9 Things

1. What is wrong with the Hurricanes?  I mean, HONESTLY.  If the Sabres had played Lalime instead of Crunchy the score could have been 4-0 going into the third period, but even THAT wouldn’t have been enough for Carolina to overcome their complete and utter third period suckitude.  The third period was breathtaking, especially when you consider the Hurricanes did that last night too.

2. Rick might be right.  We’re not worthy (of Crunchy).

3. Except for Ryan Miller, for the first two periods the Sabres looked T to the E to the R to the R to the I to the B to the L to the E.  That was pukeriffic.

4. I miss Goose already.  *mournful honk*  (Side note: The other day I was hanging out with a percussionist friend and he pulled out his collection of bird calls.  Every once in a while a piece of music requires a bird call of some sort, and as a result all percussionists have a box of odd whistles and honks at the ready.  When my friend pulled out the goose call, I got all wistful imagining a whole arena of people honking away in tribute to Goose.  Now ordinarily I am VERY opposed to noisemakers in the stands, but just once it would be fun.  Especially if we could somehow surprise Goose with a chorus of genuine honks after his next goal.)

5. How drunk was Robi during the postgame report tonight?  Loved it.

6. When you play The Nutcracker you often feel like an animal in a zoo because a lot of parents bring their kids to the edge of the pit to look down at the orchestra. I’m never sure if I should wave at these children, or if I should just ignore them.  Wouldn’t it freak you out if an animal in a zoo made eye contact and then waved?  I don’t want to scare the children.

7. Every time they showed Crunchy during a stoppage of play, he was rooting around in his jersey.  Something about his pads must have been on his nervies tonight.  Did someone forget to add the fabric softener?   You can’t do that to him.  He has sensitive skin.

8. I know that by the time he scored it Vanek’s goal was pretty meaningless, but it was still nice to see.  I miss good Vanek.  I hope he comes back someday.

9. Now look, I loooove NYC, but I am SO INCREDIBLY SICK of the “rah rah New York City” commercials that we have to watch on MSG.  We live in BUFFALO, MSG.  Buff. a. lo.  It’s DIFFERENT than NYC.  Quite.  Stop showing us commercials with a bunch of people beating their chests about The City.  We. Don’t. Care.  If a commercial doesn’t contain Cellino, Barnes, Yancy’s Fancy, Hurt in a Car?, or knotted ropes representing veins IT’S NOT FOR US.

I Love My Job

I have a great job.  I get to play music for a living, I have wonderful colleagues, and at the end of my work week I literally receive a round of applause.   I’m so incredibly grateful that music brought me to Buffalo.

Today was an especially fun day at work because after an hour of rehearsal the mayor of Buffalo showed up, congratulated us for winning two Grammys, declared today “BPO Day” in the City of Buffalo, and gave us the key to the city.  Then, we all went into the lobby and drank champagne and ate adorable Grammy cupcakes.

Adorable and delicious

The ceremonial key to the city is pretty cool, you guys!  It comes in a beautiful velvet lined wooden box, and it’s made out of something heavy so it has a very satisfying weight when you hold it in your hands.

The key to the city of Buffalo

I think my boss was a little nervous when I asked if I could pose for a picture with the key and then proceeded to disappear with my friends for five minutes- his worry was probably for good reason.  Basically, as soon as we had our mitts on the key, everyone started making jokes about what it could open.  So, we had a little photo shoot.

Amelie and Glenn investigate exactly which doors our key will open.

If anyone needs to open a door in Buffalo today, call me, because I’ve got the key.

The key to the city looks good on Glenn’s keychain.

After these photos were taken, we took the key to Home Depot and had 73 copies made (one for each musician).  If I’m Byron Brown, I’m changing the city locks.  ASAP.

In all seriousness, today was a lot of fun.  The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is so proud of these Grammys, and we are so thankful for all of the support that we get from Buffalonians.  We are incredibly honored to be recipients of the “Key to the City.”

Thank you, Mayor Brown!  And thank you to all the people who support our music at the BPO!

