#26
Posted: 6/6/14 at 1:30am
Just a small correction, there were 12 of us in the pit this year, not 9. I was the reed 2 (principal clarinet/bass clarinet, solo Eb clarinet/tenor sax, and 2nd flute). No, it wasn't optimal, but I think we did a rather respectable job with the reduction (which had to be auditioned for and approved by the Bernstein Estate), as did a large majority of our audiences this year, judging by the hordes of people that made it a point to stop by the pit after every show. Did we enjoy playing with the Sinfonia? Of course not. It's impossible to play in tune with because every patch is tempered differently, and many of the patches sound nothing like the instruments they're replacing, but it was either take the gig or...not. It is what it is, as they say.
We had an incredibly talented and hardworking cast, and it has been an honor and a privilege to spend the last 8 months of my life in that pit and play with all of these people. (They are at the moment finishing the last week of the tour in DC, but they had to lay off 7 of us from the orchestra and hire locals for the National Theatre, because even though we are a union orchestra, and the sitdown was short enough not to invoke the standard local rule, they objected to the use of the Sinfonia and made it a condition that they lay us off and hire 15 local musicians if they were going to use it in that house). Such are the vagaries of the touring life...
I'm glad to hear some of you enjoyed our production this year. :)
We had an incredibly talented and hardworking cast, and it has been an honor and a privilege to spend the last 8 months of my life in that pit and play with all of these people. (They are at the moment finishing the last week of the tour in DC, but they had to lay off 7 of us from the orchestra and hire locals for the National Theatre, because even though we are a union orchestra, and the sitdown was short enough not to invoke the standard local rule, they objected to the use of the Sinfonia and made it a condition that they lay us off and hire 15 local musicians if they were going to use it in that house). Such are the vagaries of the touring life...
I'm glad to hear some of you enjoyed our production this year. :)
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