Stephanie, Ellen, Ara, Samantha, Stephanie Wild, Sheldon, Marcello and I are all sitting around the kitchen table at Edenfred, post-Taliesin, enjoying leftovers and pisco sours. Pisco sours are fierce. We owe mega-thanks to Carla Alvarado for teaching us her unbelievably yummy and super-easy recipe. This is the new drink of choice for BDDS!
Ara had 40 cherries tonight. Check back tomorrow for the consequences thereof.
Stephanie Wild has a quizzical look on her face—she just returned from her first visit to the Alice in Wonderland bathroom.
Here we all are, exhausted and happy after two great concerts. Even Marcello (our dog) is tired. What a great season this has been, and what a great day today was! We definitely pinned the tail on that donkey.
Effi Casey whacked the s$%& out of that piñata. Go Effi!
One of the many highlights of the evening was our dinner drawing. Our dear friend Emily Earley won the dinner drawing! Emily has been coming to our concerts since the very, very beginning, and she's introduced zillions of people to BDDS.
Kris Knight won the second prize, the dinner for 6 from Fromagination. Kris is another dear friend—she donates massage therapy to BDDS artists.
Jack "we love that loud tie" Holzueter won the third prize—lunch and golfing for four at the Blackhawk Country Club.
OK, party's breaking up—it's been a great season, thanks to everyone who has helped make it happen!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Tonight is our last Saturday night. It is always sad parting with everyone after the final week of the festival. Last night's concert was another great one...you have got to see Ara on that viola! The Rebecca Clarke piece is especially amazing.
Another one of my favorite things about the festival is seeing all of our regular audience members returning year after year. It is so nice to connect with people who appreciate the same things: music that moves us and talented and interesting musicians who make it.
Join us at Osteria Papavero on E. Wilson Street after the performance tonight. It is always a celebration!
Another one of my favorite things about the festival is seeing all of our regular audience members returning year after year. It is so nice to connect with people who appreciate the same things: music that moves us and talented and interesting musicians who make it.
Join us at Osteria Papavero on E. Wilson Street after the performance tonight. It is always a celebration!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Rib dinner tonight!
It's a beautiful Tuesday afternoon and I am busily tying up loose ends, looking over notes from last year for tips to making this season even better. Ticket sales are better than last year at this time (thank you!).
I just returned from Carolyn Kallenborn's house. She's the textile artist who's doing an installation for The Playhouse stage. Lots of pots on burners at her house, but nothing good to eat inside of them...dying fabric instead. She and I looked at what she's preparing for Saturday. Dramatic and stunning! We also looked through some of the dresses she's made. I get to wear some of them! Look for me in her Kelp dress!
I am looking forward to tonight. Rib dinner at Edenfred with the artists made by the Wendels and the Wilkinson's. We'll see how they compare to Tom Terry's famous ribs! At a dinner early in the week is usually when I get to see everyone. I always get butterfiles in my stomach before I walk in...I am so excited to see everyone and get the festival started. Back to work...
I just returned from Carolyn Kallenborn's house. She's the textile artist who's doing an installation for The Playhouse stage. Lots of pots on burners at her house, but nothing good to eat inside of them...dying fabric instead. She and I looked at what she's preparing for Saturday. Dramatic and stunning! We also looked through some of the dresses she's made. I get to wear some of them! Look for me in her Kelp dress!
I am looking forward to tonight. Rib dinner at Edenfred with the artists made by the Wendels and the Wilkinson's. We'll see how they compare to Tom Terry's famous ribs! At a dinner early in the week is usually when I get to see everyone. I always get butterfiles in my stomach before I walk in...I am so excited to see everyone and get the festival started. Back to work...
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Like, whoa
Like, whoa, man, like, it's over, like, whoa.