Hockey Night in Kleinhans

Because we perform almost every weekend, my job with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra often prevents me from watching the Sabres game.  It used to bother me that my job so frequently conflicts with hockey, but this season I’ve enjoyed watching bits and pieces of the games in our break room at Kleinhans Music Hall.

Most Sabres games start at seven pm, and our concerts started at eight.  So, on game nights I go to work early, and watch the entire first period in the break room.  It’s fun.  There are a LOT of Sabres fans in the orchestra, but there are only a handful of us who go out of our way to make sure we can enjoy a good chunk of hockey before our concert.  These are the diehards.  Then, the BPO intermission usually lines up with the beginning of the third period, so I catch a few minutes of the game during our break.  Also (between you and me and the entire internet), there’s an orchestra member (not me) who is quite adept at using his/her cell phone to keep track of the score discreetly during a performance.  It’s a rare night when I don’t know the final score before I leave the stage after a concert.  At the end of the night, those of us in the orchestra who love the Sabres always take a moment to celebrate the win or commiserate over the loss on our way out the stage door.

This is obviously an unconventional way to experience a hockey game, but it’s not without it’s charm.  Frankly, I kind of like it.  Yesterday it occurred to me that there will almost certainly come a day when I am on stage during a Sabres playoff game, and it made me downright happy to imagine.  Even when I can’t watch a game from beginning to end, if I’m at work, I know I’ll still have a fun and memorable experience.  I sincerely enjoy cheering for the Sabres with my colleagues, even if it means I don’t get to see every single minute of every single game.

The Sabres have brought me closer to my community in almost every way.  It still amazes me.

Thoughts

Huh.  I can honestly tell you I didn’t see that game coming.  I did not expect the Sabres to play a decent defensive game and get shutout by Marty Biron.  When I got home last night I was too tired and cranky to write about the game, but I woke up this morning feeling rejuvenated.  Here’s what I was thinking about in the dawn of a new day:

1. Beer

Until last night I had never had a beer at HSBC arena.  It’s weird that I never drink at the arena because I have absolutely no objection to drinking, in fact I do it frequently.  I attribute my non-drinkyness to a few things (not the least of which is that I’m not much of a beer drinker these days), but I think the number one reason I wasn’t drinking was it just seemed like too much of a hassle.  When you don’t eat or drink at games, you’re all settled in for the evening once you get to your seats.  Drinking involves dealing with crowds in the concourse, lines at the concession stand, and of course, peeing. Oh, the peeing!

I’ve already been to five games this season, and I’m getting really good at maneuvering around in my little portion of the 300 level concourse.  I’ve learned that if I bolt out at the end of a period I can hit the bathroom, hit a concession stand, swing by to wave hello to Anne (and buy some cotton candy from her if I feel so inclined), and still have PLENTY of time to be back in my seat to see the majority of a weirdo interview with Maria Genero and Paul Gaustad on the jumbotron. (Seriously, what was that all about?  I couldn’t hear the audio on the clip on the jumbotron.  All I gathered from the feature is that Goose went fishing at some point and that, judging from the body language, he and Maria might very well be in love.  That was a LOT of bashful giggling.  Not that I’m complaining.)

My point here is this: I was totally wrong to not drink beer.  Beer helps.  A lot.  I’m never not drinking beer at a hockey game again.

(Maybe at some point I will investigate those gigantic beers that they pour out of bottles, but maybe not.  What’s up with those?  Why can’t they pour a gigantic draft at the concession stand?  My inclination is to assume draft beer is colder and more delicious, but ENORMOUS beers have their attributes as well.  Please advise, dear readers.)

2. The Crowd

The crowd was terrible.  I’m not judging, because I was a part of the crowd and Buffalo sports fans have had a real rough week, but MAN, the crowd was flat.  I’ve never been to such a subdued game.  Granted, the action was very, veeeeery slow, but still.  The crowd was skeptical, belligerent, and cranky from beginning to end.  As you know, I am PRO booing. I like to boo, and I don’t care who knows it, but…..I’m not a fan of booing just because you have no particular reason to cheer.  If I had my say, we’d save our nonsensical booing for the opposition (like Chara! BOOOOOO!), but I fully recognize the crowd is gonna boo when they’re gonna boo.  That’s just how it goes.

