closest cheese steak emporium. You absolutely must have a cheese steak hoagie in Philly. YUM!!
The Kimmel Center and Verizon Hall was our concert destination last night, a beautiful new concert hall which opened about one year before WDCH. I received a text message from our stage manager earlier in the afternoon…..”Can’t fit on the risers, have to play flat tonight”. We were performing John Adams’, City Noir which requires everyone including a huge percussion section, 2 harps and 2 keyboards. Our stage crew has done an amazing job setting the orchestra for this piece in unfamiliar halls. I went over to scope out the situation, and sure enough we were very tight, but of course, it worked. The concert was performed for yet another “Sold Out” house and was received with tremendous enthusiasm from the audience. It has been very exciting.
Tomorrow, we’re back on the train again. Next stop…….The Big Apple.
Photos: Arriving by Train in New York
May 20, 2010
The orchestra rides the rails to get to their next destination: New York!
As I sat drinking in the luscious LA Phil performance of Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony tonight at Verizon Hall, I also found time to meditate on the happenings of the day. Now that my part of the concert was over - playing the piano in John Adams’ “City Noir” on the first half - it started to dawn on me how much I had managed to fit in this afternoon. There were reunions of all sorts: – with dear friends, colleagues, and the City of Brotherly Love itself – Philadelphia.
The highlight of my day was a visit with one of Philly’s grand institutions – La Grand Dame of the Curtis Institute - my former teacher Eleanor Sokoloff. Every bit as vibrant as I remember her from my student days, she regaled us with stories from her 75 years of teaching.
How many 96-year-olds do you know who own an e-book reader, use a PC every day, and love HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” - while continuing to devote their life to nurturing young piano talent?
With our noses to the grind this tour, flitting from city to city, I’ve not really had a chance to fully experience the amazing cities we’ve been playing in, but in DC, my free day gave us a chance to visit the National Gallery and the Library of Congress. Any day that I might be lucky enough to see a real Van Gogh up close and personal is a good day, but I had little idea of just how fulfilling my day would get…
The ever industrious Guido Lamell heard about a Stradivari exhibition in town, and we hauled tail across town to find ourselves at the Whithall pavilion at the Library of Congress, where, enshrined in glass cases…a 1699 Castelbarco Strad violin, the 1704 “Betts” Strad, Fritz Kreisler’s 1730 Guarneri del Gesu, a Golden period Strad viola, a Castelbarco Strad cello…absolutely precious, priceless, timeless works of physical and musical art. Retained in impeccable condition for the free concerts given next door at the Library’s Coolidge Theater by ensembles like the Juilliard String Quartet, the true glory of these old Italian instruments is in playing and hearing them, and Guido, Danny Rothmuller and I were all thrilled just to be in the same room. The famous violinist Ivry Gitlis says that it’s “not that the fiddle belongs to me, or exists in my lifetime, but that I am passing through the violin’s life, and she will have a much longer life than mine”. We feel the same way about our own instruments, and to behold an instrument that has survived Mozart, Paganini, Vieuxtemps, Ysaye, Kreisler, Heifetz, and that will survive my generation, is exhilarating.
We waited as our tour guide finished her presentation in the Coolidge Theater, and Guido introduced us as members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Stunned silence in the hall, as our guide broke into applause, and a few bemoaned not being able to get tickets to our concert the previous evening at the Kennedy Center. We even had a patron in the audience who regularly comes to listen to us at Segerstrom Hall on our runouts to Orange County. After a few phone calls, the instrument curator opened the vault, and we were able to hold (and “accidentally” pluck a few strings – we couldn’t use the precious bows in the collection because they were too fragile…a perfect condition Tourte cello bow!) a few of the instruments. If we were carrying our own bows, we would have been able to play on them – Guido briefly suggested that we rush back to the hotel and grab our bows…(needless to say, I won’t go to DC without a spare bow ever again!)
Photos: Visiting and Rehearsing in Philadelphia
May 19, 2010
Photos
Music & Culinary Tour: Part 2 - D.C.
May 19, 2010
Our gastro-adventure continued in D.C. This time we expanded our group to ten for tapas at José Andrés' Jaleo. In my last blog entry I mentioned that I had to drop Dudamel's name to get seating for our large group. It turns out that José Andrés and Gustavo are good friends, so after the restaurant presumably vetted our reservation, Gustavo and Deborah Borda showed up and crashed our party! The food and drinks kept coming and each dish was a revelation of Spanish culinary arts. My favorite was the Jamón Ibérico de bellota Fermín - black-footed Ibérico pigs which are raised on a diet of acorns. Unlike the other black-footed pigs I am used to eating, this one had a distinct nutty flavor with a buttery texture....I will never be able to go back to honey baked ham.
KUSC Tour Blog
May 18, 2010
KUSC is on the road with us and covering the tour. We especially enjoyed Brian Lauritzen’s blog post about last night’s performance which opens with:
So, here’s the Coolest Thing about the Kennedy Center. Well, okay, I’m not going to give it away immediately, but I will share some things I’ve learned about the Kennedy Center since arriving here in Washington, D.C. yesterday that, while they’re very cool, they’re not the Coolest Thing.
