Today they thought that for the lobby music we ought to be as far from the Airforce brass band as possible. So they put against a wall that was all window glass. We sounded thin and horrible. The gathered crowd loved it anyway. I don't see how because we couldn't even hear ourselves and 3 banjos can make a serious racket. But it was a success all the same. 

On stage for the formal program things were a bit more relaxed as we all know each other now. I set the pace for Pensacola at exactly the same tempo as Hard Times thinking that at this slower pace we could lay into the rhythm harder and also hoping  my fingers wouldn't trip over each other. All went well until the fourth part where I had a memory lapse of a measure and a half  during which I played nonsense until I retrieved my mind found my place. No one seemed to notice. The audience clapped last night. Tonight they cheered. OK!  

I discovered one factor  in the magnificent sound of the string section. We are sitting beside the first violins. The instruments themselves turn out to be 3 Strads and one Guernari!  The great skill of the  players of course is  most of the reason for the great tone but they sure are being helped by some exquisite instruments.

Tonight's great moment was the compliment we got from the Concert Master who praised our ensemble coordination and musicianship. This is so much more than we expected. We had hoped to be tolerated or at least endured by the symphony musicians but I believe the praise and enjoyment was genuine.

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Nice review Jody,  The one thing that stands out to me is "Tonight they cheered". They wouldn't cheer if they didn't think it was superb!!  

You are all doing a great job for Classic Style. Several thousand more people now are aware that the banjo can play other things than The Beverley Hillbillies theme and Dueling banjos!

All the best for tonight !!

I'm enjoying reading your reports, Jody. Keep up the great performances! Can't wait to hear about the next one.

When I first started playing banjo at age eleven it was the middle of the previous century. Classical musicians still had the attitude that only their kind of music (as if it were of one kind, which it isn't) is the only thing worthy of calling "music". It was the same in the days of Parke Hunter and he had to prove to symphony musicians that the banjo was a musical instrument. We didn't have to prove a thing. Today's symphony musicians, if SFS is typical — and its members do come from all over the world — , have no attitude. They have a relaxed confidence and are simply interested in musicality. This was a welcome surprise. We knew all along that the audience would respond to our music but we didn't expect members of the symphony to react positively. Our little trio was in front of the orchestra so we could not see them but I was told later by friends in the audience that the musicians of the symphony  were not twiddling their thumbs during our segment, they were listening intently and those who were positioned to do so were studying our fingering (good thing I didn't know this at the time !).

 
thereallyniceman said:

Nice review Jody,  The one thing that stands out to me is "Tonight they cheered". They wouldn't cheer if they didn't think it was superb!!  

You are all doing a great job for Classic Style. Several thousand more people now are aware that the banjo can play other things than The Beverley Hillbillies theme and Dueling banjos!

All the best for tonight !!

 2 months ago  , had a show with my countryband in the  Nice " classical  "conservatory ( big hall too ) . the show was mixed  with several bands ; on the opening , there was the " orchestre de Cannes "  ( the city near Nice knowed by his famous film festival ) , they played 2 Rossini ' ouvertures only ; then each band played also only 2 tunes ; the styles of the differents bands were various : French variety , jazz , blues , tango , R&B , my band for the countryrock ; all i can say is that in each styles , the musicians were  very very good to top level ; in the artist ' s dressing rooms , everyone met everyone and every one said goodmorning or gived a smile to everyone exept ..................75 % of the classical musicians who didn 't say a goodmorning to nobody and were looking on the floor when they crossed us

Sorry you had to endure that, Marc. Yes, this has been my experience for most of my life so you can imagine how happy I was to see this unexpected friendliness. Not just the rank and file but the First Violins and the guest soloists were very gracious. Less surprising but very welcome was the enthusiasm for our music and for banjo by the guest organist Cameron Carpenter  (who, dressed in black and bling, rock star style, played Saint Saens and Sousa with his feet while moving to the music) I can't remember exactly what he said but it was along the lines of "you guys absolutely ROCKED tonight".  So did he by the way.  He played it like living music.

In all cases it wasn't a matter of trying to reach out and broaden one's horizons or of kindness. They truly liked the music. That's the best part.

Glad that the concert and the experience with the classical " musicians were a success , Jody .

May be , pretty soon , a banjo in a classical orchestra ?

what kind   ? ? , a Guarnerius , of course...

http://www.banjoworld.de/High250.htm

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