Wednesday, June 4th:
So much has occurred since I began my
stay. Most of it was paperwork. I have more hours than I have ever thought it
humanly possible in front of a computer and a copy machine/printer. I have
probably hit a thousand pages of music within first five days, probably
exceeding 2000 at some point. Honestly, I have lost count. But what I do know
is that I have printed out thousands of pages of sheet music for Don Giovanni and Madama Butterfly. This afternoon, we managed to do the setup for
tomorrow’s first rehearsal. Finally, I could have a break from the long cycle
of buttons on the computer screen: Scan, Choose printer, Scan, rotate, crop,
scan, Choose printer, Scan, crop, rotate….etc. Waiting hours at the printer for
collated, double sided parts to finish so I don’t get lost when organizing
them. I started saying the mantra from Fight Club, “Everything is a copy of a
copy of a copy…..”.
The majority of the musicians arrived
today. I have the joy of sharing the house with some of them. One horn player
who now shares the common room with my fellow interns and me is from NY.
Finally, I am not alone! But surprisingly, three of my new housemates are from
none other than the Royal College of Music (RCM) in London, England. Yes, the
British are here! Living with us in the house are a horn player, cellist, and
violinist. I’ve been spending the past day and a half showing them around and
showing them some of our American customs. One of those customs is Cards Against
Humanities. What an interesting game that was. Equal parts awkward and
hilarious. But it did the job of bridging the gap and getting to know how crazy
we all truly are. But honestly, these are some good people and I can’t wait to
hear them in rehearsal. I just wish I were going to be playing with them. We
also got to bond over a never-ending shower faucet. For at least an hour this
morning, the water would not stop running from the shower. Luckily we got the
plumbers to come while we were out for the day.
Moving
on from People and Things, I move on to Places. Specifically, I speak of the
trails surrounding the property at Castleton. One leads to a small lake and
tennis courts. Nothing too exciting. The paths were so steep that it was a
thrill and and danger to go down, but a struggle to get back up. Boy did my calves
feel sore after that. The other path was longer and quite exciting. I went
through the woods and past many of the houses. Past the cows and deer, I rode
on, fearing for my life as I sped downhill on many a winding and twisting
roads. At the end of the path, I came across Maestro Maazel’s estate. It was
huge, simple, but forboding. And there they were…Emus! There were at least four
of them, sharing a plot of fenced off land. Strutting around like they owned
the place. At this point, I was exhausted and running low on water, so I
decided to head back. It was absolutely beautiful. I hope to do it again with a
GoPro if I can acquire one.
The
most beautiful view experienced in my time here so far has not been during the
day, but at night. In Castleton, there is no city afterglow that prevents one
from seeing the eternal beauty of the night sky. Every star is visible, and the
fireflies fill the air with a spectacular light show that can only be described
as fantastic. It is the true side of paradise that I have seldomed seen before.
Even as a Boy Scout, I never got to enjoy a night so peaceful and beautiful as
the one following my bike ride. For once, I actually longed to sleep under that
beautiful black sky, dotted with the ghosts of ancient stars. It was pure and
absolute beauty in the plainest sense.
 |
| Near the End of Day |
With
the majority of the preparations done, tomorrow’s rehearsal will actually be
something to look forward to instead of being stuck at the printer all day. We
will just have to see...
Friday, June 6th:
What a busy couple of days it has been.
The actual rehearsals have begun, though in sectionals. But the musicians are
here and playing, and that is what I am excited about. I see them practicing in
the morning around the cottages and silo. That’s what you have to do when you
only have four practice barns. Anyway, I started my Thursday morning with the
string sectional, led by the wonderful concertmaster Paç. He is so passionate when it comes to Puccini and Madama Butterfly. Unfortunately, that
was all I got to see.
After
lunch, I was assigned to drive out to Shenandoah University to pick up four
percussion trap tables and a suspended cymbal stand from one of the percussion
teachers. He was a delight to meet. The traffic heading back? Not so
delightful. It took me an hour to get off I-81, and then an additional hour to
get back to Castleton. Luckily everthing made it to its destination safe and
sound.
That
evening, I joined my fellow interns for a night at the movies and Chilli’s.
Best tableside guac I ever had. Also, Maleficient was not as bad as I had
originally thought. I actually enjoyed it. But I digress that the real point it
that I am actually making some awesome friends and we are really getting along.
Which is good, because I have to live and work with them for two months. But
then again, who wouldn’t want to work with such amazing people and brilliant
talents.
Speaking
of brilliant talents, I began this Friday morning at the winds and brass
sectional for Don Giovanni. Chills! It
was so good. And these musicians have only had the music for a few days at the
most. The assistant counductor Maestro Repicky was so insightful about the
history and plot of the opera. He even relealed a few double entendres. Later
that afternoon, Maestro Moore, assistant conductor for Madama Butterfly, led the winds and brass sectional. It was another
spine chillingly wonderful rehearsal led by another incredibly insightful
conductor. He even was singing along with the score, having quite the baritone
vocal skills.
 |
| Entrance at Morning |
After
a long day, I did laundry and had some help cleaning up the house before the
rest of the roommates came back from the wine tasting event out in Culpepper.
We had another night of Cards Against Humanities, some of the players not
understanding references, making it twice as hilarious. But we took a break to
walk outside to enjoy the beautifully clear night sky and the dazzling firefly
display. Plus, I managed to fall off the trampoline that happens to be on our
property. Good Times.
But
now that the evening has settled, I write these words down in anticipation of
more things to come, especially since we have our first orchestra run through
of Madama Butterfly tommorrow
morning. I look forward to the inspiring sounds of a professional level orchestra.
Let the magic begin.
Until next Saturday, this has
been another edition of The Castleton Diaries. Now, here is a photo of a
Zonkey!
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