Paul's Perspective: Building Excitement and an AWOL Cimbalom

Two down, five to go. That's how Craig ended his latest entry. Two rehearsals finished, five to go. It's at this time in our rehearsal cycle when I begin to get a sense of how close we are going to come to the vision for these new works that the composers and I have been holding. I always feel a bit on the pessimistic side -- "we're never going to make it, how can we possibly pull it together in time." Yet this amazing group of players have always stretched their personal limits and delivered.

I also feel, for the first time, the real excitement and passion building
for the performance. Up until the rehearsals begin I’m involved with a lot
of production issues and the technical side of the music -- rehearsal
details, intense audio discussions on how to blend amplified and acoustic
instruments, how the recording will work with those same issues. But now
all of that has faded and its just the music. It feels so good to be in that
place after over a year of planning for this challenging program that will
include two world premieres and a recording session.

Snag #1 – the shipping company sent Larry Kaptain’s cimbalom to Baltimore.
We found that out this morning. So it won’t be here for the rehearsal today.
Shift, regroup. Their working to get it on a cargo plane today so it can be
here tomorrow. The plot thickens for the premiere of Istiqbal Gathering . .