The Heckeler - Classical Music in Ottawa and Beyond

EUBO

2013-05-22T17:28:00.001-04:00

Following up to my previous post titled EUBO Auditions I thought I should mention that I did, in fact, get chosen as the sole bassoonist for the 2013 tours. The audition process was absolutely grueling and I have spent the past month waiting for the nostalgia to set in before writing anything about it.

EUBO auditions are held in two three-day batches in order to accommodate for the large number of hopefuls who come for a live audition. The total number of instrumentalists at Echternach, Luxembourg, (one of the orchestra's places of residence) this year numbered close to 100. Curiously, the instruments auditioned in April were strings, harpsichord, oboes, and bassoon, no trumpets, percussion, or plucked continuo (I say curiously, as those instruments appear on some of the tour rosters). It's no surprise to me that the trumpets and percussion were auditioned separately, seeing as though they wouldn't have gotten much out of the course (chamber music with natural trumpets? No thanks!) as the rest of us, but I was surprised there were no lutenists. Whatever.

For three days (an evening, two full days, and a morning) we played non-stop. Solo lessons, chamber music, orchestra rehearsals - you name it, we did it. And all throughout I had the distinct feeling of being watched - the orchestra's rehearsal hall had a balcony which was constantly manned by at least one observer plus a video camera.

Preparing for an audition is always difficult, especially when you aren't given a clue as to what you will play until the day before you get there. All you can hope to do is keep calm, eat and sleep enough, and stay focused. After four hours of travel, we stepped into our first rehearsal and the nerves began to go. I remember checking my pulse whenever I had a moment in the vain attempt to slow my pounding heart. Luckily, we played bits from the 1st Orchestral suite - something Donna had suggested I prepare. After playing the second Bourree well, I think I managed to catch enough attention to put me on the radars of some of the observers.

Cleverly, I had decided to wear a tie. Though a small gesture, two tutors approached me the following evening to tell me that they had noticed (I was the only one to do so during the second round of auditions). I'm sure they were pleased to see me in proper concert dress too during our informal chamber concert on the final morning.

By the end of the weekend, naturally, I was exhausted. A shadow of myself, I managed to collect enough energy to buy a burger with some others, having been dumped at the train station following the concert, which kept me conscious for the rest of the afternoon. Surprisingly, most of the Baslers were bassoonists and it was nice to share the ride home with Giovanni and Nelly. Despite keeping in reasonably high spirits, it was hard not to feel utterly vanquished as I overanalyzed every moment of the previous three days.

To my complete surprise, within two days it was announced to me that I had won the placement. It was baffling to me, considering the high number of applicants (10) and my poor performance (or so I thought) during the auditions. Maybe I hadn't been that bad after all? Or maybe it was something else. Looking back, not only had I dressed well (at times), I had displayed one or two acts of leadership (keeping track of rehearsal time and recommending not to take on another movement, stating a program order for the oboe band before any of us could lose track, etc.), and took directions well (I don't think the conductors ever heard me say more than, "Sure," or, "Cool, cool, cool."). Surely it was this display of my other qualities which helped tip the scales in my favour?

A Unique Opportunity

2013-04-21T17:24:00.001-04:00

To me, a concert is an opportunity to shape discussion. I want my audience to talk about context, the performance itself, or how they felt during the event but absolutely not about my equipment. As early musicians, we seem to get carried away often enough about what is historical or not: instrument, pitch, temperament, etc., and we shouldn't allow that to bleed into the concert itself as it only invites unwanted judgement and discussion.

For example, last year I went to go watch the Ottawa Bach Choir perform a concert of early 17th century music (I think it was German?) accompanied by a great group of 17th century instrumentalists (cornets, sackbuts, dulcian, violin, organ, harp, etc.) who styled themselves 'La Rose des Vents'. The concert was very well performed, but it bothered me that the conductor, while giving a brief introduction, included that the ensemble was playing at a=465 in Valotti temperament. I gave a big snort while the rest of the audience seemed to 'ooh' and 'aah' as if they were somehow in the know. For those of you who didn't get that last bit, the temperament came about many, many years after the music was shelved. My point is that had this conundrum not been mentioned, I would have no story to tell! I remember this OBC concert over all the others that I have attended because of this tiny historical hiccup.

These hiccups happen all the time, they will always be there as we aren't living in the 17th century, but we must choose to put the emphasis on the performance. The harder we grasp at being how some would say 'authentic', the slipperier that bar of soap becomes. Playing a 17th century violin? It's a copy. Got an original now? It's been modernized. Got that fixed? It's German so you should shy away from playing Italian music if you know what's good for you. However much you are concerned about these things - to a certain extent I am too - don't allow an opportunity for these kinds of judgements to occur in the concert for it will only distract and/or detract one from the experience you're engineering. The simplest way to do that it to eliminate the 'authenticity' discussion completely.

It is understandable that many who come to see an historical performance don't know very much about the equipment we are using but ask yourself if your event is principally for educational purposes or artistic. The most grueling thing for me to watch is an ad-libbed description of one's instrument. Yes, maybe the audience has a better understanding of how it works, but will knowing that you are playing on gut strings make the performance of the Messiah that much more uplifting? Even in extreme cases, like krumhorns, I think it would be best just to mention that you're available to discuss the instrument during the interval or at the end - it adds an element of personal discovery within those interested and there's more time for entertainment. I am still perplexed why some presume that I came because I want to hear a musician speak extempore. No, I came to hear you play.

An Hypothetical Concert Introduction

2013-04-21T05:35:00.001-04:00

Cicero wrote that there were three apparent goals which an orator must aspire to achieve in speaking: to instruct, to please, and to move the passions.

What you will listen to this evening comes from a time when two media were inextricably linked. Inspired by the writings of Cicero and Quintillian, musicians strived to model music from speech itself. Within decades their dialects had helped develop national musical styles. Since, of course, the swan cannot sing as the nightingale, his song will be his own. (Thoughts on that last sentence inter tubes?)

This special link is of great benefit to my peers and I, as we all speak and can use our understanding of the voice, and its proper use, to direct us to better comprehend the mechanics of our calling. Unfortunately, though we musicians use speech to transmit, we rarely use it as a source of comparison.

Thoughts and inspiration manifest in us through language and the passions which composers hoped to invoke in their audiences were definable. Unlike the music of later generations, this evening's entertainment is a true attempt at communication with its audience.

I hope that this evening sees you informed, pleased, and moved.

Je vous souhaite un bon concert.

Wietfeld Bassoon for Sale

2013-04-11T17:54:00.002-04:00

For those of you who have been reading my baroque bassoon series, you may have noticed I have been collecting a number of instruments for myself. In order to finance my classical instrument, I have decided to sell my Orriols/Wietfeld instrument which you can see pictured below.

The instrument is available for trial in Basel. Contact me via the 'Contact Us' form or at andrew@theheckeler.ca.

EUBO Auditions

2013-04-01T12:16:00.001-04:00

Next weekend I'll be off to audition with 9 other bassoonists for a place in the European Union Baroque Orchestra 2013. Over the past few months I've been very busy in preparation for this event and I hope that my hard work pays off.

What really surprised me when I got our information package was that there were more bassoonists auditioning for one placement than there were oboists for two. It's great to see that there is a community out there, but I'm beginning to see that it's much larger than I had hoped. Not that it's a bad thing, right?

I've had a few conversations recently about how the ever-increasing number of young early musicians looking for work and I could never shake off the nervous feeling I would get after. The headlines in the newspapers remind us daily of the tightrope walking going on across the Western economies and it's business as usual in the minds of young musicians. And if you were to read a little farther than page one you'd see that The Globe and Mail's Who Had It Worse Time Machine should kill all the hopes of any but the over-confident. No matter, it seems.

Ok Andrew, reel it in.

Anyways, you'd think the baroque basson world was, at least for the time being, immune to this problem. Nope.

A Question of Substitution

2013-02-15T14:30:00.001-05:00

The other day I saw an interview on TVO of author and journalist Chris Hedges about his book, Empire of Illusion. Mr. Hedges is a thought-provoking speaker and his take on all of the topics which the interview touched upon hit home with me. Most relevant was his description of the changing of narratives in professional wrestling. The increasing drive towards a narrative which made wrestling personas relate to their audience, says Hedges, led them to be perceived as real in everyday life. Moreover, the constant spectacle of the media we consume today (television, films, the Internet, etc.) leads us to substitute rational judgments for emotional ones when making decisions in our lives.

