How do you get to Kodak Hall?

Happy new year! Any adventures in your world? I've been terribly lax about blogging, but I have been busy...


As much I could use a little time to sit and read:

I’ve been spending more time playing music, on the viola:

And one of the most exciting things I’m involved with now is the Side by Side concert with the RPO, where amateur community orchestra musicians get to prepare and play a concert with members of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra.

In just two rehearsals, and a bunch of practicing, we’re going to turn this:

Into this (note: you might need to reload the page to view the video)

The conductor in that video is Sir Georg Solti (here we are together in Chicago), but the person leading our orchestra -  saints and strangers, RPO and community orchestra members alike - is Paul Shewan. He’s the conductor of the group in which I usually play – the Roberts Wesleyan College Community Orchestra. At the first rehearsal with the RPO, I saw a few other familiar faces from the orchestra at Roberts, and met people from different orchestras all over our region – Penfield, Brighton, Greece, University of Rochester, Cordancia…

The experience from our first rehearsal was at various points: fun, intimidating, exciting, difficult, and inspiring.  Others may be a little bit more sanguine about it, but I was aflutter that evening and still have a little buzz about the experience going into our final rehearsal and performance next week. 

For now, I’m still practicing when I can (that book and the couch are tempting when getting home from work a little late, but they can wait for now) and hanging posters up everywhere I go.

The concert will be at Kodak Hall at Eastman Theater Wednesday January 22nd at 8pm.  Admission is free (though a $5 donation is welcome), the program is good (and not too long!), and I’d love to see you there. I also hope that there will be more opportunities like it bring our community together through music. 

A different side by side? (Poster spotted at The Old Toad in Rochester):