I can hardly believe it. Our last week just flew by, and now it's over until next summer. But what a great season it has been! Stephanie and I really set ourselves some challenges this year—a lot of really hard new music that's hard to put together under festival conditions—but it all worked out in the end. I will admit that I had a few doubts along the way... that I wish we could have had another day or two of rehearsal on some pieces... and that I wish we could have performed some works a couple more times. But you know, unless you set yourself challenges like this, you just don't know what the limits of your abilities actually are.
Our third week was a special challenge because we had a larger number of guest artists to take care of than in any other week. And all of those guest artists were from out of town, which makes it even a bit more complicated. I had to move out of Edenfred to make room for the others, so I had to factor in at least one forty-minute round trip every day. (I was staying downtown with Tom Terry this last week—admittedly not a hardship!) But we had a really wonderful and interesting group of musicians, so the whole week was quite fun. John de Main was so great to work with as the narrator for The Four Seasons of Futurist Cuisine. What a ham! Such a natural! And so rare to work with a narrator whose acting chops are so terrific AND who completely understands the music. Kernis notates precise complex rhythms for the narration at many points in the piece, and John was always right on top of them.
Anyway, when we finished up Sunday night, we were all happy but completely exhausted. We drove back to Edenfred, had a celebratory party, compared notes about the rest of the summer (I'll see a number of our guest artists at other festivals this summer), said our farewells, and turned in for the night.
It was the first night of untroubled sleep I've had all season.
Stephanie and I have already decided on the theme for next year. 2009 is the 200th anniversary of the death of Haydn. Haydn was probably the best-humored composer EVER. He is the epitome of "serious fun"—music that is beautifully written, challenging, profound, and yet shows a real enjoyment for life. We thought we'd honor him by naming our season "Haydn Seek"—the idea being that we're seeking the spirit of serious fun that Haydn exemplifies in chamber music of all eras. Our programs will be named after games—titles like "Twister," "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," "Truth or Dare," "Follow the Leader," "Go Fish," "Crazy 8's," etc. If any of you have great ideas, be sure to let us know!
I can hardly believe it. Our last week just flew by, and now it's over until next summer. But what a great season it has been! Stephanie and I really set ourselves some challenges this year—a lot of really hard new music that's hard to put together under festival conditions—but it all worked out in the end. I will admit that I had a few doubts along the way... that I wish we could have had another day or two of rehearsal on some pieces... and that I wish we could have performed some works a couple more times. But you know, unless you set yourself challenges like this, you just don't know what the limits of your abilities actually are.
Our third week was a special challenge because we had a larger number of guest artists to take care of than in any other week. And all of those guest artists were from out of town, which makes it even a bit more complicated. I had to move out of Edenfred to make room for the others, so I had to factor in at least one forty-minute round trip every day. (I was staying downtown with Tom Terry this last week—admittedly not a hardship!) But we had a really wonderful and interesting group of musicians, so the whole week was quite fun. John de Main was so great to work with as the narrator for The Four Seasons of Futurist Cuisine. What a ham! Such a natural! And so rare to work with a narrator whose acting chops are so terrific AND who completely understands the music. Kernis notates precise complex rhythms for the narration at many points in the piece, and John was always right on top of them.
Anyway, when we finished up Sunday night, we were all happy but completely exhausted. We drove back to Edenfred, had a celebratory party, compared notes about the rest of the summer (I'll see a number of our guest artists at other festivals this summer), said our farewells, and turned in for the night.
It was the first night of untroubled sleep I've had all season.
Stephanie and I have already decided on the theme for next year. 2009 is the 200th anniversary of the death of Haydn. Haydn was probably the best-humored composer EVER. He is the epitome of "serious fun"—music that is beautifully written, challenging, profound, and yet shows a real enjoyment for life. We thought we'd honor him by naming our season "Haydn Seek"—the idea being that we're seeking the spirit of serious fun that Haydn exemplifies in chamber music of all eras. Our programs will be named after games—titles like "Twister," "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," "Truth or Dare," "Follow the Leader," "Go Fish," "Crazy 8's," etc. If any of you have great ideas, be sure to let us know!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Saturday, June 21, 2008
second weekend
It astonishes me that our second weekend is already here. Festival time is so different from regular time. It gets compressed AND expanded, it flows faster AND slower—at the same time. Weird. And to think—next week's musicians start arriving TOMORROW. In a little more than a week, it will all be OVER for the season.
