Thanksgiving with Indians

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Partly because it has no religious or political connection, as virtually all the other federal holidays do (and really, do we need two holidays devoted to war?  Couldn’t we honor all veterans, dead and alive, on Memorial Day, and switch the early November holiday to be, say, the Tuesday after the first Monday?).  But mostly because it is a time for family and food, and doesn’t involve the pressure of presents. 

Until I married, I returned home for every Thanksgiving, and it was somewhat traumatic the first time I accompanied Charlie to Rochester for the holiday.  In my parents’ house, preparation began the night before, after our traditional meal at House of Fortune (so there would be no dishes to wash), when my mother enlisted us to ‘pluck the bread’ for stuffing.  She would then rise around 4:30am to put the turkey in the oven for a mid-afternoon meal (which always seemed silly, since you still have to eat lunch..).  At Charlie’s house, there was a distinct lack of preparation.  Even on the morning of Thanksgiving, I kept asking when they were going to start cooking things other than the onion casserole.  Little did I know that their family tradition was to order almost the entire meal from the country club!  Seemed a little like cheating to me…

This year, in addition to Charlie’s family, we were joined by two RIT graduate students from India.  My friend Luci, who works at the U of R (and who took in three students from that school), hooked us up to ‘adopt’ students, who aren’t able to go home over the short break, for dinner. Charlie picked up Manish and Narendra around 4:30, and his sister and her dog arrived shortly afterward.  His nephew Yair and his family were a bit late, and unfortunately, because Charlie had talked me out of stuffing the bird (we didn’t want to give our guests food poisoning…), it was ready way too early.  So Manish and Narendra got a good look at what Thanksgiving has always been like in my family – a bit unpredictable, with lots of bustling around in the kitchen (although luckily no cursing this year!).

I was worried that our cuisine would be too bland for their palates, especially when said that they try to cook their own food at school when possible, and that they weren’t impressed with any of the Rochester’s Indian restaurants they’ve been to so far.  I was also worried that our dog would misbehave and bite one of them, since they weren’t that comfortable around a large dog, and our dog can be a little twitchy.  However, neither fear was realized;  Todd didn’t eat either of our guests, and they seemed to enjoy our food (or they’re really good actors!). They also graciously put up with all of our questions about their backgrounds and families and goals and cultural differences and how they liked the snow.  Both are in graduate school – Narendra is studying electrical engineering, and Manish computer science.  When I asked if he could fix the healthcare.gov website, Manish laughed and said probably, but that the government wouldn’t hire him because he’s not a citizen. Narendra was great with little Fiona, taking her on his lap and letting her play with his iphone. 

After we’d all eaten more than we thought we could, and discussing the problems of the world, it was time for Charlie to take our guests home.  It felt good to be sharing our home and holiday with Manish and Narendra, and who knows, maybe this is the start of a new Rochester tradition for us!

Charlotte Symphony Orchestra – Part II – The Concert

(The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, in Punta Gorda, Florida, is conducted by Rochester native Raffaele Ponti)

For the first time ever, I attended a pre-concert talk (note to self – must do this more often).  It was extremely well attended – the hall must have been at least 1/3 full. Maestro Raffaele Ponti first explained that since the orchestra only presents 5 concerts per year, and the Board has dispensed with the purely pops concert, he will incorporate pops pieces into the regular programs, so that each concert will have “something fun, something traditional, and something different.”  He will mix the classics and pops with new works, to introduce the audience to what he hopes will become “new favorites.”  He explained his expectations: for the orchestra – to become one of the finest in the region; for the audience – to be part of the journey, and to be open to expanding their listening repertoire. 

Ponti has also repositioned the cellists in front of the winds, facing toward the audience, to enhance the projection of their sound.  The violists are now all to the conductor’s right, with their soundboards facing away from the audience, even though he admitted that the violas are the least projecting instrument. As my niece Alison explained to me, orchestral position is a dilemma and involves compromises.  Apparently, until the advent of recording microphones, it was more common to seat the 1^st and 2^nd violins on opposite sides, and position the lower-range strings in between.

