A colleague whose husband suffers from these severe headaches called him to see what he finally figured out.
Four 200 mg ibuprofen pills.
And yes, that did the trick.
It’s not something I’d do frequently; they are hard on the stomach and liver. But when one has work to do, solos that must be played, music that must be made, one deals in any way one must deal. So there you go.
Now I’m home eating a delicious salmon burger (thanks, Dan!) and then it’s back to work I go.
I have one of my pounding, can’t cope at all headaches. And I have two students and two shows today.
Back to bed with me. Maybe an extra 30 minutes of sleep will help. I hope.
Four shows to go. Two today. Two tomorrow. Done.
When it comes to multi-tasking, Ben Harper puts even the busiest of us to shame. In addition to serving as Orchestra Stage Manager, Box Office Assistant and Preludes instructor for the Mobile Symphony Orchestra (MSO), the classically trained musician has become the orchestra´s website designer and photographer of choice.
Ah yes, musicians frequently have to get creative with how to make an income! Go figure.
But, as was just said to me, not every person works in the area in which he or she has a degree. Right?
“I play bass sitting in with as many jazz bands as I can fit into my schedule,” Harper confides, “as well as a lot of other instruments just well enough to impress the 1st and 2nd graders in my Preludes classes.”
Harper, who has a degree in Music Education, came to the MSO while working at WHIL radio, where his duties at the classical station included stints, over 13 years, as a late night and morning drive DJ as well as program director.
“When I first met Ben, he was a superb radio announcer,” Speck recalls. “Then I found out that he’s an excellent guitarist, a terrific teacher, a wonderful Stage Manager and, now, a top-notch photographer and web designer.”
Today, however, Harper is perhaps best known as a member of the Celtic band Mithril. The ensemble weaves traditional Celtic music with American folk, classical and Middle Eastern melodies and is fast becoming one of the most sought after Celtic/World Music groups on the concert series scene…thanks in no small part to Scott Speck, who hired the ensemble for its first orchestral gig, an MSO Holiday concert in 2004.
I wonder if he’d be willing to come over here and be my gardener too.
I definitely need one. Ask my mom. ;-)
I went to the pizza party after the show tonight. They have one of these for every show, inviting cast and crew. I go. I eat one slice of pizza. I find one or two other musicians and stand in some corner of the room and yak for a while. It’s noisy, so I have to talk loudly, and my throat always hurts. Then I leave before nearly anyone else. And I always wonder, “Why did I go to that?!”
And I have no answer.
I’m not good at parties. And I’m exhausted after a show. I don’t know any of the cast, I’m not one who wants to connect with the “stars”, and they certainly aren’t interested in talking to orchestra members. We have nothing in common, aside from a show. With this show I don’t even recognize most of the cast, since I only saw them in our first “singers included” rehearsal (do they call that a sitzprobe for musicals too, or just opera?) and then the first few staged rehearsals. Then they covered the pit and we became disconnected from them.
So now I’m home, and I’m even more tired than I normally am. Wouldn’t you know?
Ooh. I’m whining. Sorry! I think it’s the smoke. We have some fires in our Santa Cruz Mountains and I’m very weary of inhaling this smoke.
So good news: the main reed was a happy camper. The second reed—used for louder parts that don’t matter quite so much—was being a bit rebellious. Maybe its just angry about being second. I wonder. But since it doesn’t matter so much (sorry, second!) I really don’t care. As long as I get the solos and don’t make any errors that the audience would notice I’m just fine and dandy.
Happy Birthday to composer Jean Francaix …
… and to Alicia de Larrocha as well …
(sorry, no slow movement … how could they leave the best out?)
The competitors will undergo training as conductors, then will be judged by a panel of judges and orchestra members on how they perform when conducting.
Yep. “Get real” as in “reality TV”. Too bad it’s in the UK. We don’t get these particular reality shows. No conductors, no opera singers. Just pop stuff. Rats.
I read it here. (And no, I’d never heard of Blur before.)
What I’d really love is for them to all try being oboe players. Or, better yet, how about conductors attempting to become oboe players. Now that would be fun!
When my oboe teacher moved from San Jose to Pleasanton, my mother drove me to the lessons. I never heard her complain. Pleasanton is about 40 miles from where I lived. She also drove my brother to his bassoon lessons in San Francisco, which is about 50 miles away.
I just received a phone call from someone who wanted oboe lessons. But I am too far away. They live in Saratoga, which is about 9 miles away from here.
In some ways our world has gotten a lot smaller, but to a lot o parents I live too far away when the drive is only about 15 minutes. Go figure.