It's been a long time since the orchestra was here in Washington, something like 12 or 13 years, and that last time was while the Kennedy Center was being renovated. We arrived at the new stage entrance and went inside seeing other changes to the backstage area and the hall itself. Some of us met with friends from the National Symphony and then we rehearsed a little to check the acoustics and get a feel for the room.
At intermission we had a surprise visit from a long-time friend from LA, Placido Domingo, here to attend to his other regular gig with Kennedy Center's National Opera.
Photos
Photos: The Orchestra at White House; Playing the Kennedy Center.
It was drizzling this morning, but the rain didn't stop us from our plan. I also came to DC one day ahead of our "big troupe" and met up with my family who flew in from LA last night. We headed to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural & History.
Have you ever wondered what the first mammal was? I discovered we have a 210 million years old ancestor. Judging from today's rodents, it looks like a type of mouse and its name is Morganucodon. About four inches long, the mammal was nicknamed "Great Grandma Morgie" by the Museum of Natural History.
It's always exciting for us to perform at the Kennedy Center. After a short acoustic rehearsal to get us used to the hall, the concert started at eight o'clock. The place was jam packed and the crowd kept cheering endlessly after the performance. Light in the hall came on after one encore, signaling us to leave the stage.....
I just took this photo of one of our two tour semi-trailers outside the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The tour has been fantastic so far, and our musicians have performed brilliantly in San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago and Nashville.
It was very exciting to walk into the imposing and impressive John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to pick up my ticket for tonight's sold out performance. The staff member who helped me at the box office was overwhelming in her praise for Gustavo and our orchestra, having seen last night's segment on 60 Minutes. She kept saying 'how great it is for the kids', and I couldn't agree more.
Earlier on the tour in Chicago, my hometown paper, The Hinsdale Doings, ran this fun 'Local Boy Makes Good' article, and it was great to hear from family and friends who read it.
I feel incredibly excited and honored to be accompanying Gustavo and our terrific orchestra on this history-making tour, and to connect up with fellow board members and patrons along the way. I'm off to the concert.
Today we had a completely free day- no need to check out of the hotel, no bus to catch, no airport cuisine, no plane travel, and finally, no concert! It was good to catch a breather before going to all the wonderful cities in the second half of our tour. It has been a busy tour but a very successful one so far. The audiences were simply enthralled with Gustavo and responded to the way we played our hearts out every concert. The excitement of performing for music lovers everywhere and the connection we build with them are what make what we do so fulfilling. Another part of the tour that I enjoy the most is getting to spend more time with my colleagues. We bonded over meals, shared our adventures and laughed about our misadventures over a drink or two, or three. Tonight we went to the Germantown Cafe, a popular restaurant in a charming neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown. The waiter told us that it was the first time since the flood that they started serving with wine glasses rather than paper cups in order to conserve water. For the past two days we've been hearing such stories from the locals about their experiences as well as witnessing their inspiring effort to rebuild from the flood. We'd like to make a toast, with the real wine glasses, to the recovery of Nashville!
Video: Pre-concert Happenings
May 17, 2010
From the bus to the stage, the orchestra gets ready for another concert.
I resisted my natural proclivity for thriftiness and decided to spend a little more money to travel “in front” of the rest
of the group to Washington, DC. Most of the orchestra stayed in Nashville and are arriving in DC this morning for rehearsal at The Kennedy Center. The good news is we have the next day off, which is actually more like excellent news.
There are so many things to do in this city. Yesterday, a group of us checked out the Spy Museum, which was very cool. My kids are sneaky teenagers, but they’ve got nothing on the characters celebrated by this unique museum. From there, we walked over to the White House, the Washington Monument and its reflecting pool, which is actually more like a reflecting mud pit - it was recently drained to combat an outbreak of bird botulism among the local ducks. We also visited the Lincoln Monument, and the new WWII Memorial - beautiful, but 60 years late, in my humble opinion. My dad fought in the Pacific as a marine, and it was good to see a fitting tribute to the tremendous sacrifice that that generation made.
We also stopped by the Vietnam Memorial - this was an unexpectedly moving experience. It is just a simple wall, with the names of the confirmed dead and missing engraved upon it. It is one thing to read a number like 58,178, but to see a visual representation of that number really drove home the waste of American lives. One of my colleagues made an etching of a name on the Wall - it was his mother’s first husband, who had been killed about six months after their marriage. The irony didn’t escape me that had that name not been on the Wall, my friend would not have been standing there in front of me. We capped the night off with a nice Thai meal and something quite rare on this tour - getting to bed before midnight!
As we approach the halfway point of our US Tour, I'm using a rainy day in Nashville to just relax and reflect on the whirlwind of travel, rehearsals and concerts we jam packed into seven long days. Gustavo, Jean-Yves and the Orchestra have been marvelous, as the concerts have all been fantastic and exciting. Sitting backstage listening to the thunderous ovations in every city makes me gleam with pride for the LA Phil.