Our section did have one nice crowd moment: In the third period when it was 2-0 and the arena seemed library-level quiet, a guy about five rows back from us screamed out in a very clear, loud voice, “WE WANT MAX!”  He yelled it at just the right time and it seemed to boom over the entire arena.  There was lots of giggling in response.  Then, a guy in front of us yelled, “I TOTALLY DISAGREE!”  And I then I yelled, “ME TOO!”  And someone else yelled “ME THREE!”  I’m sorry to say that this exchange might have been the highlight of the evening.  I like the idea of an orderly discussion occurring in the middle of the game.  I was tempted to shout, “I’M CONCERNED THAT LINDY’S THREATENING INSISTENCE ON DEFENSIVE PLAY IS BACKFIRING!  THE SABRES SEEM AFRAID OF MAKING MISTAKES.  THEY ARE NOT PLAYING AGGRESSIVE OFFENSE!,”  just to see if some else would shout, “SOLID DEFENSIVE PLAY LEADS TO OFFENSIVE OPPORTUNITIES!  THEY JUST HAVE TO STICK TO THE SYSTEM AND BURY THEIR CHANCES. THE GOALS WILL COME!”

3. The Sabres aren’t that bad, but they’re also not that good.

If the Bruins game was when I lost all perspective, last night’s game was when I got it back.  Listen, it’s still early in the season.  There is LOTS of Brahms hockey left to be played.  After the Bruins game I reached a level of unhappiness with the Sabres and sports in general that crossed a line I have drawn for myself.  There is only so much angst I am willing to tolerate in the name of sports.  It’s a long season, with a lot more annoying-ness yet to come, so I realized I need to dial it down a bit if I am going to survive with my sanity intact.

These Sabres are just not dominant and we need to stop expecting them to be dominant.  They have lots of potential to dramatically improve, so I guess we just hope for the best.  They tricked us by coming out of the gate so strong, but it’s time to accept that those first six games were a bit of an anomaly.

4. Thank GOD I have to work tonight.

I love my job, but it’s a drag that it so frequently conflicts with the Sabres schedule.  Usually I’m sorry to miss the Saturday games, but not tonight.  I need a break.  To make matter even better, we’re playing a REALLY cool concert at the BPO this weekend.  The concert involves a lot of great music, but there is also some truly dazzling acrobatics that will steal the spotlight.  We’re playing a full concert with the acrobats tonight, and then a truncated version tomorrow afternoon as part of our Family Series.  I can’t get comp tickets for tonight, but if you are interested in coming to the show (for free) tomorrow afternoon, shoot me an email.  I have four tickets set aside for anyone who would like to use them.  I can’t imagine anyone not liking this show, and I think kids will LOVE it.  Our family shows are usually about an hour long, without intermission.  Yes, it conflicts with the Bills game.

Another super neat thing going on in Buffalo this weekend is the opening of the Burchfield-Penney Art Center. In the middle of a terrible economy, in an already economically depressed community, Buffalonians managed to get a brand new, state-of-the art, museum built.  This is an accomplishment that really really needs to be celebrated.  The museum is opening today, AND it’s going to be open ALL NIGHT. That means, that you can go out, do whatever, and check out the museum at FOUR IN THE MORNING AFTER YOU GO TO JIM’S FOR A CHICKEN FINGER SUB!  I’m SO there.  I really encourage everyone to check out the Burchfield-Penney Art Center tonight.

I love Buffalo sports, but sports are not all we’ve got around here.  When sports are getting you down, try something else!

Let’s Go Buff-a-lo!

Okay, okay I get it….

….you guys hate it when I blab about sports as they relate to the viola. I simply don’t understand why you guys don’t find the viola fascinating, but fine. I can accept it. What I canNOT accept is that you don’t want to hear about the Olympics. I simply MUST find an angle that you like for the Olympics, because while I’m willing to shut my trap about my practice habits, there is NO CHANCE I’ll zip it about the Olympics. You can just FORGET IT. You WILL read about the Olympics, whether you like it OR NOT.

