Pit Problems

Even though I really enjoy working in the orchestra pit, it makes me a little bit nervous. The first year I played with the KSO we were rehearsing in the pit when someone ran past and accidentally kicked something into the pit. Now, if you haven't seen the pit at the Civic, understand that our heads are just about at the level of the auditorium floor. The UFO flew into the pit and hit my viola hard enough to crack the belly and the sound post. It happened so fast and was so unexpected that at first I had no idea what had happened. Everyone around me stopped, shocked, while the conductor yelled to keep playing (it was the last 5 minutes or so of a dress rehearsal and he thought I had just broken a string).

I have always been well aware of the hazards of playing in a pit. The next time you go to a musical, ballet, or opera with live music if you look carefully you will see nets that extend part way off the stage to the pit. Those are to catch anything that might fly off the stage and onto the musicians. That is not an altogether uncommon occurrence, either. Being hit from the audience side was something I had never thought about until it happened.

Such is the nature of the pit. The unexpected should be, well, expected. It's a different layout than we're accustomed and we're working in less space with more stuff: cases, wires, lights, risers, etc. Things happen.

And, at Saturday night's Nutcracker performance, something did happen. Earlier in the week, my stand partner Eunsoon and I had noticed the desk of our stand was a bit loose. As long as we didn't tilt it back too far it was fine and we didn't think much about it. Saturday evening we were playing along when suddenly the desk flopped completely upside-down, catapulting our music toward the first violins while blinding them with our stand lights. As is often the case when things go awry, it happened during the quietest part of the entire ballet.

We're not sure what happened. No one touched the stand, and it didn't happen right after a page turn. So we're doing what all musicians do when something bad happens that can't be explained.

We're blaming the conductor.

Nutcracker

I love December. It is the busiest month of the symphony season for many KSO musicians because there are a lot of opportunities to freelance outside the symphony. In December you can find KSO musicians playing at all sorts of places: in churches, shopping malls, hospitals, and, of course, at the Civic Auditorium with the KSO. Our annual Clayton Holiday Concerts are coming up later in December at the Civic, but this week we start rehearsals for the Nutcracker with the Appalachian Ballet.

This is my 10th year of Nutcrackers and my 9th season playing the viola part with the KSO. (The first year I was playing violin in a different orchestra.) I've never tried it, but I bet I could play my part from memory. Maybe even backwards. Knowing the music so well does not make things boring like one might suspect. Actually, I find playing the Nutcracker year after year quite enjoyable. It's like meeting up with an old friend. The music is difficult but after so many years all the technical kinks have been worked out. The music is in our fingers. It is nice to be able to sit back and completely enjoy making music with my colleagues.

The atmosphere during Nutcracker is different from our regular concerts. Not casual, but things are definitely more relaxed. A big part of it is that we know the music so well. Every season we have one or two Nutcracker newbies but for the most part we've all been playing it together forever. We're in the pit for the Nutcracker and people relax in the pit. Our performance is meant to support what is happening on stage. We are not the main attraction. Also, a sense of humor is essential for playing in the pit. The pit has many elements we don't have to deal with when we're on the big stage. The space can be cramped. Even when we have ample space to sit and play there is never enough room to be able to walk around comfortably. The set-up is different with the viola section on the outside (where our 2nd violins usually sit) and the woodwinds and brass separated. There is also the "zoo" factor. People like to come look at the orchestra during intermission. Nothing wrong with this, it's a great way to show kids a more up-close view of an orchestra, but it can feel a little bit like being in a zoo with so many people peering down at you. For the most part, though, the musicians deal with these minor inconveniences with grace and humor.

The Appalachian Ballet and the KSO will perform the Nutcracker at the Civic Auditorium this Saturday and Sunday, December 5th and 6th. More information can be found here.

December

December is an unusual month in the KSO's season. Other months of the season are predictable concert-wise. We have a Masterworks concert and then usually a Chamber or Pops concert along with a smattering of community outreach performances by small ensembles. In December, we turn away from our usual schedule of classical music and direct our attention to the upcoming winter holidays. Even though we don't perform concerts in our usual series, we manage to keep plenty busy. Last week we performed a holiday concert at Lincoln Memorial University. This past weekend we performed the Nutcracker with the Appalachian Ballet Company. On Thursday we will perform a holiday concert in Morristown. Next week we will begin rehearsals for the Clayton Holiday Concert. There are also small ensembles from the symphony that are doing special outreach performances at area businesses and hospitals.

While the music we play for our holiday programs is not as technically difficult as our usual fare, I actually think December is one of the most challenging months in our season because everything gets turned on it's head. In other months we tend to have the luxury of having rehearsals for one or two programs at a time which are followed closely by performances. In December this is not always the case. For example, last week we rehearsed the Nutcracker on Tuesday and Wednesday and then performed it Saturday and Sunday. In between the rehearsals and performances of the Nutcracker we had a rehearsal for our runout concerts which we performed last Thursday at Lincoln Memorial University and will perform again this coming Thursday in Morristown. In the midst of those programs, the quartets have had recent performances at Oak Ridge National Lab, First Friday at the Emporium Building, and other area businesses and hospitals.

The time lapse between rehearsals and performances is not a big issue musically, it's just different than our usual schedule and requires a different mindset. December is about keeping all the balls in the air without dropping any.

Nutcracker

This week the KSO starts rehearsals for our performances of the Nutcracker with the Appalachian Ballet Company. I really like the Nutcracker. We play it every year and I never get tired of it. The music is challenging but familiar. It doesn't take much rehearsal or practice to get it back in shape. I think this is what makes it so much fun for me. Usually when we play difficult music I haven't had the luxury of performing it many many times. The Nutcracker is comfortable. I no longer need to count rests because I just know when to play. The music is familiar enough that I can sit back and play but the part is meaty enough that it's not mind-numbingly boring.

Another thing I like about playing the Nutcracker is that we are in the pit. I expect I'm in the minority amongst my colleagues in feeling this way. We are pretty cramped for space. I shudder to think about having to evacuate in the case of an emergency because it's difficult to move around down there. Still, I like playing in the pit once in awhile not because of the pit itself, but because it signifies a different kind of playing. When we are in the pit, the orchestra takes on the role of supporting what is happening on stage. Musical decisions are based on how long it takes a dancer to land a jump or how many steps they need to fit in a certain amount of music. For Masterworks concerts it is rare that we make cuts or add repeats. We generally play the music as it is on the page. Sometimes we don't play every repeat but that is about as far away from the printed music as we get. For opera and ballet performances the music is more of a suggestion. We make big cuts, we swap pieces around, we add repeats, and we even extend or contract note values based on what is happening on stage. I find the process interesting.

It is very rare these days for smaller ballet companies to perform with live music. Knoxville is lucky to have the Appalachian Ballet. I am very much looking forward to our collaboration with them.