It was another excellent opening for the Harrisburg Symphony. Nice houses, warm reception, and really fine playing by the orchestra.
I lost my voice almost completely during the rehearsal period. I was fighting a cold earlier in the week, and the combination of a throat becoming sore with four rehearsals of speaking to the orchestra in a very dry room knocked my vocal chords out of commission. I imagine it was a bit strange for the audience when I addressed them from the stage at the concert’s start. (Of course, this weekend would be the one that the sound system at the Forum went on the fritz...) But even the discomfort in my throat couldn’t dampen my enjoyment of the concerts.
Particularly nice for me was getting to perform Brahms’ Double Concerto with two friends - Daniel Gaisford and Kurt Nikkanen. It is a tricky piece to pull off, and I felt they were terrific.
But, as usual, it was the orchestra that made the weekend. This was an emotional weekend for the orchestra, which was mourning the loss of our orchestra manager, Bill Schmieding. The spirit of mutual support combined with the usual excellence of playing and passion for music-making reinforced my conviction that I’ve found myself a very happy place here in Harrisburg.