- There is a tradition of playing in an orchestra that sometimes I wonder if we get enough of these days
- in music schools. And maybe some teachers look down on orchestral music and just training their students
- just to play sonatas and concertos and chamber music, which is
- extremely important. But you need to develop, especially these days that the economic situation of the
- orchestras makes us do more performances and less rehearsal time. In the old days, when George Sell
- and Toscanini and Guno Vardu, they used to have up to eight rehearsals for concerts.
- We had the time to shape each phrase, each note. Now, because of the economics of the symphony orchestra
- in the world and in this country, you are told by management, by board, hey, we don't have that kind
- of money. We need to do the same concert with three rehearsals. And if we do not have the trained musician
- who knows the music before,
- we are in trouble. But I think this trend is changing and as far as I know in music school and one that
- I teach, there are new classes of orchestral excerpts that the masters of the big orchestras, for instance,
- when I went to the Cleveland Institute of Music, of which I graduated, we had a special cello
- orchestral excerpts class with Stephen Gaber, who is the principal cellist of the Cleveland Orchestra.
- And who else is better qualified to teach you the repertoire? So the whole class of ten cellists went
- there and just played the second movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony until we knew what we were talking
- about. And you as a conductor have to interpret the music.
- And I think some conductors interpret it the way they think the composer wanted it, and some others
- interpret it the way they would like to hear it. Which do you do, or a little bit of both? I guess it's
- a combination of both. When you come to the orchestra and it's such a short time of three or four rehearsals,
- you have to put together quite a challenging program. So there are
- many intellectual or technical aspects that just make everybody play together and at the right dynamic
- level to bring out the melody rather than the accompaniment thus to maintain balance. So these are the
- basic things. When you achieve that, hopefully, and I think I did achieve it with the Camerata Orchestra,
- then on top of it there is the extra
- interpretation, the little thing that makes a difference between your interpretation and somebody else,
- and I guess that's very rather subjective. I would hope that Dvořák Prokofiev and Ruthi Kosakov would
- have liked what I'm doing. If not, I'm sorry, but I tried my best. You have a real jewel in this town, and
- This is the Camerata Orchestra. I think it's a unique organization. And I think the citizens of Bloomingdon
- should be really proud to have this little orchestra that does miracles. And I invite everybody to come
- to their concerts and see it and hear it themselves. It has been a very interesting experience for me.
- From what I understand, we have a combination of some very experienced and very fine players who used
- to play first chair in one of the America's finest orchestras, and some of them playing in this orchestra.
- And I could feel it right away. And on the other hand, we have some very fine players who are students,
- rather inexperienced. And so what I was trying to run this balance of trying to
- take these rather very excellent players, but inexperienced, and to bring them to the experience of
- playing together and to the experience of making music with these pieces, which they were rather unfamiliar,
- and still keep the very experienced and very fine teachers of these, in some cases,
- players, and it was rather challenging. I've never had such experience before. Indiana University in
- Bloomington is considered one of the best music schools in the world, not only America. And there's
- a big following of especially also foreigners from Europe and from Asia, just being in the orchestra
- some of the members, some of them from Hungary, from Holland, from China, from Japan, from Israel, all
- over the place. And I know it's a very competitive school, and it's very, very extremely difficult to
- enter. How do you achieve the, what should I say, spark that brings the audience
- into the performance, the report, where you get your orchestra to somehow or other, and I don't understand
- the process, but somehow or other, they reach the audience and the audience participates. Well, it varies.
- It depends on the piece, and it depends on the particular
- moment i mean sometimes the same orchestra with the same conductor one night it'd be a great performance
- one that the audience would just uh... jump up their seats and clap and the second night the little
- spark won't be there it's good but it doesn't have quite the same right it doesn't have the edge that
- makes a difference and you know what i'm not sure that
- We can explain. It's something, you know, we're trying the best to bring the musicians to their best
- of the abilities, to play together, to feel like one body that makes music. But there is always this
- extra 5% that always makes a difference. And it's really hard to define it. I certainly appreciate your
- taking the time and being willing to talk to us. I consider it a privilege.
- And I will wish you a sensationally great concert tomorrow night. Thank you. I'm looking forward. We
- had a very good rehearsal. Tomorrow we have a dress rehearsal in which we'll have a chance to go over
- and pick a couple of places and polish them. And looking forward for a great concert. And it has been
- my pleasure talking to you.
- Thank you. Well, thank you very much. We like the Comorata. It's a good organization and we wish it
- well. Thank you so much. Thank you and take care. Thanks.
- His career started at age 19 with the Chicago Symphony and Second Oboe. He was the youngest member of
- that orchestra at that time. He stayed in Chicago until 1961 when he came to Indiana University as professor
- at Oboe. He stayed in Indiana until 1988 and retired and stayed in Bloomington and all those years he
- was with his lovely wife Lorraine. He was known as a consummate musician
- He was always fun to be with, and we had the greatest fortune at having him as the principal oboe with
- the Conrader Orchestra. He didn't get to play the very first concert that we played in April of 1989,
- but I still feel he was a charter member because he started with us in the fall of 1989 and played with
- us until 1995.
- He played principal oboe, he played solo appearance, he played chamber music, and he was always wonderful
- to be with. We have chosen these two enigma variations, number eight and nine, by Edward Elgar, in tribute
- to Jared. The variations were written in 1899, and as you probably know,
- Each one represents a friend or a circumstance of Elgar. The number eight and nine represent two special
- parts. Number eight was done for his very dear musical friend, his pianist and singer. And number nine
- was really a tribute to a memory of a walk in a beautiful setting with a friend. And that's the way
- we would like to remember Jerry.
