Thursday, September 18, 2014

From the Wings

From the Wings, by Eleanor Long

As we head into our fall tour, here’s a look back at our summer tour…by the numbers!

# of musicians: 52
# of concerts at which Tony Princiotti used scores: 0
# of minutes the fireworks lasted each night: 7.5
# of years since we played at Hunter Park in Manchester: 12
# of years that TD Bank has been our tour-wide sponsor: 12
# of musicians who shared July 3 birthday: 3 (Jane Kittredge made them a cake)
# of hours spent watching World Cup: countless
# of times the second half of the concert was delayed while we tried to locate low brass mutes: 1
# of musicians on the annual tour quiz winning team:  3 (bassoonists Janet Polk and Becky Eldredge plus
     Stewart Schuele, French horn, for added power )
# of violists who took turns wearing Carmen Miranda hat during Tico Tico: 5 (of 5!)
# of radios rented from Clark Communications: 10
# of portopotties that had to be relocated at Suicide Six:  10
# of earthmovers commandeered by Alan Jordan: 1 (at Hunter Park, the fireworks truck couldn’t get
   where it needed to go)
# of cans of bug spray used: 8
# of times we had to move inside because of rain: 1
# of times rain insurance saved our bacon: 1
#of rehearsals board chair Vicky Young had before conducting the orchestra: 1
# of host roomnights provided:  111 (we couldn’t do it without you, hosts!)
# of musician dinners that included salmon: 2
# of lemon lulus donated by Mother Myrick’s: 3
# of musicians who received a surprise wedding gift at the final concert: 1 (Principal bass Luke Baker got  married August 14; violist Harold Lieberman was the officiant!) 
# of times I have played or heard the 1812 Overture at a VSO summer concert: 233
# of orchestras in America better than the VSO, per Peter Welch: 0