Chang and Tchaikovsky

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I went to a rehearsal of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre. All the doors of the Art Centre were locked except the stage door which was the last one I tried. Guest conductor, Alasdair Neale, already had the orchestra hard at work. All the instrument cases were lying out on folding tables in the wings. I sat at the end of a table next to a huge cello case. Fearing I might knock the case over while sketching, I moved my chair away a bit. Sarah Chang, the solo violinist, never performed while I worked on the sketch. The security guard stopped and looked over my shoulder when I was first blocking in the sketch. I stiffened thinking he would insist I move out into the public seating. He lost interest and moved away.

The brooding emotional drama of the Fifth Symphony is classic Tchaikovsky. Rossini’s genius for melody and comedy permeates his popular Semiramide Overture. For pure American lyricism, no work outshines Barber’s Violin Concerto, performed by the incomparable Sarah Chang. I was impressed by several really gorgeous horn section solos. Periodically the conductor stopped the orchestra to go over subtle diction and tone he wanted emphasized.

The orchestra took a break just as I started adding color to the sketch. I was amazed at how many times I was asked to add more hair to player’s manes. By the time everyone was back in place, I had all the large washes defining the stage in place. I added washes to the players as they started to perform again.

There is a performance tonight, Saturday January 26 at 8 pm and another performance Sunday January 27th at 3 pm at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre.

Rite of Spring

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As part of Arts Fest, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra opened up the Bob Carr so anyone could see them as they rehearsed Igor Stravinski’s “Rite of Spring” as well as Beethoven’s Symphony Number 6 “Pastorale“. I sat near the front row with a view off into the deep off stage wings. During any actual performance, sound panels are set up which block a view off stage. Cole Nesmith was there with some of his friends seated one row behind me in the center of the auditorium. He looked a bit ragged and worn with exhaustion from having set up and dismantled his 20 foot high “Tree of Light”. After a heavy tree branch broke off and crashed to the ground, he is having a 3D model made and getting a structural engineer to check the tree’s stability. I admire the huge Live Oak trees I see around town now all the more. Any tree is a marvel of engineering.

Conductor Chris Wilkins introduced “Rite of Spring” to the sparse audience. He said that in the ballet, a woman danced to the music in a pagan ritual to the point of exhaustion and beyond. He wouldn’t say more since children might be present. The music war raw and primal. I had never heard it performed live and the dissonance and complexity of the piece were exhilarating and unexpected. I only knew of the music thanks to Fantasia. This is the pop cultural image of primordial creation that has been burned into our collective memory.

Most of the audience cleared out during the break after “Rite of Spring” was performed. They missed the second half of the rehearsal. I had plenty of work still to do on the sketch so I worked right through the orchestra’s break. When “Pastorale” began to play, I began splashing pools of color on my sketch. Of course “Pastorale” also was in Fantasia. This music evokes feelings of a much more peaceful time perhaps on a country estate. Walking back to my truck, the music gradually was overwhelmed by honking horns, and the rush of traffic as people hurried about downtown.

Orlando Philharmonic Sneak Peek

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This is the 20th anniversary of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. A sneak peek event was held at the brand new Full Sail Live facility on 436 and University Boulevard. The event was for Friends of the Philharmonic and the Press. I made the mistake of putting my Full Sail lanyard around my neck thinking it would make me blend in. It must have made me look like a lost student instead. One of the women at a reception table asked if she could help me. When she realized I wasn’t lost, she offered me a press pass.

All the front row seats had purses, programs and persons seated in them. A string quartet was playing and I decided I should start sketching right away. I wandered back stage a bit and sat down in my artists stool to sketch. When the music stopped, David Shillhammer, the executive director of the Orchestra, addressed the crowd. The 20th Anniversary season will kick off on September 29th with Mahler’s Symphony # 3, the Pastorale Symphony. On October 13th “Wicked Divas” will hit the stage with Andrew Lane conducting and Broadway stars Alli Mauzey and Nichole Parker singing songs from Wicked, Gypsy, Chicago, Ragtime and Phantom. November 17th Bronfman & Beethoven will come to the Bob Carr. Yefim Bronfman will perform on the piano. Local composer Stella Sung will unveil a new piece commissioned by Lynn & Chuck Steinmetz, the recipients of the 2o12 John Blackburn Distinguished Service Award.

