Last week was inspiring, surprising and also very sobering, as events in Los Angeles, Springfield and Fort Worth gave me a perspective from the global, local and highly personal aspects of what I do and who I relate to. A celebration of renewal, the linking to an icon (well sort of) and the passing of someone treasured……
First off, I caught the LA Phil concert with Dudamel on PBS. Interestingly the broadcast on the Great Performances series was announced before the concert even happened….question is how did they know it would be a great performance in advance? Well they guessed right, it most certainly was and for me personally it was because it was greater than the sum of its parts. One could go into the finer details of interpretation, sound, technique etc… but the intangible that shone through was the sense of celebration. It was palpable even through the screen (hi def helps here) so for those who were there live I’m sure it was an overwhelming experience. The sense of being in the moment and of the joy that he brings, seems to flip a switch in the orchestra collectively to be the same way. He’s like the Roger Federer of conductors, unstoppable, unflappable and his gift (more than being potentially the next great conductor) is the fact he is a great communicator and is also truly sincere. I got goosebumps and I’m fascinated as to what happens next! PBS has made a couple of tracks available free to download.
So in Springfield MO last Sunday Bob Dylan and his band performed at the Shrine Mosque, and since I had never seen him live I did not want miss the opportunity to do so. The Shrine which opened in 1923 seats nearly 5000 and has hosted countless acts and events from Sousa to Elvis! Funnily enough GWAR which Bill ranted on yesterday performs there November 7. I’m guessing he’s not on the phone to ticketmaster (neither am I!)
I took along my neighbor and friend Tim and we were in general admission (i.e all of us standing). Entering the building I was thinking there probably wouldn’t be many people if any that were at our Symphony concert the previous week and within 5 seconds someone tapped me on the shoulder (I had never met this person) and said hey Ron great concert last week. I must have had at least 10 conversations and many more people in passing (on the way to the obligatory beer stop) who gave me a thumbs up or a hey how’s it going. Aside from feeling great that there was crossover in our audiences and acknowledgment of the Symphony, not one person said hey aren’t you a Classical musician, what are you doing here?. That was the best feeling of all, although does it get more “Classical” than Dylan? It was great to see him, awesome band!
Finally, it was also a very sad week for me but especially for the Fort Worth Symphony musicians and community. Karen Adrian 2nd Flute with the Orchestra up until this season passed away after a long illness. Testament to her strength was the fact that when I last worked with her at the Cliburn Competition in June I couldn’t tell her illness was that advanced or that she was even ill at all. Nothing in her demeanor or her playing was any different to the literally hundreds of times we have worked together over the past 15 years. Vibrancy personified, her energy and her commitment to her craft and to her family, friends and colleagues was “old school” or in other words was of paramount importance to her. Every time I saw her she wanted to know about my family (she saw my 13 year old son when he was just 3 days old), and as a TCU faculty member she played countless recitals and introduced much new and challenging music. One of her gifts was that she lived as if ageless with seemingly boundless energy. I was surprised to learn of her age. She may not have died young (though too soon nonetheless), but she sure lived young! Here is a moving tribute put together by the musicians of the FWSO with the soundtrack provided by Karen herself who will be sorely missed but fondly remembered: