Concert approaching...

My flute group is playing for a local arts festival on June 21. We're sort of ready. I am playing two pieces on cello: Haydn's London Trios, just the first trio (which has 3 movements), and The Little Red Monkey, a contemporary frolic, in which I play the bouncy baseline. I am somewhat sort of ready, but really need to find time to practice in the sort of three weeks we have remaining until the concert (especially the 3rd movement of the Haydn, which is vivace).

Last year when we played this event, there were gusts of wind that it blew the notes back into my flute. And, even clustered in a tight horseshoe shape, we had a hard time hearing each other. Why do we keep doing this? It's fun. We don't really attract huge crowds because there are three stages in operation at any one time, as well as tents full of artists and artisans, children's activities, and food, but I enjoy being part of it.

Sunday's Performances

Yesterday was a busy day.

In the morning, from about 9:30 to 11:30, the fiddlers played along the route of the Cape Cod Marathon, to encourage the runners on. In the photo, you can see my chair and cello (I used my old cello for this event because it was cold and I wanted to make sure nothing happened to my good cello before the afternoon concert). The runner at the far right is applauding our efforts, as many of the runners did.

Long ago, I used to run what was then called the Bonne Bell women's 10K in Boston, and it was energizing to run past MIT dorms, in particular, because the students would play loud rock music on their radios for us. I hope the fiddle music helped yesterday's runners. There were several other musical groups along yesterday's route. Too bad there are no college dorms.

Another cello blogger (CelloGirl) wrote recently about the good players sitting toward the front in an orchestra, and it is kind of the same with the fiddlers. Although there is no "assigned seating" in fiddling, some of us who doubt our playing ability tend to stand or sit in the back. This can be awkward for me when most of the others are standing. A couple of times, a fiddler stepped, obliviously, on my end pin, and I had to pull my cello to safety. Toward the end of the two-hour gig, though, we took a little break and when we reassembled, the rest of the fiddlers stood behind the cello. What an improvement for me! I could hear so much better and it is possible I played better. And I didn't have to fear for the safety of my cello. I am going to have to try this deliberately sometime.

For our efforts, we received official Cape Cod Marathon Volunteer jackets. Very nice jackets! The marathon was sponsored by Dunkin' Donuts. Much better to have the jacket than the donuts.


To keep my hands warm I wore some polar fleece practice gloves (Wristies) that I bought at the violin shop where I work occasionally. They kept most of my hand warm. The fingers were still a little cool, but it was a great improvement over playing with bare hands. (Nice for typing in an unheated room, too.)

My Wristie (also demonstrating that the leaves are still green here, in late October).

After the marathon, I raced home to change clothes from fiddler blue and purple to church-appropriate black, switch cellos, and grab my music. I got to the church in time for their pre-concert potluck lunch. Good thing, too, as I was hungry.

The concert started at 1 pm and lasted about an hour. My early music group played in most of the pieces, either as an instrumental group with the organist, or supporting the choir. I played both cello and flute. The choir sang a few hymns on their own, so we did have an occasional break. I felt I played the Corelli sonata well (the one I had been focusing on), all things considered, but there were a few flubs in this piece, probably caused by not rehearsing enough with the organist. Someone did come up to me afterward and say, "You were really good." (I take the you to mean our instrumental group, rather than me alone.) So, some level of success here. We (the early music group) will keep these pieces in our repertoire and continue to improve them. Our final piece went very well, ending on a happy note.

I have no photos of our church concert, but it was videotaped for local cable access television. It might be a good idea for us to watch it, though that will take a bit of courage.

Labor Day Weekend Concert report

We had an excellent time at the Labor Day weekend concert on Saturday. Both the Flute Choir and the Early Music group felt we played our best, triumphantly sailing through the tricky parts that had derailed us not long ago. The two groups alternated playing for about three hours, a long stretch, particularly for those of us who played in both groups, but we enjoyed it immensely. Our fingers a little sore, we're both going to take this week off from rehearsals!


The Early Music group. I seem to be smiling. My husband is taping our performance. I haven't looked at it yet.


A close-up of me, perhaps not the most flattering shot, but reflecting the intensity of the moment, both listening to others and concentrating on my own music. Or perhaps, fear. :-)


The Flute Choir. You can see some of the art displays to the side. There are six flutists; one is hidden in this photo.

The view from the stage. This was taken while we weren't playing of course, so no one is looking at us. :-)


The "after-concert" concert: The Cape Symphony has just finished playing the national anthem here. Seven thousand was the predicted attendance. I don't know how many came, nor how many visited the art/music building.


Fireworks ended the symphony performance--just like the 4th on the Esplanade! Except, as one flutist put it, "freezing cold."


The next day we dined out at this lovely restaurant, sitting in the vined window on the right. The trumpet vine is over 100 years old. The food was delicious, and the company stimulating.

And still one more day of the Labor Day weekend remains. We're planning a family cookout today. I am also working much of the day, but even that is relaxing. Hope you are having a great weekend!

Labor Day Weekend Concert

I bought this music on eBay when I first started the cello. It was in a collection of "easy music for beginning cellists." It is almost entirely first position, but does have its little challenges and is fun to play, and I am happy to finally have the opportunity to perform it!

Saturday, tomorrow, is our big concert of the summer. The Symphony is performing a Pops concert at the Fairgrounds at 7 pm to crowds estimated to number over 7,000, and we're part of the background music for the afternoon's festivities that lead up to the big concert. Both my flute choir and my early music group are playing, alternating half-hour segments for over two hours. (Three of us play in both groups.)

We've been performing at this event for the last six years. The first few years we played outside in a tranquil garden setting (as people walked past, eager to set up their chairs for the Pops), but the last couple of years have been inside an airport-hanger sort of a building, with the artists, mostly painters, showing their art and demonstrating portrait painting and other techniques. It has been a nice blend of music and art, and people have lingered longer to listen.

This year they have doubled the number of artists, adding a myriad of craftspeople and children's activities: jewelry-makers, ceramicists, photographers, and visual artists, all demonstrating their crafts, along with puppet shows, face painters, and other children's activities. It might be a little crowded. Hopefully we will be heard above the din. More important is that we hear each other.

We have been given us a stage, though, and microphones, so in a sense we are being elevated. :-) I am a little nervous; I should have practiced more. But both groups are sounding good. As long as we can hear each other, we should be fine. There is a certain comfort in being background music--no one is listening to your every note; but, on the other hand, we do want people to hear our delightful music that we have worked on for months! :-)

Cello fiddling fun

One of our two fiddle performances today was canceled due to rain. First it was moved from 10 am to 7:30 am, so most people were quite relieved that it was canceled. Who would want to listen to fiddle music at 7:30 am?, you might ask?

This was an overnight cancer walk, a fundraiser in which participant teams camp out around a high school track and walk all day and night, in shifts. I have participated in the past as a camper/walker, and any music, any time of day is good. Well, not in the middle of the night, when, if it isn't raining, the stars are company enough.

The second performance was at 11:30 am and went until 1 pm, with a break in the middle. It was an environmental fair with Americorps volunteers providing information about coastal ecology, who whooped and danced as we played. The acoustics in the big barn at the Fairgrounds were not very good, and sometimes I couldn't even tell what tune we were playing, but it was fun. There were 13 of us, five fiddlers and others playing mandolin, banjo, tin whistle, dobro, guitar, bodhran, and, of course, me on cello.

The portable chair worked out great. I didn't feel odd being the only one sitting, and was shortly joined by a mandolin player who explained that he had recently had two knee surgeries. (The only chairs available were big white plastic lawn chairs with arms, totally unsuitable for cello-playing, so I was glad to have my own portable chair.)

I played melody on only one or two tunes. The rest of the time, I was happy to improvise backup, somewhat like a string bass, sometimes pizz., sometimes arco. I will try to memorize a few more tunes before our big concert on June 9, but on the whole, the backup is fun too, and provides something different.

Fiddling on Saturday

Jim, who heads the fiddling group, called today looking for fiddlers for a just-scheduled performance on Saturday, as part of the local National Day of Climate Action activities sponsored by Step It Up 2007.

"Sure," I said, "Can I play the cello?" (I have always played fiddle at performances.)

"I don't know," he said, "Can you play the cello?" (I am hoping he was making a joke.)

"Better than the fiddle," I said.

"Sure," he said, "it looks great--I can't hear you, but it looks great." (I was sitting next to him at the last session! But at least I know my cello playing is not disruptive, and I am pleased to think what I am doing looks great. Among the things I worry about is whether I "look like a cellist." I do think others heard me, as they commented on my playing, esp. Ashokan Farewell, which sounds great on the cello.)

"Besides," he added, "I need all the people I can get for this event."

"OK, I'll be there."

"Dress warmly," he said, "and bring a chair."

This is one disadvantage of playing the cello in a fiddle group: being seated. The fiddlers stand while playing, and they move around easily, occasionally leaning in to sing. They often play outside, with no stage, as they will on Saturday. Maybe I can find a movable stool, or learn to play the cello standing up, like Rushad Eggleston.

Obviously, this requires some adjustment to my goal to learn to play lots of tunes and musically appropriate accompaniment by June 9. My planned two months of preparation time is now only two days. On the other hand, it is only a 30-minute performance, and I think I can look and even sound like a cellist for 30 minutes.

Our participation in the event is canceled, by the way, if it rains. It's about climate, not about weather.

Playing in "Public"

I work occasionally at a string instrument store and was there the other day when a man came in to try out some bows. An adult violin student, he was self-conscious about playing in the "public" environment of the shop. I reassured him, gave him a cozy spot to play in our back room (more like a hallway, only visually separate from the main room), and selected four bows for him to try out while I attended to other customers.

He did well, playing for memory many pieces from Suzuki books 1 and 2, and I smiled when one of the customers in the main room (a beginning fiddler) applauded him, even though it meant he would realize that we could hear him quite well.

Earlier, when I was alone in the shop, I was tuning and playing the cellos, and I quickly stopped when a customer came in--not just to help the customer, but because I, too, am self-conscious. You just never know whether the listener is a professional player, a rank amateur, or the parent of a five-year-old virtuoso who can play better than you can.

But, it really shouldn't matter, should it? Maybe on the concert stage, but not when we are trying out bows. Or cellos.

Playing at church

I played flute at church this morning, not mine, but another one where a friend plays the organ. I play with her perhaps a half-dozen times a year, sometimes flute, sometimes cello, sometimes both. I like this church, not for the sermons, but for their grateful acceptance of my musical offerings.

Today, I played the prelude and three hymns. One of the hymns had a flute descant, which I enjoyed playing in rehearsal, except for one measure, which had an awkward, and in my opinion, unattractive, run. I have to admit I forgot to practice for this event. We rehearsed briefly before the service, but I still had a problem with the measure.

When we played it, I managed to fumble not only the troublesome measure, but also the one before and after it. Nevertheless, the organist beamed at me when we were done, saying, "great job!" I mention this not to justify non-practicing, but simply to say sometimes (maybe often) no one notices when you blunder.