we are a motley bunch

.

what a relief. after a 2-month hiatus the group is finally all together again. i was pretty much dreading this rehearsal because after most major gigs we have had personnel changes.

3 steps forward and 2 steps back, but not this time. david kurutz has started to fill sean's big shoes. tonight was his first rehearsal with the large ensemble and he fit right in. after a small snafu to start rehearsal (i have a checklist but forgot to make a new set of parts for the strings) we got going working on summerland. knowing the 7th mvt. is the toughest, and we started right there. usually the 1st mvt. is our warmup to get used to the sound of the room, but tonight i didn't feel we had the time to spare. starting on the hardest music made everybody key into the ensemble early. after a few adjustments we were firing on all cylanders, damn, how a good rehearsal can make you forget all the crap in your life. needless to say, we got through the music easily and found new ways to play some old passages. i'm not sure how my music will be received at the composers salon, but i don't think anybody can accuse the group of not being tight.

at the end of the night everybody had to run instead of hang. (the end of the week is a really a crappy time to rehearse) sam fisher was sick and already had a busy week playing with the erato phil. sam formicola and vic were really happy to be playing their first scoring session with john williams on sat morning. its one of the few movie composers they haven't played for and they are like kids excited for their first day of school. i look forward to their report. scott is playing a big show sat night with ken walicki at csuf and eric always is busy creating interesting programs for his alternative church services. kyoko is learning the joys of being a pit rat 3.5 hours a night for only a timpani and chime solo, and matt is busy as always with his blues band, private students and second career as a card shark. overall not a bad group of people to call your friends. after a good nights sleep to unwind, sunday will be fun.