BCM in Duluth (pt.3)

Steve, Newman and I started the morning with another clinic, then I attended a brass clinic with Mark Whitlock's brass quintet. Next was a luncheon with the visiting directors, and then Steve and I went to honor band rehearsals -- his band was performing "Dusk", and my band was doing "Reflections in a Tidal Pool". I told them a little about the piece, and then turned to the director -- who then asked me to conduct the piece! Well, I hadn't expected to be conducting, but I wasn't going to turn down the opportunity! This was the first time I'd conducted (without a click track) in 8 years, and before I started, I had to warn the ensemble of my conducting idiosyncracy -- I conduct left-handed. All things considered, things went quite smoothly, and the band was very responsive to my direction. Within a few minutes, they were phrasing the ending with real beauty and sensitivity.

We all went to the concert, which also included all three movements of Eric Whitacre's "Ghost Train". The entire concert came off with great success, and it was great to talk to some of the audience and the musicians afterwards. One of the musicians gave Steve an amazing piece of anime art she'd done the night before -- inspired by their performance of his new piece, "Dusk".

Later that evening, we all went over to Mark's for pizza... but after such an exciting few days, Steve found he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, and faded out while we were all talking in the living room. Of course this meant that we HAD to get the camera out...