Third Angle New Music is playing on this year’s Bang on a Can Marathon, and I’m going to try to blog as much about the experience as I can.
I arrived at my mid-town hotel around 8:30 am this morning, after flying most of the night on a non-stop red-eye. My biggest worry about flying with my instrument is getting it into an overhead spot without any drama. A relatively new wrinkle in the air travel a la carte game is that you can pay an additional amount to get earlier boarding privileges. On United, it’s $19. That is incredibly cheap peace of mind! I boarded after about 40 first class and high-mileage folks, and had absolutely no problem getting a prime spot for my instrument right about my row. That, and the fact that the 2012 FAA Modernization and Reform Act explicitly allowed for storing musical instruments as carry-ons (as space allows) makes traveling with axe a bit less stressful. On my flight back, I’ve sprung for the more legroom seats (on JetBlue) which includes the expedited TSA line (which could be a boon as I’m flying out of JFK).
The last time I came to the Big Apple was in 2011, when the Oregon Symphony made its acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut. In that case, the orchestra had a bus that schlepped us into the city from Newark, straight to our hotel. This time around, since I was arriving a day earlier than the rest of the crew, I had to figure out my transportation options on my own. It really couldn’t have been easier! I was able to take the Air Train from my terminal at EWR directly to the NJ Transit station. 20 minutes later, I was on a train just three stops from Penn Station. 25 minutes later, I was a Penn Station. Here is where the only hiccup in my meticulous preparation happened: the kiosks for the CDE lines were cash only. So I searched the concourse looking for an ATM, found one, and armed with cash, queued up for my MetroCard and was soon on my way. I now know why they have those attendants with the staffs that prod and push people onto the Japanese subway cars during rush hour – it’s a bit of a squeeze to get onto an already crowded train with a viola on your back, a suitcase, and a carry-on bag with all of one’s electronic gear. But I can now say that I have done Penn Station during rush hour and lived to tell the tale!
My past experience with the MTA trains was that I could never understand what stop was next or which one I was at. Now, the cars have a display of the line with the upcoming stop highlighted and up to ten stops down the line listed. It makes planning when to get off much easier than I remembered from my visits during school in the early 90’s.
So far, so good! Tonight, I’m heading to Brooklyn for pizza and ice cream. Friday brings our final rehearsals before the performance, and Saturday is our sound check in the venue. Stay tuned!