You know you’re back in the south when you order a beer and the very pretty bartender says “Here you go, sweetheart.”
So after a trip on USeless Airlines I arrive in Charlotte. It’s a little smaller than I remember but it’s a pretty downtown none-the-less. I’m picked up at the airport by the Board Chair and interim Executive Director Rich Osborne. It’s not more than 10 minutes from the airport to the Omni hotel so we don’t get much chance to chat, but we did catch up on things. The main topic of conversation was the hall and the orchestra’s relationship to that entity.
It seems that the orchestra is one of the chief tenants of the PAC here along with the opera and the dance company. The PAC itself is a separate non-profit identity, which has it’s good points and it’s bad points. If an orchestra owns their own hall then they are in complete control, but they are also liable for everything that goes on. Repairs, maintenance, etc. If they don’t own the hall you have the situation where the hall is trying to stay in the black and the hall entity ends up booking various Broadway shows to keep afloat. This can lead to occasional tension because those Broadway shows can eat up a lot of time in the hall itself. Scheduling can become a problem for the orchestra. The three main tenants of the PAC here might consider engaging the PAC in the type of discussions that have taken place in Saint Paul between the Ordway Theater and their main tenants, which include the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Opera. This might lead to a more efficient way for everyone to do business. However it is, I think it’s critical that the CSO and the hall make sure that there is an equitable solution to scheduling issues. This would benefit both entities.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) brings the first rehearsal with the orchestra. Tchaik V is on the docket. This is what I call a “party chart.” I’ve done it a bunch of times, I know how I want it, it makes sense, and I’m not worried about rehearsing it. We shall all have a good time. In the evening I’m meeting with the chorus master, one Scott Jarrett. I’m an old chorus junkie – I sang as a Treble in the Saint Paul Cathedral choir in my home town of Buffalo, N.Y. My dad has been singing in choirs for 65 years. Choral rep and choirs are old hat for me. Scott and I will talk shop and have fun.
Meanwhile in the afternoon I hope to get a ride in on my bike. A word about the beautiful Asfaloth, my bike. 1 1/2 years ago as I was getting heavily into biking I went looking for a travel case. I knew I wanted to be able to take my bike around to keep in shape, and at that time I also knew that in the future I wanted to upgrade my bike. My bike at that time was a beater, a cross that I bought in 1993. Not very good, but it had two wheels. The owner of my bike shop made the mistake of showing me the beautiful bikes made by Co-Motion. Co-Motion started off making high end tandems but they have been making excellent racers and tourers for about 20 years. They have a beautiful system for all their hand made bikes called the S-S couplers. When you order one of their “Co-Pilot” bikes they weld in two of these couplers – one right in front of the seat on the top bar and another right before the crankshaft on the drop bar. You undo these and the bike frames separates into two parts! These Co-Pilot’s come with their own travel cases that are designed to be regular baggage on the airlines. So I get to take my beautiful bike everywhere in the world with me. This has changed my life.
Enough, must go to bed. We shall see what shape the orchestra is in tomorrow when we wallow in the key of E minor for a long, long time.