David Shillhammer made an announcement that Sharon & Marc Hagle donates $750,000 that morning to the Philharmonic. This was the first gift towards establishing a family foundation endowment fund to continue endorsing the orchestra going into the future. The Bryce West foundation also supports the performing arts in Central Florida. Harriett Lake is Sponsoring “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying.” This show about corporate ladder climbing will be on May 11th at 2pm and 8pm Saturday.

Opera is being kept alive as the Philharmonic joins forces with the Florida Opera Theater Company to stage, Rigoletto on March 2nd & 4th, The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart on November 9th & 11th, and Madam Butterfly by Puccini on April 5th & 7th. Frank McClain is directing these productions which are semi staged featuring the music by having the orchestra onstage as the actors sing. Cirque De La Symphonie on March 30th at 2Pm & 8pm Saturday sounded thrilling. Featuring the music of Bizet, Saint Saens, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak and others along with acrobats, contortionists, jugglers and strongmen. Aerialists will sour overhead as the orchestra offers suspense.

For the first time the Orchestra will be collaborating with the Shakespeare Theater to bring “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” to like. There is also “The Summer Series”, “The Focus Series” and “My Funny Valentine” featuring Michael Andrew & Swingerhead on February 9th. There is plenty happening as the 20 year old Symphony forges forward into its mature years.

Orlando Holiday Pops Concert

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The Orlando Philharmonic performed a free Holiday Pops concert in Winter Park’s Central Park. The lawn in front of the band shell was crowded with families with blankets and lawn chairs. In order to sketch the stage up close I sat next to the stage with a few others. The sun was setting so I made sure to sit in the shadow of a tree. Within a half an hour the sun shot out below the canopy of the band shell. I was blinded every time I looked at the performers. I shifted my attention to the audience in the grass.

Children scampered around playing tag. A young boy was seated against a tree and he was startled when a frantic squirrel charged at him through the crowd. At the last second the squirrel saw the boy and changed course to leap up another tree trunk. The music was your standard holiday fair. A youth chorus and an adult chorus joined the orchestra. Chorus members lounged on the band shell steps waiting to go on stage. Two tiered bleachers were set up on stage left for the chorus.

Of course all the upscale stores on Park Avenue were open to attract the Holiday hoard after the concert. Let the shopping season begin.

In Bloom

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Friends of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra were invited to a class on flower arrangement at In Bloom (325 West Gore Street). Terry gave me her invitation suggesting it might be a good subject to sketch. Hurricane Irene was spinning 200 miles off the coast of Florida sending outer cloud bands over Orlando. When I arrived at In Bloom, the sun broke through the clouds. I was impressed by a small garden of native plants that had been nurtured in front of the building. Inside I was introduced to John Kobylinski, florist and owner. He offered me a quick tour. A hidden black wrought iron spiral staircase lead us up stairs. This building had once been a Coka– Cola bottling plant. He lead me to a room with old wooden floors and an old sink. Here he said the Coke was mixed by hand in that room.

Back downstairs he lead a small group into a freezer room where boxes of flowers are stored at 30° Fahrenheit. He explained that all the flowers are shipped from South America. Roses arrived with 200 blooms per box. They are wrapped in groups of 25 although they are sold by the dozen. Several beautiful arrangements were stored for an upcoming event. Friends of the Philharmonic were sipping wine to relax before the arranging began. Ten to twenty orange clay pots were set out for the students. Wet green foam blocks were placed in each pot.

I decided to climb half way up the spiral staircase to get an overall view of everyone at work. Everyone was first asked to arrange yellow, orange and red roses so they looked like elegant round topiary spires. Smaller blooms and greenery were arranged at the base. The long blades of saw grass had serrated edges so everyone was warned to be careful. I rushed the sketch thinking that the arrangements would probably be finished quickly. I was wrong. Arranging flowers is a subtle art and it takes time and lots of concentration. My eye glasses were filthy. I kept tilting my head to look around distracting fingerprints as I drew. I took my glasses off when I painted. Everything was blurry but at least the colors were vibrant. Sunlight streamed through the shop’s glass doors as the sun set.