How about this angle?….

Look at how cute our archery team is:

Don’t even try and tell me you expected the archery team to be attractive.

Obviously, I don’t know the first little thing about archery, but I would’ve thought that you could be fat and old and still be a world class archer. I’m thinking, based on this picture, that archery requires physical fitness. Go figure.

Let’s continue. What other interesting Olympic junk can we find?

Please do not forget about the weirdie Olympic sports. Sometimes the weirdies are the most fun to watch.

Women’s weightlifting: This woman can lift you. She can, and she will.

Trampoline: Butt clenchingly scary.

Rhythmic Gymnastics: Don’t forget about these crazy chicks and their ribbons.

See how much we’re learning? Isn’t this wonderful? Do you love the Olympics yet?

The Olympics are Good For Me, Part 2

Okay, only one more ponderous Olympic/viola post, I promise! Then I SWEAR it’s right back to HONKing and general pommerdoodling. I will be getting very Olympic oriented around these parts over the next few weeks, but I swear to Lindy Ruff my blogging will mostly be about cute archers (could such a thing exist?) and bitch-faced rhythmic gymnasts (they’re a dime a dozen).

——

Scales

I am a big picture kind of gal. An “ideas girl”, if you will. I think big. I’m a dreamer. Some might call me flighty, but I prefer whimsical. My approach to the viola has always reflected my big-picture-iness. I have never had any trouble finding inspiration. A pretty sunset, falling in love, falling out of love, growing up, a kind gesture from a stranger, a sad clown. Whatever. These things, and everything else, serve as my motivation to play music. I’m fruity like that.

The trouble is, playing the viola is hard. Playing the viola requires a lot more than just my deeply felt fruity feelings. It requires practice, and lots of it. Playing the viola requires hours and hours of meticulous, clinical practice. It’s very annoying and it has almost nothing to do with the beautiful sunset that inspired me in the first place. It’s like, “Hey, do you want to express the soaring love that sunset made you feel? Okay. First go practice e minor scales for a few days.” Buzzkill, dude.

Now, I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Professional classical musicians don’t really like practicing anymore than you did when you were a little kid. Okay, maybe we don’t hate it quite that much, but for the most part, we avoid it just as much as anybody else. Practicing is hard, it’s seldom fun, and it’s frequently boring, but it must be done. I never have any trouble finding motivation to play music, but I often have a hard time motivating myself to practice.

While I am prone to practice avoidance, every once in a while I get into a good groove, and practicing starts to feel healthy and good. The only thing I can compare this to is when I get into the rhythm with exercising and I start to look forward to going to the gym. (Yeah, I know. It’s not exactly the normal state of affairs, but it happens.) Of all the things that I have ever encountered in all the world, nothing motivates me to practice like the Olympics. Nothing. Every two years I wind up practicing scales and arpeggios for HOURS with the television on mute while watching little girls whip around the balance beam, or strapping men zip around a swimming pool. Scales and arpeggios are like the musical equivalent of sit-ups. They don’t require a ton of focus, but the benefits of doing them are immediate.

For some reason, seeing high level performers in a field that is similar to mine (but not at all the same), helps me to approach my practicing from a new angle. Just like the viola, all sports involve a carefully cultivated technique, and while I tire of thinking about my own technique, I’m inspired by the sterling technique of others. For a few weeks during the Olympics, I take a more athletic approach to the viola and I relish the chance to do “drills” and “races”. No other sporting events make me feel this way.

Perhaps it’s the temporary aspect of the Olympics that I find so appealing from a musical standpoint. Every two years, for two weeks, I attend viola boot camp and I get myself back into combat shape. Right now I am flabby and tired, but by the end of the month I know I’ll be a hard bodied, viola playing machine. (And by “hard bodied” please know that I really mean, “I’ll be able to play very fast, clean scales.” My smooshy physique stays- Olympics or no.) Sometimes, what my viola playing needs most is a little less “whimsy” and a lot more “precision”. I know I can count on the Olympics to create the precious motivation I need to practice scales.  Soon, thanks to the Olympics, I’ll have all the technique necessary to fully express my fruitiness.  The next time I see a pretty sunset I’ll be ready to swing into action, viola-wise.