A few weeks ago in our weekly performance masterclass, I announced to the group that my motivations towards becoming a musician were in doubt. Books like 'Beyond Talent' and 'The Savvy Musician' as well as blogs on classical music will tell you that if you are considering to be a performer, due to the nature of the market, your chances of success, however you define them, will be greatly increase only if you are completely committed. "You shouldn't feel you could go a day without music." "You can't see yourself doing anything but music." You get the idea. Those sentences describe my state of mind, very much so, but I fear I've been substituting the most important question of my career: "can I make a meaningful difference in my art or in others' lives through my art?" for, "do I want to do anything else?" There's no denying it's important to have this unfettered commitment to music but I feel that my underlying motivators are based purely on emotion. How can I justify a potentially difficult career based purely on the irrational? The sooner I am able to come up with an answer, or at least a partial one, to the question(s) I should be asking myself, the more I will be able to justify continuing after every difficulty.

During our discussion, Tony recounted a few stories of epiphanic moments leading into his career. In hindsight, he suggested that those events could be taken to signify a successful career was ahead of him. Though I wish I could take his method of reasoning a career in music, I see two problems with it. First of all, the narrative of 'it was meant to be' can only be built through hindsight. How am I supposed to know that I will be part of something life-changing? Also, as history teachers often tell their students, hindsight can too easily make events seem inevitable. In fact, they will all tell you 'it was meant to be' is not a valid hypothesis. Secondly, if I were not to experience 'lightbulb' moments in my early twenties, does that signify I won't have a meaningful career? Furthermore, should I try and find meaning in everything I do, or should I create meaning?

Of course we all have moments which we would like to believe have greater meaning but, fundamentally, is it rational to act upon them?

Don't mess with M

2013-02-03T13:23:00.001-05:00

If there's a term which musicians have been throwing around lately when theorizing on attracting audiences, it's "Multimedia".

"We should be using multimedia! There should be something for people to look at!" Yes, but remember that all of this adds all sorts of extra crazy. I am all for making a concert more than the norm but I am tired of hearing people throwing this word around.

If you're going to slip this neat little word into your next conversation, take a look at these few points first.

Firstly, if producing a concert is difficult enough for you, adding lighting equipment or a screen or what have you is too much for you to handle. Moreover, you would definitely need someone to do the tech side during the event.

Secondly, adding a whole new dimension to the concert requires as much planning/practice as the music portion. You can't bring in a pyro and ask him to 'wing it' to Rachmoninov's Prelude in C sharp minor.

Thirdly, there must be some theory that interconnects whatever you've got going on. If there are pictures rotating on the screen, are they trying evoke something? Is that something compatible with the music? Are they displaying something connected to the music in history? Etc., etc.

You may think I'm going over the top here, but trust me. It is very easy for something like this to come off as a 'stunt' rather than an elevated experience. For example: The National Arts Center Orchestra did a screening of the Fellowship of the Ring last July while doing the full score live with, they boast, a 200-piece orchestra and choir. While I think this would be quite cool to go see (mainly because the audience was asked to attend in costume), it's quite a risk to put on a show which, for all intents and purposes, could be recreated at home. `Hell, I could call my buddies over, get dressed up, and we could take a drink every time Sam says, "Mr. Frodo". Obviously you and I don't have the kind of cash to blow on a show like that, but we shouldn't catch ourselves producing something which audiences might find elsewhere.

Finally, is there really nothing better you can do with the programming, the performing, and/or the staging first? If there is anything I've learnt here so far, it's that there is so much more to a concert than the music.

More on that last point later.

Good, you've made it through my little grumble. Are you still keen on the big "M"? Go ahead, then, use it but beware, it's a pandora's box you're opening. Well, that's a bit harsh. It's a combination of a happy meal and pandora's box. But definitely more proportion of evil than happy.

Setting the Right Goal

2012-12-30T18:35:00.000-05:00

One of the many life-altering habits that began two years ago was setting goals for myself, both long and short-term. Since I began setting them, I've managed to cross many of my original ones off, though new ones are added in time to replace the old.

The most important goal I've accomplished was that of being accepted at the Schola; I can't tell you how good it felt to cross it off my list. Since then, however, I haven't found a new goal to replace it. A realistic one, though challenging, encompassing many minor tasks within it.

Since arriving here I've set out to do a number of things which I knew wouldn't have any tangible results: 'get adjusted to Basel', 'learn your new bassoon', 'work on German'. Yes I've set a direction, but not how far I should be travelling. Replacing distance with pace has also proven useless to me in this search. I can tell myself I will strive to practice 3-4 hours in a day, but since I have no performances scheduled - that's right, none - I've found it hard to practice anything at all recently. Ok, it's holiday week, but I should've been thinking of my bassoon while going for thirds on Christmas dinner, right?

Maybe my productivity is directly tied into the solar cycle? Who knows. But until I get my mojo back, I need a goal which achieves some sort of result for me as well as set my pace. Any ideas?

Opera da Camera on Rockethub

2012-12-20T09:19:00.001-05:00

Some of you may remember I wrote a bit on Opera da Camera last year. The quartet is busy preparing for their most ambitious project yet: Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, which will be performed at the Théatre Rialto on February 22, 23, and 24. All those details can be found here.

Part of their preparations have included a fundraising drive through Rockethub, a crowd-funding website similar to Kickstarter. In two weeks OdC has managed to raise $760 and they still have 61 days to go (as of today) to reach their goal of $3000. If you're looking for a great Christmas gift, why not donate to this great project? If you give enough, they'll even come perform a private concert for you!

A recording of Handel, from 1775?

2012-12-16T06:23:00.001-05:00

We continue to be hard at work discovering the performance practice of the 18th century. New sources continue to be rediscovered, other known sources are reinterpreted but it is impossible to know exactly how one performed two hundred and fifty years ago - especially since recording technology hadn't yet been invented. Or had it?

The Barrel Organ: an instrument which had existed in various forms throughout Europe since the early 18th century. Wikipedia explains it best:

The basic principle is the same as a traditional pipe organ, but rather than being played by an organist, the barrel organ is activated either by a person turning a crank, or by clockwork driven by weights or springs. The pieces of music are encoded onto wooden barrels (or cylinders), which are analogous to the keyboard of the traditional pipe organ.

Performances were recorded using a keyboard which had needles attached to the keys, poking holes in paper which would eventually be wrapped around a barrel and serve as a guide for the 'pinning' of the metal which encoded the music.

The instrument in the photo was made by John Langshaw in 1790. Langshaw lived in Lancaster and was praised for his barrel organ making by Handel and others. The full story can be read here. John Christopher Smith, Handel's secretary in his later years, knew Langshaw well and it is suspected that he was involved in the making of the 1775 barrel which contains two of Handel's organ concerti. Below you will see three recorded versions of concerto no.5: the first, a standard performance (skip to 2:26); the second from the 1775 barrel, a recording of original performance practice; the third by Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam baroque orchestra, clearly under the influence of the mechanical recording.

Are you surprised by the scores of ornaments in the barrel organ? I certainly was. What this mechanical recording shows us is not just how Handel might have performed, but how contemporaries would have done as it was recorded after his death.

There is written evidence in a number of places which show the extent to which this ornamental practice from the first half of the 18th century continued all the way to the 19th (actually, this ornamental practice began much earlier, but I'm not going to dive into that). For example, take a look at Telemann's Methodical Sonatas and Ozi's Nouvelle méthode de basson. So why do we not allow ourselves more ornamental leeway today?

There are mechanical recordings, such as the one I've discussed above, of music by C.P.E. Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven by contemporaries. Maybe we should look to them to give us a better understanding of a usual performance of their works?

Sad Day

2012-12-14T02:44:00.001-05:00

I was very sad to hear yesterday that Jim Stockigt died on the 1st day of this month.

Mr. Stockigt, a physician-endocrinologist and bassoonist, has done an important survey on bassoon repertoire and is the author of the Arias with Obbligato Bassoon Database, an incredible resource for all.

Please visit his website if you haven't already.

