another Friday goes *whoosh!*
FCB tech rehearsal was last night. In Farmington (natch). In the cold (13F when I left home; it was still 13F when I got home, so that wasn't too bad). At least there hadn't been any snow since Thursday AM. We had to fit the usual band arrangement (with an extra mallet percussion and a drum kit) on the stage, and add a piano (Clavinova) and a harp! It's a bit of a squish. The band is already a bit too big for that stage, and adding in a couple of very large instruments....
The harpist missed the rehearsal because she had a concert, so we won't know exactly how she'll fit until Sunday. At this point, my main concern is how people are going to get to their seats, with both sides filled with not-so movable instruments. I think we'll have to ask the harpist to move her instrument out of the traffic pattern until everyone is in. (She doesn't play on the first piece.)
Thursday morning, my boss called "due to cold and the condition of the back roads, I'm not going in to the office. You don't have to either, unless you've got something that needs to be done." well, I don't really have anything that needs to be done except plan the move, which we can do now. So we spent about an hour discussing timing and what will need to be moved where so the contractor can start in mid January. It's going to be a mess. The worst part will be figuring out where the old ballots (which need to be in locked storage) will go while the contractors are working in both of the available locking storage areas. Currently, they're in the upstairs locked closet, but that closet is going away. Well, put them in the basement; except that the heating/cooling duct that runs down the middle of the basement is being replaced. We'll have to check with the contractor -- if they don't need access to the new furnace room, maybe we can put them in there.
Thursday evening (after the snow had stopped, but it was still cold), I went in to AA to usher for a strings concert at Rackham. I was underimpressed. OK, I will acknowledge that they are technically a very good ensemble, but they are much better heard than watched. Everyone in the quartet makes it obvious to the audience when they are playing a difficult part -- they dive toward the stand, or writhe around on their chair, or flip their head or leg. I find that extremely distracting -- I was taught that it's supposed to at least seem effortless. It probably didn't help that I really did not like the first piece that they did. It was billed as a "conversation between solo cello and string quartet", but it didn't seem like one to me. It seemed more like two different speakers addressing an audience, which is not actually a conversation. (and then the cello player was tapping her foot during the String Quintet, which is usually not a problem, but she was wearing hard soled shoes and I could hear every tap. As a festival judge once said "I don't see a 'foot tap' part in the score".)
The harpist missed the rehearsal because she had a concert, so we won't know exactly how she'll fit until Sunday. At this point, my main concern is how people are going to get to their seats, with both sides filled with not-so movable instruments. I think we'll have to ask the harpist to move her instrument out of the traffic pattern until everyone is in. (She doesn't play on the first piece.)
Thursday morning, my boss called "due to cold and the condition of the back roads, I'm not going in to the office. You don't have to either, unless you've got something that needs to be done." well, I don't really have anything that needs to be done except plan the move, which we can do now. So we spent about an hour discussing timing and what will need to be moved where so the contractor can start in mid January. It's going to be a mess. The worst part will be figuring out where the old ballots (which need to be in locked storage) will go while the contractors are working in both of the available locking storage areas. Currently, they're in the upstairs locked closet, but that closet is going away. Well, put them in the basement; except that the heating/cooling duct that runs down the middle of the basement is being replaced. We'll have to check with the contractor -- if they don't need access to the new furnace room, maybe we can put them in there.
Thursday evening (after the snow had stopped, but it was still cold), I went in to AA to usher for a strings concert at Rackham. I was underimpressed. OK, I will acknowledge that they are technically a very good ensemble, but they are much better heard than watched. Everyone in the quartet makes it obvious to the audience when they are playing a difficult part -- they dive toward the stand, or writhe around on their chair, or flip their head or leg. I find that extremely distracting -- I was taught that it's supposed to at least seem effortless. It probably didn't help that I really did not like the first piece that they did. It was billed as a "conversation between solo cello and string quartet", but it didn't seem like one to me. It seemed more like two different speakers addressing an audience, which is not actually a conversation. (and then the cello player was tapping her foot during the String Quintet, which is usually not a problem, but she was wearing hard soled shoes and I could hear every tap. As a festival judge once said "I don't see a 'foot tap' part in the score".)