Santa Cruz

I'm a fan of the gelato, and so I'm sitting in a gelato cafe right now. Last year, I had a favorite flavor, and I've decided it's my job to figure out what it was. I did the first leg of my research this afternoon, and with continued dedication, I should have an answer soon. Stay tuned!

Our first concert is tonight here at Cabrillo. We're doing the world premier of "Life: A Journey Through Time." It's an amazing piece of art, and we're all excited to be a part of the maiden performance. Philip Glass, the composer, showed up today, and my first sighting of him was when he popped his head around the corner and asked me where the men's room was. I told him as if I didn't know who he was, and then proceeded to brag to everyone I know at the festival a little news report about my Glass sighting.

For those who may not know, Philip Glass is one of the most important composers of the late 20th century, and now the first part of the 21st. He's one of the icons of minimalist music. It's very listenable music, and so his music has enjoyed quite a bit of crossover popularity. He's probably best known to the general public as the composer of the music for the movie The Red Violin. He'll always be considered a giant of minimalism, one of those guys who'll be in music history books from now until the end of time. It's pretty exhilirating to be playing this premier, and to have a chance to chat with this giant. The trombone section got a photo with him, which I'll post in a day or too. Incidentally, for the other NPR fans out there, he also happens to be the cousin of Ira Glass of This American Life on NPR. Talented family.

Beyond the music, the images are amazing! Frans Lanting is the real deal, and his photos are absolutely stunning. He and the video coordinator organized his photos into a "journey through time," starting with the formation of the earth, so the photos here portray lava flows, sulphur springs, pools of bubbling mud, and other elemental images. He moves on to the sea, followed by images of microscopic life. These latter images are strikingly beautiful, with their stark orderliness. The movements then progress ostensibly through the evolutionary life cycle, culminating in man. The final movement is an exhuberant celebration of planet earth, recapping images that came in earlier movements.

I have quite a lot of time where I'm resting, so I have plenty of opportunities to watch the images on the screen. During one of those moments, I leaned over to my colleague, and told her that tonight, I'm sure I'll have an emotional response to the experience, because even during the dress rehearsal, I got the chills at several points. It's a powerful experience to be a part of something like this. With its focus on celebrating life on planet earth, this combination of stunning images, passionate and exciting music, brilliant editing by the video technician, added to performing in an orchestra of terrific musicans led be a brilliant conductor, equates to a remarkable and unforgettable event. I feel privileged to be a part of this, and no doubt, I'll be moved.

My conclusion after experiencing the dress rehearsal: I'd be a fool to believe that there's no God, a master planner and designer of all life on planet earth. (I don't care if evolution was the method: there was a master plan, at least in my opinion). Though I haven't been to church in ages, today, watching this, and being a part of this amazing endeavor made me feel as if I was in an incredibly sacred place. It was really quite awe inspiring and more sacred than any silly praise song could ever be for me.

The side story of "Life: A Journey Through Time" for me, is what the actual creating of this work of art says about life on planet earth. I've heard it said that some philosophers believe that the primary defining distinction between man and animals is his ability to make and create art, to even have a concept of art. I don't necessarily subscribe to this, though I do believe that art is a uniquely human trait. The culmination of "Life" is in man, and the act of this collaboration shows how wonderul life, and man, truly is. I'm amazed that we can do something like this, that we have the wherewithal to create and produce a work of art that exemplifies excellence at every level so well. To give you a picture of one aspect of this that I find so amazing, I have to talk about our conductor and the music.

The music came first in this project, and then the photos were put together by the video technician. But this isn't like a slide show on your computer, where music randomly plays while photos go by, completely unrelated to the images. The images were linked to the music, sort of like a soundtrack to a movie. A better analogy though is to say that the images are the soloist, and the music is the accompaniment. The images change in very precise rhythms, and this is where our conductor's skills are most manifest. The difference between the format used here, and a soundtrack to a regular movie, is that she's working with still images rather than moving pictures. There are times when she may be conducting to an image that sits on the screen for five seconds, but she still is able to catch the musical change that happens when the next image shifts. In a movie, you can know that you need to give a downbeat when the car goes around the corner, or perhaps you're even playing to a click track. But here, she must rely on rock steady timekeeping, and perhaps adjusting ever so slightly at the next transition. Some of these image transitions come in rapid fire fashion, lined up precisely with fast notes on our part in the orchestra. More often that not, she's right on, and it's absolutely amazing that she can do it. The neurons firing in her brain attest to how amazing life truly is. For my part, I believe that the act of performing this is as much a part of Life: A Journey Through Time as the images and the music.

On another note, Alex Chadwick from NPR's Day to Day was here today to do a report on this premier. I went up and shook his hand, telling him that I was a big fan of his show, and that I appreciated what he does. He asked me what I did, and it was fun to be able to tell him that I'm in the orchestra. We talked a little bit about the music, and he mentioned how impressed he was. I'm looking forward to tuning in on Monday to Day to Day, when he'll be reporting on it. Check your local listings, if you're interested in hearing more about this, or you can find it online too. I'll post a link to the archived story after it plays, just so I have it somewhere that I can find it myself.

Well, I should sign off. I hope everyone is well!