A Change of Perception

2012-11-26T09:31:00.001-05:00

Those of you who know me must have heard me mention at least once the name Richard Taruskin. I've been making a real effort this past month to absorb his book 'Text & Act'. A collection of essays dancing around topics in early music, it seems the further I read the more he writes on how others have misinterpreted the previous essay.

A point he brings up which I continue to meditate over is that musicians are better critical thinkers if they undergo a change in musical tradition such as from mainstream classical music to historical performance. If we are forced to completely rethink our approach to music we've been playing our whole life, will that not affect how we come to make artistic decisions whether they be big or small?

This transition of perceptions seems to be a rite of passage for most, but what about those who are born into the new tradition (that being historical performance)? Will they develop the same critical thinking skills without living through such a radical change?

Can you imagine doing anything else?

2012-10-31T13:44:00.000-04:00

A video or two for you before Trick or Treating this evening: A brief discussion between musicians and the Kronos Quartet and Wu Man at a Workshop at Carnegie Hall.

Speaking on the difficulty of reaching a measure of success, violinist John Sherba says, "It boils down to you enjoy this so much that you just have to do it...you can't imagine not doing [it]." What an important point.

In the second video, violinist David Harrington gives a brief history of the Kronos Quartet. Pay attention to his work as 'the manager of the group', and how often they performed in Seattle in the early days.

So,now that you've heard a little about the work involved. Can you imagine doing anything other than music?

Happy Halloween!

Make it Mean Something

2012-10-24T18:20:00.001-04:00

A recent lecture given by Anthony Rooley (Consort of Musicke) had an important effect on me. Though the lecture centered around Monteverdi's Lamento d'Arianna (1608), as well as other works based on the same subject, an incredibly important point was raised. Artists should be engaging with their audiences on more levels than purely musical. "Give them a story," he said.

Interestingly enough, by the end of the lecture we had heard enough music to encapsulate a concert and walked away with a much deeper understanding of the circumstances surrounding the centrepiece work, as well as discovered numerous other works directly referencing Monteverdi's setting. We covered the entire myth of Arianna at Naxos as well as another, that of Leander and Hero, and covered settings of those works which were isolated from the Italian settings.

Though, of course, it was presented in a manner befitting a classroom, it wouldn't be difficult to convert it for a concert-going public. Indeed, I assume this lecture came about from the Lamento D'Arianna project by the Consort of Musicke c.1990.

Crucial is it for us at this moment to make a concert 'relevant', what better way than this? Create a narrative, appealing to both the intellectual and the emotional, providing an event with an inherent cultural value beyond just another broadly-themed concert.

New Performer's Visa Basics out!

2012-10-20T15:03:00.000-04:00

Musical America just released a PDF titled "Securing U.S. Visas for Visiting Artists". I highly recommend it. Interesting to see just how complex the system there has become.

The most relevant story for me, was that of the Chicago Opera Theater on page 17. Here the up-and-coming Irish singer Claudia Boyle was to take the role of the Queen of the Night in a production of The Magic Flute. Unfortunately, the process dragged on so long that she ended up missing the show. The U.S. Consulate in Dublin "was inclined to send her application back to the USCIS and request revocation because the reviews weren't good enough, the awards not international enough, and the artist was too provincial."

What a Debbie Downer.

What Were Your Early Experiences With Baroque Music?

2012-10-12T14:48:00.000-04:00

As young musicians, we learn quite a bit about music history, theory, as well as style and taste from our teachers. We read as well, of course, but I would say that the majority of my musical knowledge has been imparted to me orally, rather than through writing.

What I am curious to know is what sort of general impression you were given early on about baroque music.

For example:
Though I had listened to Bach's organ works as a child (one of the CDs the family would listen to on the road), I had not had that much exposure to baroque music. Before entering university I may have been able to name five composers of the period - certainly Bach, Telemann, and Handel were three of them.

Given that most of the examples of chorales that I was given to analyze by my composition teacher were by Bach, it became quite clear to me that his works were very well crafted.

In terms of musical performance, I had been given a few sonatas in high school to work on. In these pieces I learned that I should always begin a trill with the top note, and that I should always be a little quieter when resolving a dissonance (obviously there was more to it than that, but these rules seem to sit the clearest in my mind as I look back). I remember being told that there was a relationship between dance and music during the baroque era. I also remember being told that there were elements of improvisation in the music, though it was never explicitly outlined what those were.