- and I spent many, many years playing professionally with a gentleman named Phil Farkas. And Phil Farkas
- used to tell us Jerry Shrucek stories. And then when I met Jerry, he told me Phil Farkas stories. And
- so I felt I knew the man before I met him. But when I met him, I realized I really did not know him
- because he turned out to be not only
- but one of the first human beings I've ever known. So I'm dedicating this right part of the program
- to his loving memory. And I've picked the middle tomb of the gospel set that both he and his beautiful
- wife went to the same church we did, St. Mark's Methodist Church. And I did a lot of gospel things there
- at the church. So I picked the middle tomb. Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
- because it contains the same thematic synopsis that the Rimsky-Korsakov does in the English horn part.
- So I think you'll recognize that.
- the button. You see the button over here where this bat has me by the throat. Here, I've lost the button
- so my bowtie will be a strew. I say that because if I don't, my wife will be running up on stage with
- a needle and thread and put the button back on. Maestro, would you join us for Stardust?
- The next tune I am told is Chancellor Wells' favorite tune, and it's my tune. So the next tune will
- be Hogan Conrad. And this is a Stardust Followed by Uplandzi Rippert.
- They went and wrote a very neat part for the violins. It's so neat that they hate to do it. That's how
- neat it is. They play banjo parts. They do it so well, and then have them stand while they play it.
- And this, Up Lazy River, if you listen to it, it sounds very much like a big spider-back trumpet solo.
- And the melody is very difficult to play. It's like a very good standard Dixieland solo.
- So I made sure that I don't have to play the melody in this chart. The trumpet flew in the back row.
- Are you ready? Here we go.
- was inspired by my childhood memories of the Italian Baptist Church. Yes, that's right. Ladies and gentlemen,
- there stands before you an Italian Baptist. It seems as though the Baptist Church sent a missionary.
- It didn't send a missionary to South America or Africa.
- They sent a missionary to Kenosha, Wisconsin, and started the Italian Baptist Church right in the middle
- of the Catholic neighborhood. Well, I had quite an exciting childhood, to say the least. One fateful
- morning, the Sunday school piano player did not show up. Now, you all know you're good Baptists out
- there. Are there any good Baptists?
- I didn't think so. There's one. All right. But the Sunday School piano player did not show up. And the
- minister said, of course, you know, you can't start Sunday School without singing a few good old fashioned
- Baptist hymns. Well, the minister sent out a cry. He says, is there anyone in the congregation can play
- Sunday School piano? And this wonderful woman raised her hand. She says, I play Sunday School piano.
- He said, well, come on down. Well, she came down in front of him, made a hard right, pulled out that
- piano bench and sat down. Well, she did two things. The first thing she did, she took the piano, she
- closed it and put it on top of the piano. But the other thing she did was she rolled up her sleeves.
- Now, I've never seen a science school piano player roll up their sleeves before, but she did. She rolled
- up her sleeves, she cracked her knuckles.
- And she looked at the minister and she said, what do you want to hear? And he said, well, how about
- Jesus loves me this way now? Well, let me tell you, folks, when she finished the introduction, no one
- could see. We had never heard anything like this. I had never heard anything so Godlike. I had never
- heard anything so rhythmic, so sincere, so profound.
- and so beautiful in my entire life. Well, that started me on my quest and gave me a desire to hear more
- rhythmic music. So this wonderful woman said, well, if you'd like to hear more, come with me. And she
- took me to some wonderful black revival meetings in Waukegan, tent revivals, where they have huge choruses
- and they have complete rhythm sections and solos. It was wonderful. So that was my beginning.
- initial thrust into the jazz language. So this mega joyful noise paraphrases that experience in my life
- and I hope you enjoy it.
- It's a beautiful piece of music, and again, it hearkens back. It's almost a crucial within itself, featuring
- orchestra and trumpet.
- Thank you. This person is the guiding light of this orchestra. She's a contractor. She's the librarian.
- She's the paint master. She's the stage manager. What else does she do for this orchestra? She's the
- publicist. She does everything. And without this person's money and efforts, this orchestra would not exist.
- And very fine players, student players from Indiana University would never get a chance to work under
- esteemed conductors and to play truly great music and get paid for it. Yeah. So, Lenore Hanfield, will
- you stand, please? We're going to give you a big round of applause.
- Amazing, David. Is it the beard? Shall I grow a beard? Is that it? I don't know. But thank you, David,
- for adding so much to the program. And I like how about it. Thank you. And a round of applause, please,
- for my rhythm section. Stand up, guys, and take a bow.
- deserves your support and deserves a full house. If this orchestra only got the publicity commensurate
- to the work that Lenore puts into it, we'd be in really good shape. So tell your friends and neighbors
- about this marvelous thing that's happening over here. See if we can, just instead of seeing red out
- there, we could see all other kinds of beautiful colors of people coming to this concert.
- Again, thank you for coming, and I thank the orchestra, and thank you, sir. Wonderful job. First half
- was marvelous. Really, the orchestra sounds great. Well, here we go. Justin would not be complete without
- a little rock and roll. So this is rock and roll, and it's, well, whatever. And as you can see, it's
- written by the former conductor, assistant conductor of the former band director of the former
- post of the current dementia. I'm glad I got that out. So thanks again, and here's Walls of Jericho.