On this free day, I'd like to focus on the other side of the stage and the magic that is being produced there. Whenever we arrive into the next venue, everything is setup as it should be. While we don't expect anything less, it's hard to appreciate how everything got there. Our production director, Paul Geller, stage manager, Jeff Wallace and their stage crew, Alex Quintanar, Cesar Melgar and John Cox have made these concerts possible and deserve credit for the success we have been having on this tour. These guys arrive to the halls before our planes even touchdown at the airport and stay after many of us have gone to bed. They load into halls that cannot fit our trunks and find creative solutions so that everything is ready to go.
It's easy to forget all that goes on behind the walls onstage but these guys deserve a standing ovation.
I was actually in Schermerhorn Hall just a month or two before they opened. I was attending the ICSOM Conference, (International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians) which I thought was two years ago, but my friend, Laura Ross, a violinist with Nashville and Secretary of ICSOM, assures me was actually four years ago. Okay, so I lost 2 years there - not unusual at my age. Schermerhorn is a stunning Neo-classical building, inlaid marble floors, Ionic columns with an interior hall patterned after Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.The hall wasn’t quite finished, but we were able to get a sense of its grandeur and we were hosted to the first full sit down dinner on premises.
My friend, Cathy Payne, piccolo with San Francisco Symphony and also an ICSOM Governing Board member, tells me it is the “best hall in the United States, bar none, no offense.” Well, maybe. We’re going to have to come back to get a firsthand opinion. Of course, we’re talking acoustics here, not architecture. From an orchestra player’s standpoint, it’s all about what you hear and not what you see. Symphony Hall in Chicago is fantastic. Better than Disney? Not necessarily, but very different. On stage it’s easier for us to hear each other clearly, but out in the hall, in spite of the warm golden glow of the sound, certain sections of the orchestra dominate the blend. So, we’ll come back to Nashville and judge for ourselves. I think Walt Disney concert Hall would be hard to beat…
This morning, I’m off to the Loveless Café for their world-famous biscuits and jams, and then heading over to the Parthenon in Centennial Park. DC tomorrow night!
Gallery: Backstage and More at Tennessee Performing Arts Center
So often in the face of adversity we manage to come together and help those in need to cope with tremendous loss. Today the Philharmonic arrived in Nashville to perform this evening in an alternate venue: the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Due to its location on higher ground, the Tennessee Performing Arts Center did not suffer flood damage as did the much newer Schermerhorn Concert Hall, home to the Nashville Symphony. The concert was highly emotional for two important reasons: we were able to play a magnificent concert to assist in the healing of this flood stricken city, and to present a contribution (nearly $7,000 from the musicians of the Philharmonic) for a total of $25,000 to help the Nashville Symphony replace one of the two Steinway concert grands that were lost in the flooding.
Having never experienced Nashville before, I was immediately taken with the hospitality and warmth of the locals in addition to some pretty tasty Southern food. There's a unique vibe in this city of great music making and it's thrilling as a member of the LA Philharmonic to experience it as well as show them some great music making courtesy of Los Angeles. Music is the bonding force between our two great cities and it's an honor to share that with our hosts.
Tomorrow I hope to visit with an old high school friend who's done very well as a song writer as well as being the founder of the Music for the Soul Foundation. His name is Steve Siler. And finally, Nashville is known as "Athens of the South" and is actually larger in square miles than Los Angeles! Tomorrow is a free day...yeah!!!
Not even a flood can stop Gustavo and the LA Phil! The new Schermerhorn Hall in Nashville sustained serious damage in last week's weather catastrophe and cannot be used again until major repairs are completed. For a few days it seemed our concert would have to be cancelled. However, we hung in there with the great folks from the Nashville Symphony because we all believe passionately in the power of music when times are tough. Amazingly, the persistent music-lovers in Nashville came up with an alternate (though not ideal) hall and asked if we would be willing to play in it. Not only were we willing, but our musicians took up a collection among themselves that added up to close to $7000; Gustavo and Jean Yves Thibaudet matched that, and our Association will give back a portion of our fee.
This all amounts to a $25,000 donation to our beleaguered colleagues. When I told their CEO Alan Valentine that not only did we want to come but we would make this special donation to help them in this tough time, he literally could not speak for a few moments. I am so proud of our musicians-- their spirit and generosity is something truly special. The hall tonight may not be perfect, but when the LA Phil takes the stage you know it will be a concert nobody will forget!
What a perfect day!Chicago is my home town, and yesterday was one of the three or four days a year with crystal-clear breezy skies and ideal temperature. I treated myself to several hours visiting "old friends" in the Art Institute's impressive Impressionist collection - unrivaled anywhere (well, maybe Paris). I couldn't stay indoors too long. It was just too beautiful outside. I met up with Mitch Newman for a trip to the Hancock Building's 94th floor Observatory. The visibility was 70-80 miles! Before the acoustic rehearsal, I'd had dinner with my dad, who has been the Chicago Symphony's Principal Bassist for 49
years. I come by my profession honestly.
Playing on the stage at Orchestra Hall is a very nostalgic experience for me. In high school, I was the Concertmaster of the Youth Orchestra of Chicago, and all of our performances and many rehearsals were on that stage. I fondly remember Civic rehearsals conducted by some of the Symphony's principal conductors- including Georg Solti and Carlo Maria Giulini (who ultimately hired me to play in the LA Phil in 1981).