Nanette and her friend Susan in their
sparkly Phantom of the Orchestra scarves

The excitement of the audience was palpable as they filled the auditorium for the concert.  At least 20% of the audience were wearing “Phantom of the Orchestra” scarves – men as well as women.  For an annual $35 donation, supporters can proudly display their enthusiasm for ‘their’ orchestra, as one might wear a team baseball cap or jersey to a game (yes, again with a sports analogy!).  Regional symphonies are like minor league baseball teams, and not just because their players are perhaps less skilled than the major leagues.  Just as minor league teams are much more connected to their fans personally, regional orchestras are much more connected to their communities personally. Because the community is smaller, there’s a greater chance that the audience will have a personal connection to the musicians, in addition to the performer/audience relationship.  There’s also a greater chance that the audience members will know each other, and that attending a concert becomes a social experience in addition to a listening one.  I was impressed that my friend Nanette, whom I was visiting, knew and spoke to at least 3 dozen people before the concert.  I was disheartened that at this sold-out performance only about a dozen of the 850 audience members were under the age of 50 (there were many more people with walkers – I know it’s Florida, but still…).  Orchestras everywhere must be struggling with how to make classical music relevant to the next generation, in order to survive.  Perhaps Ponti’s “Symphony Kids” program will prove successful, and be replicated in other communities.

The performance began with The Star-Spangled Banner (why?!?), and then the familiar Capriccio Italien by Tchaikovsky (there were some tuning and timing issues, but perhaps the musicians were still settling in to Ponti’s conducting style, or perhaps they were exhausted from two consecutive days of lengthy rehearsals).  Pianist Jeffrey Biegel joined the orchestra to perform Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and the orchestra’s lush sound complemented Biegel’s virtuosity perfectly (I am not familiar enough with this piece to have identified the additional measures that were peppered throughout).  The final work, Giuseppe Martucci’s Symphony No 1 in d minor, was Ponti’s contribution to the “something new” category, and both Nanette and I agreed that it was innocuous, except for the delightfully syncopated and dissonant third movement.

Both Biegel and Ponti received standing ovations, and both were deserved.  Ponti’s passion will definitely enhance the audience’s sense of ‘team spirit,’ and everyone seemed quite pleased with the selection of their new maestro.

Charlotte Symphony Orchestra – Part I – it’s a small world?

Raffaele, Nanette, and me

On a recent visit to my friend Nanette, in Florida, I had the pleasure of being her guest not just at the opening night performance of the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra, but also at a donor party two nights before, where I met their new conductor, Raffaele Ponti, and the guest artist – the incredibly talented pianist, Jeffrey Biegel.  So what is the connection to Rochester?  Ponti is currently the conductor of three orchestras – the Charlotte Symphony, the Paducah Symphony (Kentucky), and … the Genesee Symphony.  He was born in Rochester, and lives in Fairport. He played the trumpet at age 17 with the RPO, and has also guest conducted the RPO.

It’s funny that, while I consider Jeff Tyzik to be Rochester's pops conductor, other communities must feel the same way, since he also serves as principal pops conductor of the Oregon, Florida, Seattle, Detroit, and Dallas symphony orchestras!  It is a tribute to Rochester that both conductors choose to live here, instead of in their other orchestral cities. I can’t help but think about their carbon footprint, though, and the fact that in order to conduct a regional orchestra full-time requires conducting multiple regional orchestras, not necessarily in close proximity.

Ponti has initiated a very exciting program in Charlotte County called “Symphony Kids.”  His plan is to visit every 3^rd grade class in the county and introduce the students to two pieces – Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite – through art.  Each class will create drawings or paintings inspired by listening to these pieces, and the artwork will be displayed at a culminating concert of the works in the spring, which the students (and, one hopes, their parents) will attend.  His goal is to introduce classical music to kids in an enjoyable format, in the hopes of making them the audience of the future.

He has also created an “instrument petting zoo,” where students can get hands-on experience with different instruments and the sounds they make.  And his “Musical Chairs” program will invite young musicians to sit with the orchestra side by side during rehearsals, to see and hear how the instrument should sound when played professionally.

When the previous conductor retired, the Charlotte Symphony conducted a search that involved prospects guest conducting the orchestra, and the audience actually voting for their favorite!  The vote was as binding as voting on shareholder resolutions;  still, it reflects on the view that the Charlotte Symphony belongs to the community.  They recognize that their viability depends on the support not just of a privileged few, but the entire audience – current and future. 