The Olympics are Good For Me, Part One

I’m starting to get really excited about the Olympics.

Fair warning: The Olympics always cause me to get ridiculously navel gaze-y.  I promise that my blog coverage of the Olympics will be, for the most part, silly and frivolous, but first I have two posts I need to get off my chest.

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Competition

I’ve written a bit about this before (here’s my favorite post on this topic), but I believe there are a lot a lot of parallels between playing music and playing sports.  We all practice for very long hours, we all prepare, and we all perform.  This is just a guess, but I’d be willing to bet that I’ve spent as much time, if not more, playing the viola as Ryan Miller has spent in an ice rink.  In addition to the similarities with preparation, performing music and sports requires a specific mindset, which is why I have a shelf full of sports psychology books in my house.

At a certain point, the comparison breaks down with team sports.  I suppose you could say an orchestra is like a sports team, but it’s a stretch.  The BPO is not competing against other orchestras.  (Although, the fantasy of a comical head-to-head “Battle of the Orchestras” is one of my favorites for occupying my mind during a slow rehearsal.)  The analogy works much better for individual sports, which is probably one of the reasons I love the Olympics so much.  I am truly inspired by watching individual sport athletes compete.  I’ll even take it a step further and say that I am most inspired by the athletes who do not directly engage with their competition (like divers, or gymnasts), but who get up to compete alone, and who are in truth competing against no one in the end.  It’s not a matter of beating the other guy when a diver walks to the end of the board, it’s just a matter of performing at the highest possible level.  It’s simply do, or not do.  (Look, Yoda was smart, okay?)  I like this aspect of the Olympics very much.

I am not, by nature, a very competitive person, and my skill level while operating under the gun is a bit touch and go.  While I have competed often (someday I’ll do a post about orchestra auditions…today I’ll just tell you that auditions are not for the faint of heart and leave it at that), obviously, in comparison to sports, the opportunities to “win” and “lose” in music are a lot fewer.  A good performance or audition is not “beating” anyone, it’s simply performing freely, and to the best of my ability. It’s always just a competition against myself and my fears.  Maybe it’s all those goofy human interest pieces they do, but I feel that the Olympics somehow highlight this type of competition better than other sporting events.

The Olympics always have a few amazing stories.  It’s almost a certainty that in some sport a favorite will crack under the pressure, and some scrappy unknown will rise up to fill the void.  I find this process both humbling and uplifting.  Humbling to see someones personal nightmare unfold, and uplifting to see a dream realized.  The Olympics are not always just about beating the other guy, they are often about rising to the occasion.  The “occasion” of the Olympics seems to take certain athletes out of the grim task of “being the best”, and into a mindset of joyful participation. I can’t tell you how inspiring it is for me as a musician to see athletes win while appearing to be in this mindset.

Lately, in my own life I’m more drawn to the journey than I am to the destination, but the Olympics are pretty darn compelling as far as destinations go.  As I have gotten older, and I’ve begun to feel less urgency to prove myself, my interest in competition has grown.  As a result, my appreciation for musicians and athletes who operate at their highest level in the most competitive environments has never been higher.  I love having the opportunity to see world class competitors react to the big show.  Being able to watch all this from the safety and comfort of my couch (Robin’s couch this year) is invaluable to me as musician and inspiring to me as a person.

I love the Olympics.

Thank You Miss A!

A few weeks ago I got the BEST little note in my locker at work from a high school student whose orchestra was playing at Kleinhans. This girl noticed my locker and took it upon herself to write an incredibly sweet note (written on back of a “tuning tendencies” worksheet) for me to find the next day. I’m in the process of reorganizing my office stuff, and I found the note on a stack of papers. It was just as lovely to read today as it was a few weeks ago. I should have done this sooner, but I want to send a hearty thank you to “Miss A” (I’m not going to publish your name on my blog because I don’t have your permission and because I know you are in high school. I’ll err on the side of caution here, but I assume you’ll recognize yourself!) Your note made my day. There are a lot of reasons I love writing a Sabres blog, but getting awesome notes in my locker from badass-hockey-loving-musicians is very near the tippy top of the list.