Last night's performance was electrifying. People who have been attending concerts for decades (including my mom) said that they've never heard such an exciting performance. My mother commented that the strings have never sounded better. We played 2 encores to an overwhelmingly enthusiastic audience.
It's so great to be home in Chicago! Last night I had dinner with my mother, brother, and sister at my sister's condo off Lake Shore Drive. Her building overlooks Wrigley Field, and as I write this today, I'm glancing over at the Cubs vs Pirates game which is now tied at 6 -- biting my nails!
Earlier today, I ran into Shelley Bovyer and Patty Kindel at the Art Institute, as well as Meredith Snow and Ingrid Hutman in the Impressionist galleries.
My sister and I stopped at Millennium Park, and the Pritzker Pavillion which is the home of the Grant Park Orchestra in the summertime, and where my husband Fritz has played tuba for over 25 years. Also a trip to Cloudgate sculpture, which we call the 'bean'.
Tonight we play at Symphony center, and my friends and family will all be there...can't wait!
Wrigley Field: Day Game!
May 14, 2010
Concert Manager Daniel Song checks out Cubs vs. Pirates before rehearsal.
Our tours make it possible for other cities to get a taste of what LA offers musically. On this tour some of us decided to get a taste of what other cities offer in the culinary world. I made reservations at several restaurants with big name chefs: Rick Bayless, José Andrés and Tom Colicchio.
Because we did not have a free night in San Francisco, our first gastronomic experience of the tour was in Chicago at Rick Bayless’ Topolobampo. There were six of us: four bass players and two percussionists (there is always a special relationship between bass and drums in all fields of music). As is our custom when on the road, we began with shots of Milagro, margaritas and mojitos. Then we all chose the taster’s menu with matched wines for each of the five courses. I cannot use enough superlatives to describe the various courses and the complexity of the sauces, particularly the mole negro. My single favorite dish was the huevos motuleños – a poached egg with pork belly in a habañero sauce. In LA we have frequent celebrity sightings so it is no big deal to us. But I have to say that we all took notice of Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore when they entered Topolobampo right behind us. We are not the only Angelenos who acknowledge the most stellar Mexican food to be found north of the border.
Up next is Jaleo, José Andrés’ tapas bar in D.C. (had to drop Dudamel's name to secure a reservation there), followed by Colicchio & Sons in New York. I don't expect to have much left of my per diem, but it will be well worth it.
Touring is a time of great excitement, intensity and fun on stage and off. It is a time when I get to know my colleagues through sharing powerful experiences. On the last tour (Esa-Pekka Salonen's last) to the far east, we played repertoire which had become our old friends, our signature pieces. After seventeen years with Esa-Pekka I knew what to expect at each performance. I did a lot of hiking in national parks in Seoul, Korea and a rainforest in the middle of Singapore when we had free days. On this US tour, we have played three concerts so far, and each one has been a big learning experience; getting to know the meaning of Gustavo's motions, giving him the flexibility he wants at the moment; really learning to dance with him. Each concert is a powerful statement and it's thrilling to grow together quickly and passionately. The houses are sold out, the audiences are cheering, and we are satisfyingly exhausted after each performance knowing we have given our all!
So, day four comes to a close after traveling from Phoenix to Chicago. It was time to celebrate. Back in March, knowing that we would have a free evening, Joe Pereira made reservations at one of this country's finest and most innovative restaurants, Alinea. Robert Gupta, Joanne Pearce Martin, Daniel Rothmuller and myself were lucky enough to join Joe and for his fiancée (and newest member of our first violin section), Minyoung Chang. We all love to cook, have shared meals in places that range from dive to elegant. We appreciate the similarities that cooking and eating share with music making. Last night became one of the most artistic, fun, deep and inspirational, six hour, 25-course performances of carefully balanced culinary nuance that any of us has experienced. For Robert, it was a near religious evening. I was transfixed by the vibrancy of each dish, its colors, flavors, textures and the unique presentation on specially made serving dishes. On the cab ride back to the hotel we were silent - lost in thought about what we had just experienced.
Playing in Chicago is a big deal with its historic symphony and hall. We haven't played here in a long time, and I (along with everyone else) want to play my best. I know that I'll have to walk off the food extravaganza or go to the gym to not feel sluggish. When we take the stage tonight, each of us in the orchestra will come with confidence and a few butterflies, but ready to play our best. My little gang will also take our passion, bonding and energy from last night and put it right into our playing. What a great privilege it is to play in this orchestra with my beautiful colleagues. Now let's go and show Chicago what the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel have to say!
We flew into Chicago from Phoenix today. Concert last night went well; the audience was very enthusiastic and vocal...almost rowdy! Symphony Hall in Phoenix is right down the street from Chase Field, home of the Diamondbacks. Fans were arriving for a game as we were coming to the hall for the concert. I remarked to a friend how funny it would be if the Dodgers were in town the same night the Phil is next door playing a concert. Turns out that the Dodgers were in fact there! What are the chances?
I feel very sentimental coming to Chicago and playing in this hall. It's my hometown and I grew up hearing the CSO, and playing on this stage. It's always great to be back.