Jeffrey Biegel at the donor party

We were also treated to a short performance by pianist Jeffrey Biegel, the guest artist for the weekend's concert. He explained that he was deaf until age 3, when a doctor determined that he was hearing impaired, not developmentally disabled, as his parents feared.  His first introduction to sound was through the vibration of music in his parents’ speakers, and his love of and talent for music displayed itself in early childhood.  He also explained that the concert would include the original, unedited version of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, with about 50 measures of additional piano solo that had been selectively deleted by the publisher.

Ponti’s debut as conductor of the orchestra was keenly anticipated, and at the party, it was announced that the Sunday concert had sold out its 850-seat hall!  

To be continued…

George Eastman House - Holiday Gingerbread Houses

What better to do on a cold winter’s day (well, late fall, but it certainly looked and felt like winter, with temperatures in the teens and snow dusting the ground) than to head to the George Eastman House to see the annual exhibit of wreaths, trees, and gingerbread houses?  All of the items are donated and available for purchase via silent auction, as a fundraiser for the House.  Unfortunately, we were too early for the decorated trees – we hadn’t realized that each category has a slightly different schedule.  No matter, because we won a decorated tree last year (its theme was The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is one of my favorite animated films, with an incredible Danny Elfman score).  So we weren’t in need of anything this year (although many things can be rationalized in the name of helping a good cause!). 

my favorite - with cones of music

Charlie's favorite - made by
Conesus Lake Garden Club

The creativity is astounding, and there were a number of wreaths Charlie, his sister, Kathryn, and I admired (not always the same ones…).  Most were created and donated by local garden clubs or garden stores.  I should have bought the one I can still picture from last year – it was created from ribbons of old film – even though we had no sensible place then to hang one, and that hasn’t changed.  Still, one could always find a place in a pinch?

one that both Kathryn & I admired

Last year, there was more diversity in the gingerbread house offerings in terms of their artistic merit.  There was even a whole room devoted to the most intricate and artistic houses.  Then again, there were more houses that looked like a child’s first attempt, and which probably ended up back in the same family.  This year, there were very few that were worthy of a bidding war, but also very few that might just get a pity bid…  I still wonder how many years a gingerbread house lasts (obviously it doesn’t matter if the materials get stale, but do they mold?  Or is there too much sugar for that?  Do the colors fade?  Would someone accidentally knock a turret off, or would our dog devour it if he could get to it?).  I would make one myself, but I don’t think I have the patience even to create one from a kit, and I certainly would worry about ‘inventory shrinkage’ (and the corresponding waist expansion).  So I’ll just have to settle for an annual trip to the George Eastman House to get my gingerbread house fix.  And who knows, maybe some year a wreath will find its way home with us.

Lollypop Farm

A rainy day is perhaps not the best day to visit Lollypop Farm with a young child, since most of the animals in the petting area like to get wet about as much as people do, so they’re all under cover and off-limits.  But off we went with Charlie’s nephew Yair, his sig ot, Sheila, and their daughter, Fiona.  First up were the cages of adoptable dogs – Charlie and I spotted two we wouldn’t mind having, but our current dog Todd would. We also peeked at the bunnies (what a silly pet – the actress I roomed with in New York while I was at b-school had a pet rabbit, and not only was it totally unaffectionate, it pooped everywhere when it got loose!) and the birds.  

Many of the animals at Lollypop seem to have been abandoned by owners who could or would no longer care from them.  There was a 137-pound mastiff that overflowed his bed, and you can just imagine some family getting him as an adorable puppy and then being horrified as he grew unmanageably large and strong.  Some of the smaller dogs would definitely find new homes, but I worried for the mastiff and a few of the pit bull mixes.  Lollypop’s policy is to “euthanize as few animals as (they) can,” but they don’t advertise what percent of the 11,000 animals they take in per year are killed.  Given the sign at the desk at the beginning of November, the outlook is not so good…

Lollypop has an odd assortment of farm animals, including cows, horses, chickens, and pigs. I fell in love with the emus, but who on earth keeps an emu for a pet?  Or more precisely, who buys one as a pet and then doesn’t keep and care for it?  The goats and sheep in the petting area are probably also adoptable, but you’d have to live on a lot of land, and in a town that doesn’t prevent residents from owning farm animals.  The animals were roped off and shy, but we still managed to get a bit of petting in.

