More on the 4th- and a Summer's Tale

A new feature at our 4th of July concert will be an online site that will allow patrons to log on and learn about pieces that are being played, as they are being played. The site address will be displayed on the screens at the concert site, and there will also be a code on the printed programs that will guide the way to that site. The big programs that are handed out at Masterworks concerts are not feasible for an outdoor show such as this, but with this new- and experimental- link, a great deal more information will be available to concertgoers than would be possible with the single sheet of paper that is ordinarily handed out at concerts like this.

Some of our players are heading out of town this summer to play and/or teach at summer festivals. Principal Second violinist Edward Pulgar and his wife and two children are off to Indianola, Iowa (just south of Des Moines) to play with the Des Moines Metro Opera. This is a festival that I have played off and on since 1990. When one thinks of fine opera companies, rural Iowa does not leap to mind as a likely venue, but I spent eight lovely seasons there playing critically acclaimed productions, including some rarely heard operas, with world-class singers and up-and-coming opera stars.

In 1991, I turned 30 there. There was a party, but missing from it was one violinist named Lisa Muci. As I recall she was on her first date with Herb Eckhoff, a fine opera singer who was featured on the KSO’s performance of Act 1 of Wagner’s Die Walküre in October of 2001. I have since forgiven Lisa for her absence that night. She made the right choice.