fourteen down

Another season of the Oregon Symphony has wrapped.  This year ended my fourteenth season with the Oregon Symphony – I can hardly believe it’s been that long already.  I still largely feel like I just got here.  Yet so much has changed since then.  When I arrived, I was 26 years old, fresh from Peabody Conservatory and my second summer at the Tanglewood Music Center.  I’d just played with the Boston Symphony and Seiji Ozawa, among others, and then it was wham into the buzz-saw tempo of a professional orchestra, with rehearsals one after the other and so much music to learn and digest with little time in between. I’ve made so many good friends in the orchestra over the years – which is hard, because you never know who is going to suddenly win another job and move away – many of whom are still here, but more of whom have moved away.  It’s funny, I think I was pretty much scared out of my wits my first year and a half in the job, but now little fazes me.  I’m at home on stage, and used to being under a bit of pressure, and I think I actually now thrive on the challenge.  Boredom is my worst enemy.  Variety and novelty are my best friends.

As usual, the summer months will often mean less blogging from me, but there will be summer festival reports, and possibly a few photo essays, so keep checking in and let me know what your summer brings.