On the agenda tomorrow: early morning run along the lakefront; time with family and friends; concert; Uno's for post-concert pizza.
Photos: Deep Dish Pizza in Chicago!
May 13, 2010
Upon arrival into Chicago, many orchestra musicians went to Giordano's
pizza to get some deep dish pizza.
Photos
LA Phil Donating to Nashville Symphony
May 13, 2010
In the wake of the devastating floods in Nashville, the Nashville Symphony’s presentation of Gustavo Dudamel with pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, scheduled for Saturday, May 15, has moved to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC). The performance was originally scheduled to take place at Schermerhorn Symphony Center, home of the Nashville Symphony, which sustained substantial water damage in the floods. To help replace Steinway pianos lost in the damage, a gift of $25,000 will be donated jointly to the Nashville Symphony from musicians of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. Thibaudet, who hand-picked the Nashville Symphony’s Hamburg Steinway lost in the flood, has agreed to select another new piano.
Wow! What an evening in Phoenix. I spent almost the entire time seeing many of my friends from years spent here in the past and sharing some of my favorites places with my colleagues in the Phil. In the afternoon a few of us went to my favorite 'Soul food' place, Mrs. White's for some down-home cooking. Mmmmm-mmm! Then on to the concert to perform the Adams and the Mahler. Prior to the concert the Phoenix Symphony CEO Maryellen Gleason was gracious enough to introduce me as a former member to the audience. The reaction from the audience, many of whom were my friends, was an unexpected pleasure. The was seemingly an endless number of my former 'peeps' to visit with during the intermission and after the concert. The Phil played wonderfully and seemingly the entire town was in awe of Gustavo. All in all it added up a great, albeit short visit to Phoenix. Now off to Chicago!
The subject of Arizona politics is clearly a hot-button issue on this tour, but I decided that this is not the forum in which to discuss the fact that myself and several other members of the orchestra have chosen to avoid spending money while in Phoenix despite the presence of a convenient, popular, “owl-themed”, national chain restaurant directly across from the hotel. While I sit here in my hotel room and savor the flavor and mouth-feel of what is probably my second of three “Pure Protein” bars that will have to suffice for sustenance today, I am eagerly awaiting this evening’s concert. The first to performances in San Francisco crackled with an excitement and electricity that I know will only crescendo to a climax at our final concerts in New York.
A world-class orchestra needs world-class support, so please let me take this opportunity to thank our peerless staff and crew for allowing me to “leave my brain at home” (Is this our bus? Should I get on this bus?) and focus exclusively on music making for two whirlwind weeks.
Photos: Orchestra in Phoenix
May 12, 2010
The orchestra makes a quick one-day stop in Phoenix, Arizona.
Photos
What we're reading
May 12, 2010
A quick sampling of what our musicians are reading on the road: - The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson (Ingrid Hutman, viola) - Gone Tomorrow by Lee Childs (Jonathan Karoly, cello) - Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie (Robert Gupta, First Violin) - A Town Like Alice by Nevil Schute (Larry Sonderling, First Violin) - Nothing Normal in Cork by Chris Coulson (Brian Drake, Horn) - Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder (Anne Gabriele, Oboe) - The Piano Teacher by Janice Y.K. Lee (Meredith Snow, Viola) - Helliconia Winter by Brian Aldiss (Michele Zukovsky, Principal Clarinet)
One might wonder what the two things above have in common. It turns out they are both Stills. On the right is a Clyfford Still, currently on view at a wonderful 75th anniversary exhibit at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. On the left is Los Angeles Philharmonic trumpet player Chris Still, currently enjoying his birthday here in San Francisco. Without doubt his celebration was enhanced by a rowdy but heartfelt chorus of Happy Birthday that started this evening's acoustic rehearsal.
Waking late and recovering from a night at a San Francisco speakeasy called Bourbon and Branch (how could a person fail to order a drink called "The Naughty Sundress"?) I wondered how I could possibly fit in a visit to SFMOMA with time to spare to meet a good SF friend for lunch. In Los Angeles, this agenda would be doomed to failure. But amazingly enough, the museum and lunch site both turned out to be just blocks from our hotel on Market Street. This level of geographical convenience made virtually no sense at all, but I ran with it anyway.
Yesterday Clyde and I went to Chinatown for some Dim Sum. We had the most amazing shrimp dumplings we have ever had! As much as we wanted to have more of those great dumplings today, instead we went down to Fisherman's Wharf to have a great feed on seafood. I had the yummiest sole and wild mushrooms in a decadent parmesan cream sauce. I know what I'll be attempting when I get home! The concert last night went so well - I'm excited about tonight's.
Coming back to San Francisco is always exhilarating! It was my home for nearly 8 years and I'm always tickled to see my favorite landmarks: the spires of St. Ignacious Church, Sutro Tower, Stern Grove, and the stunning Golden Gate Bridge. My heart starts to race when I see the Civic Center and Davies Hall, where we performed tonight. I miss many things about this dynamic city - but the fog is definitely not one of them! It was hovering all around us as we landed, boarded our buses and walked on Market Street. Today's fog was mixed with some patches of blue sky and an occasional glint of sunlight - just enough to be invigorating…or maybe I’m just excited about tonight’s performance!
