10/22/09
We're Back
And we’re back! After about a week and a half break to recharge, we are in sunny California to finish up the final leg of the SCO Tour. With an energetic concert in Chico’s Laxson Auditorium last night, it seems that a short respite at home was just what members of the SCO needed.
Most of the orchestra had a long trip from their home towns to California. I flew from New York City. While the Harlem Quartet and our tour manager, Andre Dowell, made the trip all the way from London, England. Needless to say, upon our arrival we were all very tired. Maestro Gupton did manage to wake us up in our pre-concert rehearsal. After our usual sound check and a rehearsal with 2008 first place laureate of the Sphinx Competition, Danielle Belen, who stepped in as soloist, maestro suggested that we sightread the movements of the Tchaikovsky Serenade that are not included on our regular concert program. Personally, I love to sightread. The spontaneity of sitting down to try and create a pleasant musical experience out of something you have never seen before is invigorating. Doing it with a group like SCO that has developed a working relationship and a group sound is even more exciting. It seems that we must have inspired the Harlem Quartet as they joined us in sightreading the last movement of the Tchaikovsky at the end of rehearsal.
The energy and necessity to be alert that we had while sightreading must have carried over into our concert, because it might have been our best concert yet.
