At rehearsal with the MYSers: We have been working on Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's magnum opus, Scheherazade. It can be argued that next to The Flight of the Bumblebee that it's the most often-played piece he wrote. In recent years I have taken to the idea of taking a larger, multi-movement piece and breaking it up over …
With pizza consumed and concerts viewed the night before, the day arrived where the orchestra ventured into territory not occupied in over five decades, namely Orchestra Hall, Chicago. To me, it is beyond strange that a fine orchestra so close in proximity to another has not been a guest after many decades of visiting regularly. …
On to Chicago for the final leg of the tour. Today is a day off of playing but with travel thrown in. I'll take it. The two and a half hour bus ride from the home of the Fighting Illini to the Bears, the Cubs, the Sox, the Hawks and the Bulls is one we …
Touring has changed for American and all to the good, I think. A long-overdue component has been added and that is contact with music students from area music schools. Of course, the area involved is wherever we happen to be playing. We have scheduled for us a number of masterclasses, clinics, and outreach visits that …
Sweetness comes in many forms when on tour. One such form is in the person who waits backstage or at the exit to say hello or congratulate you for a good show. They will often be a perfect stranger who wants to take a picture to commemorate the evening or who knows someone you both …
When the MO goes on tour we generally gather downstairs at MSP airport and get checked in as a group. In this case, we were separated into three separate flights although I don't know why that was the case. Sometimes you just can't find a single plane that has the space to carry all hundred …
It was the best of times, it was.... Hmmm.... no. Try again. The day began like any other day. Yecch. It was a dark and stormy night. That's better. Not completely accurate but damned close. When you plan a tour you pray for the best and expect he worst. The worst is a complete cancellation …
I love the process of teaching because of the way it marks time by virtue of accomplishment. Yesterday, Saturday the 20th of January, 2018 marked such an accomplishment. The accomplishment was not mine. Rather, it was that of a bunch of students who made the decision some time ago to get up early on what …
As younger music students grow into older ones they find that, like so much in life, the study of their art goes into progressing stages. That's nothing new for anyone that undertakes in-depth examination of an art or vocation or hobby. We begin with an understanding of the technical aspects whether it's just holding the …
We are accustomed to hearing the phrase "The Greatest Generation" describe that group of people that were mostly in their 20s during the second World War. The honorific of "greatest" could be fodder for debate but the deference we show for people that lived through a concurrent Depression is apt. Those were truly tough times. …
Manny Laureano 