Every member of the orchestra has been getting ready for tour in their own way. Suffice it to say, I am a bit too organized for my own good and have been getting ready for this tour for weeks. Sunday is spent with packing and seeing to last minute "to do" lists; among them, planting our front yard border with succulents before the heat of summer sets in.
I am pleased that I have managed to pack only 7 pairs of shoes. My bag weighs 45 lbs. I am good to go.
The bus departs WDCH at 8:30 to LAX. We have those of our management team traveling with us, our "shepherds", to make sure we travel safely and securely together We all survive check in and security to find our flight to SFO is delayed ultimately by two hours. So, what does an orchestra on tour do waiting for a flight? Pretty much what anybody else does in this predicament. We sleep, we eat, we read, we chat, we check on emails.
We finally arrive safely to our hotel by mid afternoon. Now we all do what we have to do to get ready for our first performance on our first tour with Gustavo. Many eyes are on us as we perform with this remarkably gifted young musician.
I am not worried. With Gustavo, anything is possible
Photos
Photos: The Orchestra Travels to San Francisco!
May 11, 2010
Photos
Interview with Pickens Black, Tour Truck Driver
May 10, 2010
What Gustavo Does Between Flights
May 10, 2010
LA Phil VP of Artistic Planning Chad Smith and Gustavo Dudamel
take advantage of a flight delay to program concerts for future seasons.
Video: Getting Ready for the Tour
May 9, 2010
A selection of videos of the orchestra getting ready for the tour!
Getting Ready - May 8
May 8, 2010
Take a look as the orchestra gets ready for their cross-country, two-week tour.
Photos
All In A Day’s Work
May 7, 2010
That’s Stage Manager Jeff Wallace. He’s double checking load-in times at all the tour venues.
Meanwhile, we have a concert to put on at Walt Disney Concert Hall. Gustavo leads the LA Phil in Dvorák’s Cello Concerto and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6. We’re working late with Jeff when…
9:40pm
We learn that Gustavo has pulled a muscle in his neck and can’t continue the second half of the sold-out concert.
9:41pm
Associate Conductor Lionel Bringuier to the rescue! Lionel runs to his apartment, changes into his concert clothes, ascends the podium, and conducts the Tchaikovsky with incredible finesse.
10:06pm
Thunderous applause for Lionel! The LA Times called his performance “sizzling.”
Countdown to the Tour!
May 6, 2010
The Show Must Go On!
May 5, 2010
Good news: we’re still heading to Nashville!! Our friends at Nashville Symphony said: “We’re hurting, but we still need music.” The flood damage at Schermerhorn Symphony Center prohibits playing a concert there, so we moved the concert to the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville Symphony’s former home.
Must. Pack. Soon.
News from Nashville
May 3, 2010
We learned today that our friends at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville lost 2 Steinway Concert Grands and a $1.5 million organ console due to flooding. Our third stop of the tour is now uncertain and the frenzied search for alternate venues, flights, hotels and transportation begins.
Here’s a video of what our friends at the Nashville Symphony are up against. Our thoughts are with you Nashville!
Hong Kong is an amazing city. We have been here now two complete days and the beauty of the landscape still takes my breath away. Having lived in Honolulu for three years, I see many similarities between the two cities but the breadth and scope of Hong Kong is overwhelming. Obviously it is endless what one can do here but I will just mention a few highlights that will remain with me.
The first night we arrived I managed to take a ferry across the harbor and see the light show, which is a nightly occurrence. Pictures cannot possibly capture the feeling of observing this it is so visceral. Following this with an authentic Chinese meal seemed like the perfect ending to a day of travel from Singapore.
The next day was a free day and after practicing I spent it hiking around Victoria Peak, which is the highest point in Hong Kong. One takes a ferry, to a bus, and then a tram which at one point feels almost vertical as you climb to 1800 feet. It is true that Hong Kong is a city of views and luckily the weather was in our favor. Terrific scenery in all directions from the top was the reward! There is also an hour long hike one can take around the perimeter of the peak which gave excellent views of the harbor and the surrounding islands and a work out to boot!
I have found touring with the Philharmonic for 7 years now that the key to a successful tour is balancing work with jet lag and a little bit of sightseeing. As an oboist I must always think of reeds and the different climates they are exposed to. This makes for constant adjusting and the making of new reeds for places that are quite different in climate from Los Angeles. This does make for a limited amount of time that I do have for sightseeing but since the focus of our touring is performing good concerts, being a tourist should be on a very limited basis. Our concerts on this Asian tour have been very good with extremely appreciative audiences. Particularly in Tokyo where they were still applauding as we left the stage after many curtain calls! This being my first trip to Asia I must say the tour has been an experience of a lifetime for me.
