My secret role in the concert tour
By Clare
We were away for three days last week doing a tour of pop up concerts with the members of Vancouver Island Symphony! This time, aside from our four-hands music, we also had a new ensemble experience - me on the piano while Scott also being in charge of percussion on the cajon! Our everyday venues were all so beautiful! What a great experience to have breeze coming from the water and the scent of flowers while playing! AND the best part was the nature itself with birds harmonizing to our music! My favourite photo is the first one here because we were truly laughing like this all the time as a group! I almost felt like I was on vacation instead of working!
A big discovery on this trip was a new combination you can make out of continental breakfast! Spread a layer of cream cheese on a bagel slice, and cut a boiled egg into slices and put it on top of the bagel - SO GOOD! Haha….. we think we have found our new favourite creation of continental breakfast!
It was a really special experience for us this time! Not only that the both of us got to be part of an ensemble at the same time, Scott played percussion for the first time, but also, it was especially interesting to experience an evolution of a program as an ensemble together! Oh, and did I mention I had a “mission” to sit in the audience as an “undercover” to surprise the audience?! The fun surprise was I’d pretend to be an audience member, and after the first two pieces, violinist Calvin Dyck (our leader) would ask how many people play the piano in the audience and ask for a volunteer to come share the piano bench with Scott to do a four hands piano piece! I tried to bring my role to another level by initiating casual chats with people sitting next to me, and in most cases, I tried to lead the conversation where they can casually learn that I play the piano. Some people I talked to also played the piano, so it was even more exciting to find that out! So when asked if anyone in the audience plays the piano, some encouraged me to volunteer! Later on when the big reveals happens, they start laughing! 😂😂 As how I love giving surprises, this was the perfect role for me to play! I enjoyed it very much! Haha
The program was film and broadway music, and it was amazing to work together as a group to come up with creative ideas to intertwine “theatrical speeches” and music together, so the concert became a “visual” and aural hybrid experience! Much laughter received from the audience! The Cinema Paradiso is when I “volunteered” to play with Scott, and the big reveal at the end that I was “planted” in the audience - how convenient that Scott’s wife happened to be in the audience! Haha…. Check it out!
PS check out Scott’s post about Cinema Paradiso too!
