Maestro
This past week I played my first concert on trombone in nearly twenty years.
Over the holidays my daughter Mia was asked to participate in a performance of the Toy Symphony by the MetroWest Symphony Orchestra (as part of her affiliation with the Enter Stage Left theatre school). I took her to several rehearsals and then saw the performance, her playing triangle and whistle at center stage, laser focused on the conductor. It was wonderful to see her involved in that, but for me it also took me back to my days of playing trombone with orchestras and jazz bands and pit groups for plays.
I spoke with the conductor, Peter Cokkinias (professor of conducting at Berklee) and mentioned my interest in joining the group, told him I’d gotten a new trombone for Christmas and was eager to start “shedding my chops.” A few weeks later, he called several times looking for me to come in and play for him.
I got through six rehearsals before last week’s performance. It really was a thrill being on stage, dressed in black, the hall filling up, my daughters and wife in the front row.
My view from the stage, taken with the iPhone
It’s funny (and I remember this phenomena now), the night before the concert we did a dress rehearsal. Everything was off; the tempos were shakey, people were missing queues, the hall was muffled because rather than baffles behind us there were curtains. It was really bad. But then, the day of the performance, everyone lit up, brought their game, and we played beautifully.
Professor Cokkinias teaching Mia the finer points …
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