What do you remember about your early experience with baroque music?

Let us know below

The Heckeler is Moving

2012-09-13T08:15:00.001-04:00

Though many of us long for summer to continue, the increasing variety in colour across the capital's foliage betrays the coming season. For many Autumn signals the beginning of the long night, another year of school, the start of an orchestra's concert season; for others it can denote a new chapter in ones life.

Beginning this fall, I will be living in Basel, Switzerland. In a weeks time I will commence my MA in Specialized Performance of Early Music at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis and I look forward to the change of scenery.

This move, however, begs a few questions. The most relevant to the blog is whether continuing to confine the scope of The Heckeler to early music in North America while living abroad is the best way to proceed, especially when I will be coming into contact with so many musicians and groups which, I hope, will be worth sharing here. My decision, therefore, is to expand the reach of theheckeler.ca to include the European early music scene as well as the North American.

As I complete my transition into Swiss life I will a bit sparse in my writings, so look out for more at The Heckeler a little further into the season.

Westboro Bookstore Calling for Classical Music

2012-08-01T14:42:00.003-04:00

Following a number of successful open-mic nights at a Westboro bookstore, which included classical music acts, the owners have decided to take a step further. Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeebar, on the Southwest corner of Wellington and Holland, is hoping to put on a series of genre-specific concerts, including those of classical music.

"We're looking for musicians to hold events here who would be the primary promoters and organizers," says Craig Poile of CW, "although we can add to the organization and promotion, I don't know if we have the resources at this point." Being a classical music lover himself, Craig looks forward to working with local musicians.

The call for events comes as a great opportunity for musicians to get their feet wet at organizing and promoting a show. "We would provide the venue and a staff person... [and leave it up] to the musicians to decide the format [of the evening]," says Craig.

Thank you Craig!

Serious enquiries can be sent to info@collected-works.com

Upon reflection sur la montagne

2012-06-25T23:38:00.001-04:00

With the celebrations of the baroque and the sun which shone brightly over it now complete, our hemisphere has now begun to darken, though only slightly, day by day.

Always a display of the highest-quality, the Festival montréal baroque is never short of energetic, fun programming ideas. Over the past two years, I have been very fortunate to have been included as part of its own ensemble, la bande Montréal baroque. My work with them has demanded much from me, yet it is the most fulfilling work I have done.

Read more »

Horsing around in Montreal

2012-06-22T23:02:00.001-04:00

The Festival montréal baroque is celebrating its tenth anniversary this weekend with quite the program. Titled "Apocalypse", in line with the Mayan predictions, the festival lineup was inspired by the themes of revelation and transformation.

One of the main attractions this year is a reproduction of an equestrian ballet first performed in 1612. That's right, horses will be dancing.

The four horses (representing war, pestilence, famine, and death), along with four dancers from the baroque dance troupe Les Jardins chorégraphiques, will be accompanied by a 21-strong band of oboes, bassoons, sackbuts, cornets, fifes, drums, and trumpets as they dance in the open air.

This past Wednesday, the band got its first chance to run with the horses. Not a common gig, the rehearsal was quite the show in itself. With mosquitos flying, barn smells, dogs barking, and plenty of dust, if one were to have been driving by the farm a band of historical musicians would have been the least likely sight to expect to see.

The event looks to be quite the spectacle and I am told that it has been completely sold out for a while now. If you have a ticket, Good on You!

Breaking Winds Crowd-Funding First Album

2012-06-11T14:01:00.001-04:00

The Breaking Winds, the world's most famous bassoon quartet (I'm making that up, or am I?), have decided to fund their upcoming debut CD, 'Breaking In', through Kickstarter. They plan for their disk to include both original arrangements and compositions. Check out all the details HERE. Or take a look at the video below... or both.

Andy's Handy Hints: Take a Load Off

2012-06-10T20:09:00.002-04:00

Producing a concert takes a ton of effort. We can all do it if we set our minds to it, but the more we wear the manager hat, the more difficult it becomes to perform our best come concert time. I've produced six concerts in which I've performed in over the past two years, each demanding a different workload. Unsurprisingly, the more I have been involved behind the scenes, the less impressed I was with my own musical performance.