Coming to Hong Kong for me has been a bit like coming back home. You see, I lived in Hong Kong for a year from September 2002 to September 2003. The Philharmonic granted me a year’s leave to move to Hong Kong with my husband, an architect for Walt Disney Imagineering. Toby was working on the building of Hong Kong Disneyland during that time. So many memories came flooding back to me as I looked across the harbor to the skyline of Hong Kong Island. It was a precious moment for me. I have been attempting to visit all the places I loved to go to and it has been so great to see friends again that I made while living here. Before coming I put together a list of my “must see picks” for my colleagues. It is good to know that it came in handy for many of them; especially my recommendation for a tailor to see whose shop was quite close to the hotel we have been staying in HK. I hope that the orchestra comes back many more times to Hong Kong. It is a most amazing city.
Despite being extremely hoarse from two consecutive nights of boisterous karaoke in Tokyo, I awake on Friday morning filled with excitement & anticipation. Our concerts so far in Seoul and Tokyo have been exhilarating, but this is the day we get to fly in the new Airbus A380 ! My mind is filled with facts & figures I’ve collected on this remarkable aircraft, the world’s largest passenger plane - $350 million dollars, a tail which stretches up to 7 stories in the air, double deck seating for the entire length of the fuselage, 12 First Class suites with double beds & flat screen TVs, room for as many as 853 passengers(!), and a completely computerized “fly-by-wire” system.
As we arrive at the boarding area, I see people gathered around the seat plan of the Airbus, which is prominently displayed on an easel. Many of my colleagues do not know that we are going to be riding in the big whale, and there is a definite buzz of excitement building. Even people who normally wouldn’t care which vehicle was transporting them from point A to point B are intrigued. Passengers (myself included) are pressing against the terminal windows, twisting bodies and cameras to try & get the perfect souvenir shot, which isn’t easy because the jet-way is pulled up against the plane for boarding.
We’re flying with Singapore Airlines today – they were the first to put the Airbus A380 into commercial use, exactly one year ago. To date they have made over 1600 flights in this model. I also recently read that Singapore Airlines currently has six A380s in their fleet, the most recent one having just been acquired LAST MONTH.
Once we get onboard, one of the first announcements informs us that this is indeed the newest of the fleet! This is no surprise to hear, because everything around us looks and feels as if it has barely been touched. I’m a window-seat person, and never in all my travels have I been able to get such a beautiful scratch-free view though an airplane window. Each roomy Economy seat has a personal video system, a foot rest, and a very well-designed fold-out table & separate “cupholder”.
There is an absolutely seamless transition from the long take-off roll to the lift-off (the most magical moment in any flight) Even if one clearly understands that there is an enormous amount of power thrusting this huge bird into the air, it still seems like a miracle that it can actually get off the ground! During the climb, I gaze in awe at the right wing, with its sparkling fluorescent orange and grey paint, flexing gently as it slices through the relative wind. I become obsessed with the thousands of rivets on this giant wing, and think of a recent “riveting” discussion I had with my husband Gavin, who dreams of building his own airplane someday. My mind then wanders further and I realize that the single-engine plane Gavin & I fly has a wingspan of 26-ft. – the Airbus’ is 261 ft – I could stretch TEN of those little planes across the width of this monster!
The flight from Tokyo’s Narita Airport to Singapore is approximately 7 hours, and the time just breezes by before I know it. I pass the time by watching movies, reading, listening to music, using the “seat-to-seat” call feature, and stretching my legs by walking up & down the spiral staircase in the back. I keep up with the progress of the flight periodically, and take note that we’re cruising at 40,000 ft and averaging a ground speed of approximately 570 mph. The charming flight attendants are very friendly, polite, and enthusiastic, and I find myself with an armful of A380 mementos – cute little post cards and playing cards.
The best was saved for last, however - just before leaving the plane after a flawless landing, my colleague Mick Wetzel managed to talk a couple of us into the cockpit! There we met the entire flight crew, including the captain, a very personable young Indian gentleman. I had seen pictures of these cockpits on the Internet, but it truly was awe-inspiring to actually be up there amid all of that cutting-edge aviation technology. Thanks, Mick!
Riding in the Airbus A380 was literally a blast – and yet another fond memory we will cherish of this last tour with Esa-Pekka.
It’s been a great tour so far. Tokyo was an especially unbelievable place. The people there were so eager to assist and serve. Purchasing a small gift for my wife at a department store, the salesperson gave me the feeling it was her greatest pleasure in life to help me.
The flight to Singapore was much more comfortable than I ever expected a 7 hour flight could be – I’m sure the brand new Airbus A380 (think gigantic flying double-decker bus) had a lot to do with that. Unfortunately, as soon as I landed I began having some mild dizziness. Practicing later in the hotel room (with a practice mute – a fixture for us brass players on tour), it felt as if the hotel was experiencing a small earthquake for the entire 90 minutes. A good night’s sleep and a good breakfast the next morning seem to have done the trick in steadying things. I’ll probably take it pretty easy nonetheless.
The hardest part of touring is definitely being away. Now that we’ve been gone about a week and a half, the homesickness for my wife and 10 month old daughter is starting to be difficult to deal with. Eye on the prize, though – I’m sure we’ll pull it together and have great concerts for the remainder of the tour.