I wasn’t at all rude to the woman, but I did laugh when she said I was too far away. It just burst out—I couldn’t help myself.
Oh well.
She then asked for other recommendations. Heh. As if there are oboists 5 or 10 minutes away from anyone who wants lessons. Ya think?
It does make me thankful for my La Honda student and her parents (somewhere around 35 miles). No complaints from them, and the come here nearly every Saturday. In addition I have a student who lives in Morgan Hill (23 miles or so). Thank you to Hannah and Alex and your parents for nary a complaint and for your diligence! :-)
Iraq’s national symphony plays for unity in first major performance in years – UN
21 May 2008 – The Iraqi National Symphony Orchestra (INSO) today gave a concert in Baghdad to promote unity and dialogue, its first significant performance in years, the United Nations announced.
More than 400 people attended the performance, held to commemorate the World Day for Cultural Diversity, for Dialogue and Development. It was also broadcast live on Iraqi television.The concert, organized by the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), was the first of its kind in the war-torn Middle Eastern nation and was held under both the UN emblem and the Iraqi flag.
Intended to remind the world of what Iraqis can offer and to preserve the country’s cultural heritage, the orchestra’s Iraqi and classical repertoire was selected from culturally diverse folklore, both Arab and Kurdish, along with traditional tunes and classical concertos.
Part of the concert – which was addressed by Staffan de Mistura, head of UNAMI, and Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, Iraqi Speaker of Parliament – was conducted by Iraqi cellist and the Orchestra’s Director Karim Wasfi, while the other portion was led by renowned international conductor Oliver Gilmour.
“Without culture a country will literally pack up,” Mr. Gilmour, the first guest conductor to be invited since before United States-led forces invaded in 2003, told UN Radio, underscoring the crucial role played by the arts.
He said that a concert such as this is a source of price and “engenders a feeling of quasi-normality.”
The conductor paid tribute to the orchestra’s members, who represent different sects and ethnicities and who have faced danger in attending rehearsals. “In many ways what they do is inspirational and it illustrates, I think, their indomitable spirit and the power of music,” he observed.
(This is the entire article I found here)
Today is Peter Nero’s birthday. He performed with the San Jose Symphony a few times. He called me a gazelle.
I was younger and thinner then.
Just thought you should know. Aren’t you glad?
So the reeds that weren’t behaving last night were just fine tonight. Reponsive, in tune, happy little campers. Comfortable, too, which is so important.
I’ll tell you, it’s enough to drive a person crazy! Ya just never know ….
I now have 5 shows to go, over the next 3 days. Today was my wacky day; I had four lessons at UCSC, two students at home, and a show. And I survived. I am, in fact, feeling pretty good. Aside from the allergy fit I seem to be having. (AFTER having taken my allergy pill too, wouldn’t ya know?)
So my right hand is cramping. It’s the fourth and little finger that are an issue. I noticed it when I was driving over the hill to campus … I can’t really hold the steering wheel with just my right hand, because it hurts. It’s not incredibly painful, but only mildly so, which means it’s only mildly worrisome. But I hope this improves by tonight. Beauty has a ton of playing, and I don’t have time to relax the hand much.
Maybe this is why my hand was aching during the show last night. Or maybe the cramping is due to that aching.
In any case, I guess I won’t be spending as much time working on reeds as I had hoped.
Ask me if that makes me sad …?! ;-)
Check out some old classical music album covers.
Hmmm. I wonder if I have any of those? I never look at our record collection; our turntable no longer works. Oh well.
Since not everyone here reads my other blog, I’ll post the link to our daughter’s and her fiance’s engagement photos here. Katy Regnier is really a wonderful photographer (be sure and check out more of her work!), and she posted a few of their photos yesterday. Great fun!!
Am I really old enough to have a daughter getting married? I don’t think so!
Oh. Wait. Yes, I am that old! 8-)
I know, I know, whining isn’t becoming. But whatever.
My reeds have behaved differently every single day this week. What was wonderful last night was certainly not wonderful tonight. (Last night I felt quite good about the main reed. Oh well!) I actually wound up playing on three different reeds through the show tonight, and was never completely satisfied.
Yeah, everything changes, nothing stays the same. But still ….
This is the part of music that drives me bonkers, and makes me remember my bookkeeping days at Books Inc. with great fondness. Ahhh, books! When they were balanced they were balanced. And they didn’t change. Done was done. Close the book, make a deposit, go home. Straight forward. Simple. Predictable.
But of course I also didn’t get a lot of joy out of doing the books.
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