We recognized many of the names on the big board of donors, including Charlie’s Uncle Fred, who was a big supporter of Lollypop Farms when he was alive.  And our former dog-sitter (former, sadly, because Todd bit her cat Bill in the face, and although Bill is fine, Todd is now canis non grata) had sponsored a few of the dog cages.

When it’s time to get a replacement for Todd, we’ll definitely come here, although Charlie discovered that rather than owning, we can always volunteer to come here and walk their dogs. Tempting, very tempting!

RPO - Barber, Copland, etc. & Disney Fantasia

When I was a teenager, I had the usual love of rock & roll and disdain for classical music.  My parents dragged me to the occasional concert at the Kennedy Center, but mostly took my older brother, Peter, who had a much better appreciation of the music than I did.  My love of classical music developed almost too late to thank my parents for their thwarted early attempts to educate me musically. 

It always amazes me when I hear a piece on the radio that has been ‘covered’ by a popular musician.  I can’t listen to Prokofiev’s Lieutenant Kijé Suite without singing Sting’s “I Hope the Russians Love Their Children Too” (which, to me, came first!), or  Rachmaninoff’s Second Symphony without singing Eric Carmen’s “Never Gonna Fall in Love Again” (ditto).  My first exposure to Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 was actually in the Womble’s song, “Minuetto Allegretto”!

I now really enjoy going to classical music concerts in general, and the RPO in particular.  They are a wonderful orchestra (as Pops conductor Jeff Tyzik graciously reminds us at performances) and they deserve a creative, committed, collaborative conductor.  In the meantime, Rochester is going to benefit from a series of guest conductors (and who knows, maybe one will stick?).  Larry Rachleff, of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, recently conducted an enjoyable concert of 20^th century music, including Copland’s Appalachian Spring (again, my first exposure was through song – Peter asked me to sing  “Simple Gifts” at his wedding back in 1980).  It was incredible to watch him conduct the entire program from memory, and to hear Juliana Athayde, ordinarily the Concertmaster, solo on the violin, which alternately sang and wept.

This past weekend’s performance of Disney’s Fantasia Live in Concert was nothing short of astounding. It must have been a revolutionary concept in 1940 to set an animated film to classical music, but it is also revolutionary to “reverse engineer” it, as Tyzik explained, and perform the music in time with the movie.  Today’s technology makes that possible, and he demonstrated the screen he was watching as he conducted, which displayed the film as well as the measure numbers and beats per measure, and the earpiece he was wearing that clicked the tempo as well.  Not much conducting latitude in this concert!  I found myself visually torn: watching the film on the giant screen, watching the measures on the conductor’s screen, and watching Tyzik anticipating changes in tempo and translating them to his baton.  It was fascinating.

At one point, Tyzik asked the audience, “are you having fun?” The audience applauded loudly, of course, and he then admitted what a challenge it was to marry the musical performance to the screen and to constrain his own conducting instincts – he joked that it was, indeed, “rocket science.”  There were lots of children in the audience, and they must have been delighted at the multi-media presentation.  What a great way to get the next generation engaged and interested in classical music!  If there’d been a concert like this when I was a child (impossible, of course, before the age of computers), perhaps I would not have been so recalcitrant.  Then again,…

The 39 Steps - Part IX - Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight!

(The 39 Steps, directed by Sean Daniels, is in production until 11/17/13 on the Geva Mainstage)

I finally had the luxury of sitting out front, with friends and family (I went not only with my husband, but his sister, and our friends/neighbors Eric (a Geva first-timer), and his wife Kathy), happily part of a sold-out performance.  Watching the play unfolding, I was reminded of the opening number in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum:  “Nothing with kings, nothing with crowns; bring on the lovers, liars and clowns!  Stunning surprises, cunning disguises…” This play has all of that, in 90 fast-paced minutes.