Last night we opened our second weekend out in Stoughton. What a beautiful place to play! We had piano issues, though... I think the air-conditioning just did a number on the Opera House's piano, so even though it was tuned at 2 pm yesterday afternoon, by concert time it had headed south. VERY frustrating... and we weren't able to find a tuner to get out to Stoughton quick enough. Pianos are a pain. We have to think of a solution for this problem. Ideally one that's not too costly.
That said, the concert went great and I think the audience really enjoyed it. A cool group of pieces, and a cool group of musicians. We all went to the Greenbush Bar in Madison afterward for their world-class pizza.
Had our dress rehearsal in the Overture Playhouse this morning. Kit Taylor and I played through our two-piano pieces (Milhaud's Scaramouche and Rachmaninoff's 2nd Suite). That guy—playing with him is like driving a Ferrari, he is amazing. Jason's video for the McKinley Romances is fabulous, and the three string players sound so beautiful together in the Mozart Divertimento. Should be a terrific concert tonight!
Last night we opened our second weekend out in Stoughton. What a beautiful place to play! We had piano issues, though... I think the air-conditioning just did a number on the Opera House's piano, so even though it was tuned at 2 pm yesterday afternoon, by concert time it had headed south. VERY frustrating... and we weren't able to find a tuner to get out to Stoughton quick enough. Pianos are a pain. We have to think of a solution for this problem. Ideally one that's not too costly.
That said, the concert went great and I think the audience really enjoyed it. A cool group of pieces, and a cool group of musicians. We all went to the Greenbush Bar in Madison afterward for their world-class pizza.
Had our dress rehearsal in the Overture Playhouse this morning. Kit Taylor and I played through our two-piano pieces (Milhaud's Scaramouche and Rachmaninoff's 2nd Suite). That guy—playing with him is like driving a Ferrari, he is amazing. Jason's video for the McKinley Romances is fabulous, and the three string players sound so beautiful together in the Mozart Divertimento. Should be a terrific concert tonight!
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Thursday afternoon - We're in the middle of our second week of concerts and having a BLAST getting to know Irina Muresanu, our new violinist. Irina is Romanian and lives in Boston - she is coming to us through the auspices of Pro Musicis Foundation of New York. Irina and I were both chosen to be artists on their roster, and now they're trying something new - placing their artists in festivals around the country to help further their career. On our end, that's fantastic! It's brought us an incredible new artist who we are thrilled to know and work with, and it helps further the Pro Musicis mission of helping young artists advance their career. It's a win-win situation and we're very grateful to Pro Musicis Foundation for making this happen.
I've been trying to starve myself today to save up for the once-a-year, incredible rib dinner at Tom Terry's tonight. Somehow I think Ara Gregorian, our violist this week, is going to give me a run for my money with those ribs. I think the all-time record was 34 ribs, by Minnesota Orchestra principal cellist, Tony Ross. Yeah, it's true, we DO eat a lot, but that makes everyone love to cook for us, so it all works out!
More soon, hey - this is fun!
Stephanie
I've been trying to starve myself today to save up for the once-a-year, incredible rib dinner at Tom Terry's tonight. Somehow I think Ara Gregorian, our violist this week, is going to give me a run for my money with those ribs. I think the all-time record was 34 ribs, by Minnesota Orchestra principal cellist, Tony Ross. Yeah, it's true, we DO eat a lot, but that makes everyone love to cook for us, so it all works out!
More soon, hey - this is fun!
Stephanie
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