Words Like Locusts Flew From Her Fingers

BSO Academy Day 6

Well… this is it!! The big day! We had a joint rehearsal with Group 1 (I’m in Group 2) from 10:30 to 1:00, followed by a question-and-answer session with Marin Alsop. Some of the questions:

Q) How does rehearsing our combined group differ from rehearsing the BSO alone. A) She thinks about what kinds of comments will be actually productive regardless of who she’s conducting. She gets pickier as the concert draws nearer.

There were several other questions, but I honestly don’t remember what they were. They must not have been too interesting.

After that, we had lunch with Ms Alsop. Today’s salad had capers in it. Yum! I’ve got a jar of capers in my fridge and a lot of good intentions as far as using them, but so far I haven’t. Now that I know how good they can be, I may finally do something with them. Dessert was all sorts of little yummy tartlets, mini eclairs, tiny cheesecakes, and so on. Each one bite-sized. Now I have the rest of the afternoon off. We meet back at the Hall at 6:30 and the concert begins at 7:30.

The week has gone incredibly fast — seeming to speed up as we’ve drawn closer to the end. Thinking back on it, I’ve got some ideas about what I’d do different and what I’m glad I did. These may change as time goes by and I have a chance to reflect more, but for now…

What I’d do different:

I wouldn’t pay for the lunches in the Symphony Hall. While they were very nice, there weren’t enough choices for a vegetarian. Consequently, I pretty much got stuck with a big salad every day. I’m not saying it wasn’t good for me. God knows, I don’t eat enough vegetables. Only… I didn’t really feel like I got my money’s worth on those. This is pretty typical for flat rate food situations. The meat-eaters always get more value for their buck.

I would plan from the start to bring some of my own food. I made a trip to Target on my first full day here and got some bread, cheese, peanut butter, mayo, mustard, bananas, instant coffee and bottled water. Also, some cheap knives and forks and a coffee mug. Having these really has made a difference as far as making up for the lack of food other than salads. Also, since I’m not typically going out for dinner anywhere, I’ve got the makings of a light meal if I get hungry at night. (I should explain that the “apartment” I’m staying in has a microwave and a fridge.)

I would plan from the start to bring my own pillow and comforter and possibly my own towels. The blanket they provided in the dorm was a very thin cotton thing and it wasn’t warm enough for me. So, when I was at Target I also bought an inexpensive (though surprisingly pretty!) comforter, a second pillow (the room already had one), and some nice pillow cases. Just having these has made my room SO much more comfortable and home-y. I think I’d also bring some kind of caddy for toting shower supplies back and forth from the bathroom. (Though my roommate had no compunction about leaving all of her stuff inside the shower. I guess I just think that when you’re sharing a space with someone you don’t know well, you ought to leave the shared areas completely free of personal stuff.)

Things I’m glad I did:

There were seminars that, on paper, really didn’t look like topics I’d enjoy. Feldenkrais and Yoga for Musicians, for example. I very seriously considered skipping both of these, but I forced myself to go because, after all, I’d paid for them (as part of the basic tuition for the week.) I am so glad I did both of these. They were both much more interesting than I’d thought they’d be. I really did learn things and I also got to “bond” a little bit more with some of my fellow musicians. This is a good thing because I am really quite an introvert and I tend to want to just go off by myself a lot — especially when I’ve been spending a lot of intense time in a big group of people, like after a rehearsal. If I had avoided the seminars, I would probably have been spending too much time by myself and then I would have started to feel a little alienated. (Yeah… it’s a fine line with me. Too much time in groups is exhausting and irritating. Too much time alone makes me start to feel sorry for myself.)

There is a free shuttle that runs back and forth between the residence hall and the symphony hall. It’s a distance of maybe 7 blocks. I rarely took the shuttle. Most of the time I walked. I’m really glad I did because I haven’t been getting much exercise since the surgery in April and I want to build up a little more cardiovascular strength before the next surgery in July. Of course, the weather was really wonderful this past week and that made the prospect of walking significantly more attractive. If it had been 95 every day, you can bet that I’d have been on that shuttle! Putting the whole exercise aspect aside though, it was just really nice to be outside enjoying this neighborhood.

I took a couple of 90-minute lessons with Laurie Sokoloff and I’m really glad I did. Not only did I learn a lot but meeting her was really just nice. She’s such a warm and open sort of person. I’ve been “aware” of her as a world-class piccolo player for years and years, so there was also the aspect of meeting and spending actual quality time talking to someone who’s famous.

You can probably guess what my answer would be to the question: Would you sign up for the BSO Academy again? Absolutely, I would. In a heartbeat. The experience has been educational, fun, terrifying, thrilling, exhilarating, and fulfilling on too many levels to describe. All of the BSO musicians I had contact with were so nice. The other participants were great, too. Even the ones I occasionally found annoying. It was so worth doing and so worth the money.