I’ll never know how much my enjoyment of the show was enhanced by the ‘cohort’ experience and having become intimately familiar with the script.  But judging from the response of my companions (who were incredibly impressed by the talent, versatility, and professionalism of the cast, and that it wasn’t simply a copy of the Broadway production), and the rest of the audience, I suspect I would have loved the show even if I’d had no knowledge of it going in.  There are so many wonderful moments in this production – the train scene with its rapid changing of hats, the vertiginous chase scene involving the actors lying on the floor, the silly nods to Rochester (I’m not sure everyone could hear when Aaron, as the Usherette, offers someone in the audience a garbage plate) – the list goes on.  The set was beautiful and simple, and the lighting and sound really enhanced the play’s action – things I wouldn’t have given much thought to before.  It also never occurred to me that these actors work without understudies.  I was a bit worried after yesterday’s production note that Monica injured herself slightly, but there was no hint of that in her performance today.

It has been a true privilege to serve as a ‘cohort’ on two of Geva’s productions, and I will miss the daily e-mails from the production managers with notes on how the rehearsal or performance went, house counts, notes to the various departments about things that have broken, etc. The daily recaps even comment on the audience’s reaction – how quickly they warmed up to the show, or whether their attention held, or whether they didn’t laugh in anticipated moments. (And Frank Cavallo's summary of the performance I attended reached the same conclusion I did: “The actors fed off a big and appreciative audience and delivered a very fresh and funny performance.”)  Unlike traditional jobs, where you might get an annual review, cast and crew get nightly performance feedback, and strive daily to improve their job of helping an audience suspend belief for several hours in order to be entertained.

One of a comedy’s measures of success is a full house (with the same number in the audience after intermission as before…) and laughter.  From the production e-mails I’ve seen, and the favorable reviews I’ve received from friends, The 39 Steps has been a great success. So it turns out my friend Nanette was right when she said I’d enjoy this show.  But perhaps it’s just as well that Mary Beth dissuaded me from seeing the Broadway production, so that I could see this one with no preconceptions. 

Dance/Hartwell at SUNY Brockport

Our friend Colleen Culley was dancing in a piece she choreographed, in performances by undergrad and graduate dance majors at SUNY Brockport this weekend, so we joined her parents for the Friday evening presentation.  It was strange driving half an hour to Brockport, and reminded us how spoiled we are living so close to downtown Rochester, and the plethora of performing arts available here (and how much we do not miss commuting from NJ to NYC).  We were pleasantly surprised to see the 270-seat auditorium almost full!

The dance was mostly modern (and abstract), and the choreography was mostly similar (although each piece was choreographed independently).  There seemed to be a trend of mixing long silences with music, so that the endings of pieces were delineated with light (mostly fading out), rather than music.  It's funny that when something that seems anti-establishment is repeated often enough, it no longer feels fresh and exciting.

Two of the pieces used very creative sound to accompany the dance.  "Transit Occasions," by Lauren Saint-Louis, used recordings from the NYC subway system (and the movement mimicked waiting for a train); and "Arithmophobia," by Lexi Hills, was set to repetitive recitations of the first several dozen digits of pi.  One piece had no musical accompaniment, but the choreography didn't seem to use the silence, and the lack of music meant the audience heard the effort of the dancers (perhaps that was the intent?).  A couple of the pieces explored the use of light and shadows (not just the fade-out...). In one piece the dancer cast shadows, which were as interesting to watch as the dancer herself; another backlit the dancers so that the audience watched moving silhouettes, which were very effective.  

All of the pieces were well danced, including the one piece where three cross-dressed male dancers came close to classical dance.  I am slowly overcoming my prejudice towards rail-thin dancers (since that was what I was used to after 25+ years in the audience at New York City Ballet) and recognizing that other body types can be athletic and graceful as well.  None of the pieces was particularly moving or emotional or humorous.

Except Colleen's.  Entitled "Dear Hand Sanitizer," the work was very literal in mocking the hyper-clean, antibacterial among us.  It was alternately painful and funny to watch, as she writhed on the stage, eating dirt, licking her toe, sampling her ear wax.  Hers was the only piece that not only had a 'character,' but that elicited an audible response, beyond polite applause, from the audience. There were a few titters, but the murmuring at the conclusion was primarily a combination of discomfort, shock, and consternation.  I even heard a whispered, "that was weird," from somewhere behind me.   I commend Colleen for daring to create something that made the audience think and react, rather than sit passively and watch.  And I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next in her efforts to push the envelope!