Amidst four-in-the-morning trips to Tsukijishijo to see the tuna auctions, visits to the Japanese countryside, Indian curry in Shinjuku, sushi lunches and binge-shopping on the Ginza, the Philharmonic has churned out two more world-class performances in Tokyo’s magnificent Suntory Hall, the second stop on our tour of the Far East. Sadly, this is our great Music Director’s last tour with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Suntory is the ‘sister-hall’ to Walt Disney, designed by the same phenomenal acoustician (Yasuhisa Toyota) responsible for our paragon of halls back home, with similar layout and characteristics. However, I noticed that the inside of the hall was this very interesting type of stone, in place of the wood paneling back home; as a result, Suntory is more live than Disney, and in rehearsal, treble-heavy. Our people sitting in the hall for the concert said the sound was balanced and rich, very lush.
La Mer and Firebird in Tokyo were amongst the most amazing musical experiences of my life, the Bolero solos just keep getting better and better, and we’re only halfway through our tour! Ma Mere L’Oye was greeted with thunderous applause before intermission, and after the program, Esa-Pekka actually had to go out for a bow after the orchestra had left the stage, because the audience was still roaring. We’re now sweltering in Singapore, looking forward to more fantastic concerts and adventures in the last few days to come.
I've been with the Los Angeles Philharmonic for over 30 years; and have been on more tours than I can count.
Every time I leave for a tour, people tell me how lucky I am to be able to travel to places like Europe, Asia, and throughout the United States, while listening to great music. They're right. I am lucky, I have a great job doing something that I am passionate about.
However, there are times when I do not feel lucky at all. Those times usually occur while we are on tour.
Let me paint a picture: We are in a beautiful concert hall in a foreign city, it is not the first city of the tour, but we have been traveling so much we haven't acclimated to local time. The orchestra plays their hearts out, applause, applause, applause. But now is when the crew must pack up any trace that we have been there; this includes: all the instrument cases, wardrobe cases, the music library cases, and all other miscellaneous cases that we use on the road. We easily fill up two semi-trucks with these cases. Every single case needs to be rolled out of the concert hall into a waiting truck. Loading the trucks are like solving a puzzle. The cases have to be handled carefully so as not to jostle the delicate instruments inside, and they must be packed with an eye towards maximizing space. Three hours after the concert has finished and the trucks are loaded, we then must drive to the nearest airport with a cargo center (this could be the local airport or this could be the airport a couple of countries away).
When we get to the cargo center, it is usually around 3 in morning, and more often than not it is extremely cold. Los Angeles does not prepare you for working in temperatures that hover around 0.
The trucks must now be unloaded. All of those carefully packed cases, must be carefully off-loaded and prepared for palletizing.
For those who are unfamiliar with the term palletizing: this is a procedure that involves taking the cases and putting several of them on what looks like a over-sized cookie sheet, wrapping them in industrial strength plastic, and then placing a netting over that. This is for the purpose of making sure the cases do not shift within flight. Each pallet must be a specific height and width to conform to the interior of the aircraft, and these dimensions can vary every time. Palletizing can take 3-4 hours.
Once we are done palletizing we often feel like the walking wounded, and it is all we can do to stumble to the closest hotel to shower and if we are lucky get some sleep before we have to go back to the airport. We either travel with the cargo, or we follow on a commercial flight to our next city. Once the instruments clear customs we then de-palletize (which is self explanatory) and now roll the cases to waiting trucks which will take us to the next concert hall. We unload the trucks and load the cases into the theater. We then set the stage for the concert that evening. And we repeat the entire scenario that evening.
Sometimes I feel like I'm stuck in "Groundhog Day"; and sometimes the tour schedule can be brutal; but the sense of accomplishment I feel when the concert goes off without a hitch makes it all seem worthwhile.
It’s TOUR TIME! As librarian for the orchestra, I’m now in a constant state of alert and orneriness, and spinning endless what-if scenarios in my mind to try and prepare for every situation, an affliction that I ascribe as PTS (pre-tour syndrome).…What if a musician forgets his part in a cab, what if a head of state decides to attend our concert, what if the conductor’s baton breaks, what if we unexpectedly need to open a program to honor someone famous, what if a soloist gets sick and cancels, what if we run out of encores, what if you get the idea. I’m not normally into doom and gloom, it’s just the PTS kicking in. And so, I pack extra music to take on the road such as the national anthems of every country we visit, additional scores and parts, substitute pieces, extra encores and batons, slow, beautiful, elegiac works, and whatever else I think appropriate to instantly pull out of the hat. So far thankfully I have not had to live out these imagined scenarios on tours though I’ve come very close to a few, just enough to not be able to rid myself of the PTS. As for my personal suitcase, I dread packing and will just throw a few things together and be done with it.
My trumpeter husband, Rob, my 12-year old daughter, Misao, and our cat, Rosie, will be holding down the fort at home while I’m gone. My son, Isamu, is off in New York busily engaged in jazz piano studies and won’t miss me. I’m sad that I will miss Misao’s school project exhibit. In exchange I will have the pleasure of seeing my favorite aunt in Tokyo whom I haven’t seen in years. The last time I was in Tokyo was also with Esa-Pekka in 1994 when he led the orchestra there in an explosive performance of the Bartok Concerto for Orchestra. But that’s for another blog.
