Orchestra Nerd

On Wednesday of last week I met with a couple of string players (both of them 70+) and played violin. We sightread some easy ensemble music that we would never perform anywhere. Why in the world would someone do that?

On Thursday of last week I volunteered in a 7th grade orchestra class, then played double bass with the group in the concert that night. Really?

On Friday of last week I sat next to a pile of brochures in a local art gallery and played background music on the cello to promote the Loveland Orchestra. Okay, that sounds a little more normal, but . . .


Explanation #1: I am a wannabe orchestra teacher. I suffer from the fear that I will forget how to play my secondary instruments if I don't practice them periodically. I sometimes end up in middle school classrooms, tuning instruments and pulling students out for sectionals. I don't wince at the notes played by a beginner violinist--they actually sound kind of sweet to me, sort of like infants babbling or toddlers learning to talk.

Explanation #2: Since the Loveland Orchestra closed out its 2011-2012 season and won't start up the next season until Fall, I miss our performances and our weekly rehearsals. Perhaps to fill this void, I seek out other opportunities to play music, even if it is playing the Mission Impossible Theme on a double bass in a middle school cafetorium.

With that said, I feel incredibly lucky to have been able to perform this past year--the three concerts I played were unforgettable.

The Mozart concert in January: First orchestra concert I played since May 2010. As I excitedly unpacked my cello to warm up, I saw that all four strings and the tailpiece were loose on the instrument and the bridge had completely popped off. Poor cello was still getting used to Colorado climate, I guess. There were about 15 minutes before I was supposed to be on stage, and the thought crossed my mind that I may not be able to play this concert after all. Thankfully, the sound post hadn't tipped over, so I carefully laid my instrument on the floor, tightened up the strings, set the bridge, tuned it up, and walked on stage in time for the overture to La Clemenza.

The Czech concert in March: First time playing the Moldau--a piece that has always sounded magical to me. Coincidentally, this concert was scheduled on Smetana's birthday, which made playing the piece even more special somehow. Although there were no "exploding cellos" like in the previous concert, my stand partner's bow experienced an explosion of sorts right at the end of the Moldau, so sadly, he didn't get to finish out the piece. I've never seen someone's bow hairs all pop out during a concert--I guess he was really "shredding" it.

The Brahms concert in April: Second time playing the Academic Festival Overture--I believe the first time was in 10th grade at a district orchestra event. The music seemed SO much harder then. First time playing Symphony Four--my favorite symphony of all time. The symphony I intended to have on during labor with Mika, but she just came out too fast. Maybe we would have had time for a Haydn Symphony.

So far, Colorado has not offered me any of my own cello students, (which may have contributed to the aforementioned outbreaks of wannabe orchestra teacher syndrome) but I have already had more performance opportunities than I imagined. Perhaps reminding myself of this fact will keep me from doing anything too rash over the summer--like trying to teach my 3-year old how to play the cello. We'll see.