Last Day of School

The vast majority of orchestra musicians in this country are seasonal workers, much like school teachers.  Back in October I wrote here about the First Day of School (really, the first day of rehearsal for the new season), so it seems fitting to mention the Last Day of School, coming up this weekend.  The final rehearsal is tomorrow, with final concerts tomorrow night and Saturday night.

Look directly over the concertmaster's left shoulder.  That's me  

It's a DELIGHTFUL program, a great way to end the season:

Larry Rachleff, conductor
Augustin Hadelich, violin

BERLIOZ: Béatrice et Bénédict: Overture
BARBER: Adagio for Strings
STRAVINSKY: Pulcinella: Suite
BRAHMS: Violin Concerto

Acclaimed by The New York Times  as “a brilliant violinist,” Augustin Hadelich performs Brahms’ Violin Concerto on a program overflowing with gorgeous music: Berlioz’ Béatrice et Bénédict Overture, Barber’s symphonic prayer Adagio for Strings and Stravinsky’s lyricalPulcinella Suite.

photo courtesy of floridaorchestra.org

We have a long, long summer off from the orchestra-- first day of next season isn't until early October.  A lot of people do summer festivals, teach at music camps, that sort of thing.  Me, I like to put the instrument away for awhile and just concentrate on being A Normal Person.  And I will enjoy just playing music for my own pleasure, rather than having to practice Next Week's Program.  But I will miss seeing my friends, some of whom I've known now for well over 20 years.


But OF COURSE you know what I have planned for all this time off.  Quilting, and lots of it!  I would like to get a large inventory of shop and market stock made for next season, so that when things get busy I have enough merchandise to see me through the hectic times.  So that definitely means lots of selvage bath mats, various table fashions, and whatever else I come up with.  Oh, and I definitely need a Christmas quilt or two.  It would be great if I could at least be able to consider doing more than one market-type event per month when the season for those events starts up again in the fall.  It's all a question of planning, right?