Tiffany here. I am still in Hancock as I write this, although I am (hopefully) leaving soon. I came on this winter adventure to play two concerts of new music about the Great Lakes commissioned by the American Wild Ensemble.
Although there are usually seven players in the ensemble, this particular project included flute, clarinet, violin and cello. All of us except the violinist arrived safely on Tuesday night, ready to get in two days of rehearsal and play a concert on Friday and Saturday for the Weekend of New Music at Michigan Technological University. We knew it would be tight but were certain it was possible.
The big news of Wednesday morning…
Lauren, our violinist, called to tell us her flight was cancelled and she was rebooked on the second flight that evening, which gets in at 10pm. So… that meant no rehearsal with the whole group on Wednesday and lucky for Lauren, ten hours at O’hare!
The trip was full of some big question marks… would she arrive, could we actually put this music together, and would any of us get hit by a snow mobile? (There were almost as many of them as there were cars!)
Despite the challenges, it was an incredible trip that reminded me of some very important attributes of being a successful musician. Four of the big takeaways/reminders….
- Being flexible and having an attitude of “I can do that” gets you really far.
- You're never too old to remind yourself that “there are two dynamics in chamber music: the projecting voice and the listening voice." -Marian Hahn
- The errors you make on stage always seem more egregious than they were, which is why you have to seek the truth.
- There is so much more to a performance than what is technically happening to YOU.
Read the rest of the story to find out why I was reminded of all of these things – and to find out what happened to Lauren! Just click the image below.