Recap of Winds Around the World

Last night's concert, "Winds Around the World", featured some of the finest musicians I have ever worked with- anywhere.

The 1-hour program was intense and our stellar group of wind players put on a fine show with only three rehearsals under their belt.  The Consort is at its best when the music is fresh and the atmosphere is bubbling with artistic flare and the utmost concentration and communication by our players.  The music room was a little chilly to start out last night but by the middle of the first page of Barber's "Summer Music" there was plenty of warmth to go around.

No seat is hotter than a Consort musician's chair.  We perform the most difficult, yet masterful, works in the chamber music repertoire... and we do it with our friends, family, and Consort patrons sitting mere feet away from us.  Every breath can be heard, every subtle cue can be spotted, and every player feels the connection with the rest of the room.

"Summer Music" is a thrilling way to kick off such an intimate concert.  The opening duet with bassoon and horn sounds so dry and pertinent in the Joslyn Castle's Music Room.  The continual flourishes in flute and clarinet seem to further amplify the anticipation in the air.  The beautiful oboe lines are a revelation to the ear when heard so clearly though the incredibly thick texture that Barber somehow conjures up with only five players.  No piece epitomizes ensemble communication better than this work that moves without ever really touching the ground.  The audience was locked in and so were we... certainly this was one of my best musical memories- ever.

Speaking of memories... will anybody who attended, or performed, last night ever forget Carmelo Galante and his "Crazy Baby-Clarinet"?  We played Medaglia's "Belle Epoque en Sud-America", which has a wicked finale with a screaming Eb Clarinet solo.  After nailing the finale Carm stood for a solo bow with accompanying applause that never seemed to end!

The show's headliner was Janáček's "Mladi" (Youth).  During our pre-concert discussion I asked our crowd to raise hands if anyone had ever heard "Mladi" in person.  Nobody, except Alexandra Rock (Principal Oboe, Omaha Symphony), responded.  I let the crowd know that we would be doing something very unique with the work that night... we would actually play it!

"Mladi" is essentially a symphony for wind sextet and is a non-stop roller coaster ride for the audience and the ensemble.  Imaging playing chase with a little kid on a sugar high for about half-an-hour straight and you can kind of get the idea.  The work never settles down and is difficult to catch.  As soon as you think it's in a groove somebody introduces a new tempo, theme, development, or all of the above, which takes the movement (there are four mvts) in a totally new direction.  Like the Barber, "Mladi" takes so much concentration and virtuosic performance that it sets the room on fire and ends with a tremendous high that can only be achieved by presenting the work in a beautifully intimate space, like the Joslyn Castle's Music Room.

What a night!  So many wonderful and familiar faces make up our Consort family.  I am proud to see that our audience members come back loyally each concert and appreciate what we're doing here in Omaha.  Why not come check out what it is that we're doing on December 5, 7pm; Joslyn Castle?  See for yourself what our brand of music is like and I'm sure I'll be seeing you again and again as we grow year after year!