So, in preparation for the OVO's concert on the 1st of June, I made sure that I could hand off as much work as possible to others. Firstly, I sought out a sponsorship with the Austrian Embassy in Ottawa. Their work towards the event was excellent as they promoted the event on their mailing list and website, as well as provide a wine & cheese reception following the show. Secondly, I managed to get us back on a local concert series called Ars Nova. Ars Nova handled all ticket purchases, stage set-up and take-down, program printing, as well as promotion on their website and mailing list. Without Ars Nova's help, the concert wouldn't have been possible.

Sometimes we want our concerts to go exactly the way we see it in our mind's eye, but if we were to control every part of the production, we would most likely end up like Colin in the High School drama below (skip to 2:00 if it doesn't already do so). The more work you hand off to another, the better your chances for a good performance.

Andy's Handy Hints: Living Arrangements

2012-06-07T22:13:00.001-04:00

If there's a gig worth remembering, it's certainly not the one where the organizer left you hanging when it came to finding you a place to stay. Unfortunately, bad adventures such as those often come to mind much quicker than others. Coincidentally, the bad gigs are what you likely talk about the most with your musical friends.

Our concert on the 1st of June had two out-of-town guests, Roseen and Alice, who stayed with my parents and, upon the arrival of my English grandparents, their neighbors over two weeks. They didn't have to worry about meals, most transit around town was covered, they had constant access to computers/WiFi, and they could practice during daytime hours at their leisure (when not at a rehearsal, of course).

Though they had to put up with my dubious bassooning and my head in the clouds (being the chief behind the scenes, I was working on all aspects of the concert extra-musical), I trust they enjoyed themselves.

Bad news spreads quickly in the music world and you don't want to be the subject of that conversation. So when you have a few friends in town for your show, treat them better than you'd expect to be treated yourself. You might be surprised what comes your way later.

Andy's Handy Hints: Scheduling Rehearsals

2012-06-06T23:04:00.001-04:00

In preparation for our concert on the 1st of June, the OVO rehearsed over 10 days. Though we were comforted by the ample rehearsal time (we only gave ourselves three days to prep for our concert in October), there were many pieces with varying instrumentation and scheduling was difficult. In order, then, to be as efficient as possible, I decided it might be best to go digital when making a calendar.

After collecting rough timeframes from the six members, I used a Google calendar to input a draft schedule. Once an ensemble schedule is created, members can either be invited to specific events as 'guests' (which would then be added to their own google calendar) or to view the entire calendar. Google calendars can record any details that might be needed for a rehearsal, not just time and location (integrated with Google maps), as there is a 'description' box in the event details panel. Events can be color-coded if need be.

Google calendars are compatible with Apple's iphone, ipod touch, and ipad calendar app and any changes made from either end (website or device) are updated immediately. The calendar can also be embedded into a website. Embedding comes with a catch, however. If not every member of the group has a google account that has been authorized by you to see the calendar, it must be made public in order to be visible. Public calendars are visible in Google searches and by anyone who stumbles onto the webpage you embedded the calendar into.

With a technologically-savvy ensemble, Google calendars could be extremely useful. Unfortunately, however, not all of the ensemble adjusted to it as quickly as I had hoped. Despite this, it was easy to update, and notifications of scheduling changes could be done with a link to the calendar without any reiterating.

Alice, our violinist for the show, also recommended Doodle, a service which focuses on scheduling problems such as those encountered by a chamber ensemble. Though I have never used Doodle, my friends have found it very useful in creating schedules as it includes a poll which asks those involved about their availability.

So take a look at both websites, or the one you're the least familiar with, and let me know which one might work best for you!

Andy's Handy Hints: Concert Prep, Introduction

2012-06-03T15:10:00.000-04:00

This past Friday, Ensemble Our Very Own performed a concert of baroque music centering around Vienna. The concert was sponsored by the Austrian Cultural Forum and was our second on the Ars Nova concert series.

A few weeks ago, I decided to keep a log of my activities leading up to the event which I thought might prove useful to others. Those activities will appear over the course of the next week under the tag "Andy's Handy Hints".

Keep an eye out for them.