Thank you, kind reader!

Farewell Civilization

Tomorrow I go charging off into the woods of New Hampshire to perform and teach at the fantabulous Apple Hill Center For Chamber Music. I love going to Apple Hill each summer, really I do, but it does have two maaaaajor drawbacks.

1. Internet access is suspect. I’m told that this year, for the first time ever, Apple Hill is awash in wireless internet access. I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ve been promised things before. I can make no guarantees about posts from Apple Hill. It’s possible that you’ll see a post everyday, as if I was still sitting in Buffalo, but it’s also possible that I’ll go totally off the grid. Sometimes, things get a little “Into the Wild” at Apple Hill. While there, I’ve been known to grow a huge mountain man beard, and tromp around the forest foraging for nuts and berries for my morning cereal. If I turn into Swirly-eyed-bearded-Crazy-Mountainman-Katebits, I’ll probably be too busy writing my anti-technology manifesto to blog about hockey.

2. Nature everywhere. I make jokes about my mountain man beard, but in reality, I am not a naturey kind of girl. I mean, sure, I like to look at nature. I can appreciate a beautiful sunset. I like to take the occasional stroll through the woods. But Apple Hill is, like, complete nature immersion. It’s not camping, but it’s pretty close. One year, I had a bat in my cabin shack. A bat. I was living with a vampire, people. (Actually, the bat shack produced one really funny story. I was lying on my bed in my shack, talking to my friend Ashley on my cell phone. I was wearing drawstring shorts which I had untied because I was about to go get ready for sleeps. Suddenly, there’s a flying rat swooping around, clearly out for blood. The shacks at Apple Hill are very small, so being trapped in there with a bat is akin to being trapped inside a small walk-in closet with a bat. aka, totally uncool. Being the brave stud that I am, my instinct was to leap to my feet and flee the shack, screaming in terror. So, about half a second after the bat attacked, I was standing in the pitch dark outside of the shack, with my untied drawstring shorts around my ankles, hysterically screaming into the phone at my friend Ashley in Portland who thought I was being ax murdered. She was all, “DO YOU NEED ME TO CALL 911?! KATE?! TALK TO ME! OMG, WHAT’S WRONG?! ARE YOU ON FIRE? STOP, DROP AND ROLL! STOP, DROP AND ROLL!!” Heh.) What I’m telling you is this: Tomorrow night, when you are enjoying your cable television, and your Guitar Hero, in your mosquito-less, bat-less homes, please think of me, shivering and terrified in my weirdo little shack. The first night is always the worst. After I make it through the first night without being murdered by nature, I start to relax, but I can assure you, tomorrow night I will be whimpering and compulsively rocking back and forth. Send me your positive vibes.

I’m not kidding. This is where I will live for the next two weeks.

The System in Our Building

This might not be funny to anyone else but me and the handful of classical musicians who read this blog, but there are a few hockey phrases that I’ve recently been applying to playing in an orchestra.

I’ve always liked how hockey players refer to their arenas as “our building”. Recently, I’ve enjoyed referring to Kleinhans Music Hall as “our building”. This terminology is particularly good for when you have a guest soloist you don’t really like. “I don’t think he should come into our building and play like this.” [Note: this does not apply to our current guest artist, Edgar Meyer, who is quite fabulous. He's welcome in our building anytime.]

If we go play a run-out, when we get home we can say, “It’s good to be back in our building.”

My other, (and most favorite) hockey phrase is “the system”. You’d be surprised at how many times a day I can say, “Oooh. The system really broke down right there. Come on guys! We can do this. Let’s just stick to the system and work together. Just stick to the system, people!”

Good things will happen if we stick to the system.

Now all I have to do is figure out how to apply the phrase, “They’re really spending a lot of time stuck in their own end” to classical music, and I’m all set.