oboeinsight

In other words, Pendleton’s orchestra gives even career musicians the meaning and passion that they miss elsewhere. They don’t do it for the money: Pay ranges from volunteer to $50 per service (rehearsals and the concert), with up to $75 travel reimbursement. The Oregon Symphony pays freelancers $170 per service.

Okay … that’s more than I make here in Symphony Silicon Valley! Quite a bit more. I only get “side pay”, as I’m not a principal player (in some orchestras the English horn player is considered a principal player, but in SSV I’m not even listed as the EH player, although I do play it when it’s called for). So why is the writer of this article about the Oregon East Symphony implying that the freelancers don’t do it for the money? Hmmm. Maybe they are paying their principal players that amount. Maybe the article just isn’t being clear. I wonder.

Update: Well DUH … the $170 is for the Oregon Symphony, not for the Oregon East Symphony. I can be so dumb sometimes.

—Insert pause here while readers laugh.—

Okay, okay … I can be so dumb all the time!

But anyway, the article itself is a good read. They symphony suffered a fire that took their music and much more. Kenneth Woods is the conductor, and you can read his blog by following my link.

Oh .. wait … there IS this: Saturday, the day before the concert, is crunch time. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Woods drills the woodwinds, brass and strings on notes and style in separate sectional rehearsals. That night, he takes them through the entire symphony one last run time. They grind out each movement.

Um … maybe that pay mentioned above is for an 8 hour service? Yikes! Now that would not be such a great thing.

(Side note: some folks see our “service pay” and think we earn so much more than they do. Keep in mind we supply our own equipment—have you checked the price of instruments lately?—we practice on our own time, and, at least for me, there’s no vacation pay, no substantial sick leave, and no benefits … I’m not complainin’, I’m just sayin’ ….)

Today is “figure out the rest of my life summer, since I know I’m going to feel a bit lost without any playing jobs. I did get my hopes up, thinking maybe we actually had a July 3 gig, but turns out the Mercury News was printing up something we did several years ago. Whoa. Get your act together, Merc!

Maybe I’ll even get my house cleaned up completely …? (Note that I’m NOT mentioning my yard here!)
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The Giants just finished losing their third game in a row (the third time is so often not the charm). No one is home, I’ve had a bit of a nap (ball games can do that to me sometimes) and I’m pretty much unemployed with no urgent music to practice (sure, reeds would be a good idea … but we won’t go there, will we?). So I was busy being lazy while semi-moping here in the family room. Doing a bit of TV hopping, too lazy to even see what is on, I only haphazardly land on a local PBS station to find that the overture to The Barber of Seville has already begun. Wouldn’t you know it? I really need to check the Great Performances schedule more frequently. Ah well. At least I’ll see the rest of the Met broadcast.

I love this opera, and hearing it again brings back fun memories. It’s such a joy to play and hear.

Funny, but this morning was the first time I’d heard Juan Diego Flórez sing at all, in this video. (Would you have recognized Pavarotti? I sure didn’t!)

Update Wow! The aria with the very fast tonguing for first oboe is slower than we’ve taken it. I’d not have to worry about this tempo at all. Amazing!

I’m really enjoying the opera. :-)
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I didn’t get to sleep unti well after midnight. In my younger days (that was last year … oh … wait … longer …) and I slept until 8:00. Lazy me! And I’m still tired.

I didn’t realize how tiring playing the FanimeCon concert would be. It certainly wasn’t difficult. Lots of notes (and the one big tune did have some nearly unplayable stuff), but really it was not a big deal and I was almost unnecessary. I hate being unnecessary. I had a double, and yet the English horn wasn’t used for much of anything important. Weird.

It was a kick watching the big screen above us. We saw things from the back, so everything was backwards which meant the principal flute (she got a good amount of play time) looked like she was doing everything backwards. It was especially fun when the video games kicked in. I don’t really see much difference between most of them. Maybe that’s why most of the music sounds much the same too.

Much of the music is “sounds like” music, if you know what I mean. One work was odd, in that it gave no key signature through the entire thing. It was IN keys, mind you, but the composers (there were two of them—it was the “big new work” of the evening) just put in accidentals throughout. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before. Is this the new way of writing music? Kind of like all the younger writers I’ve seen online who leave out capital letters and type “the” as “teh”? I don’t see that it’s a time saver in the long run; it seems much easier on the brain to have key signatures than to read accidental after accidental.

Anyway, I wouldn’t call it the big high of the season, but I still find it a kick to see these kids and grown, even grey-haired people getting jazzed over the concert. We never get as much cheering in the real world of symphony music! Besides, the costumes were fun. (I only wish I’d managed to give some of the people my card so they could see themselves here; they might have had fun with that. Or not.)

And now I’m nearly unemployed; the schools end soon and of course the opera and symphony seasons are over. If I didn’t teach privately, I’d be eligible for unemployment. Not that I’d file for it. (Seems to me it’s for those who really are desperately unemployed and if I had to get a job I’m sure I could.) I’m so thankful for my students, though!
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Fanime Convention. It isn’t something I’d normally get close to. It’s just night my cuppa if you know what I mean.

But there I was, in some foreign land. And these characters were more than happy to let me snap pictures. (And yes I know, it’s fairly clear that I’m not a photographer! That talent was given to someone else in the family.)

  
I’m guessing that some readers may recognize these characters. I sure don’t. I also didn’t recognize the music we played, even though my kids have been known to play some of these games.

  
I was surprised that there weren’t many costumed folks at our performance tonight. The hall also wasn’t sold out. Maybe this crowd—anime rather than gamers?—aren’t as interested in the music. Or maybe they just spent all of their money on costumes!

bordercolor="white" align = "left" bgcolor = "#FFFFFF" cellpadding = "0"> And this guy … well … seems like maybe he should have been in Village People, you know?    Yes, some were wearing very little. And then … What the heck was a Storm Trooper doing there? As I walked to dinner, I saw some pirates as well. In front of the movie theatre … for that little movie starring that guy. You know. The every youthful and quite mesmerizing Mr. Depp.