Gallery at Avalon Island

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On the Third Thursday of every month the downtown galleries have openings for new art on display. I tried to sketch the gorgeous architecture of the Gallery at Avalon Island once before but it was winter and I couldn’t finish the drawing with my cold hands. The green building is covered with intricate metalwork. The Rogers building was built in 1886 by architect William Mullins. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

As I sketched the sun slipped to the horizon creating a golden glow. When I finished I went inside to look at the art. On display were photo real paintings by Doug Bloodworth. Many of the slick glossy paintings were done with airbrush. Classic black and white movies seemed to be the predominant theme. If I had a home theater I wanted to decorate, then I suppose they would do the trick.

Terry Olson saw me working and said hello. He was off to see the Red Chairs which were being displayed in City Arts Factory. I had watched Genevieve Bernard as she decorated the Mennello Museum Red Chair with hundreds of red and gold buttons. There was a bustling crowd inspecting red chairs which were decorated by each of the arts organizations in town. Terry wanted me to join her for an Orlando Philharmonic event so I didn’t stick around to do another sketch. I quickly glanced at the artwork at Blank Space as I walked back to my truck.

Jeans & Jewels Speakeasy

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The Jeans & Jewels Speakeasy was a fundraiser put on by the Friends of the Philharmonic at the Winter Park Garden Club. An old vintage Ford Model T was parked in front of the clubhouse entrance. Terry had gone all out wearing a gold sequin dress she had borrowed from Genevieve Bernard. With her gold turban, gold high heels and long gold necklaces and brooches she was a hit. I was not half as flashy in my black suit. I sketched the band before dinner.

After dinner I decided that dancing was more important than sketching. Terry and I mixed it up with all the other flappers on the dance floor. The room was kept mysterious thanks to a theatrical fog machine. Flappers and gangsters mingled and talked. In the men’s room bullet hole stickers punctured the stalls and doorway. There was a wide assortment of silent auction items, the most tempting one being a kitsch oil painting of a monkey dressed as royalty. Many revelers thumbed their noses at prohibition.

When the band began playing again after a break, Terry lounged on the steps in front of the group like she was part of the act. A group of people got up and started shooting photos with their cell phones. Terry blocked her face with her black gloved hands but the photographers persisted. She finally had to retreat off the steps. For the rest of the night we danced to the point of exhaustion. Rainbows End played tirelessly. I recognized the saxophone player from sketches I had done at the Monday Night Jazz sessions at the Grand Bohemian. I kept wondering when police would raid the party.

Philharmonic Rehearsal

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I went to the Shakespeare Theater to sketch the tech rehearsal for the Playwrights’ Round Table seven short play’s launch for 2011. I hadn’t been given a time so I was guessing what time the rehearsals would start. Peeking in the theater B, I found the space empty. As I walked out of the building I noticed someone approaching with a large cello. I decided to follow him and he lead me to a room where Orlando Philharmonic musicians were gathering. There was twenty minutes before the rehearsal started and so I sat down and started lightly sketching in the space. As musicians arrived I placed them in the sketch using ink. When everyone was present, conductor Christopher Willams suddenly appeared. The musicians all found a common tone, then Christopher raised the baton and the music began.

They were rehearsing Shumann’s Symphony No. 2. There were a few stops and starts but in general the music flowed and I let the lines I was putting on the page flow with the same fluid tempo. When the symphony was complete, Christopher said, “My theory is, that in this room you should just keep playing.” I believe he meant, that in such a small room it might be impossible to gauge proper levels to the various sections. After one moving section, he praised the strings and he remarked that they were pulling together as a unified whole.

When the break rolled around I was finished with my sketch and I decided to talk to Caroline Blice for a while. She had been at my 2 year anniversary party for AADW a few days before so we talked about he party.

CFHLA Gala

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The Central Florida Hotel & Lodging Association Gala was held this year at the Brand new Peabody Hotel right near the Convention Center. As Terry and I drove up to the Hotel, we saw a sign for free parking on the right so we took a right turn into the entry and dropped of the keys with a valet. The new hotel’s lobby is immense. It has the feeling of a space station with it’s tall glass facade and curved oak panels. At first the event didn’t seem well attended but when we rounded a corner the crowd of black tuxedos and ballgowns suddenly appeared. People milled around the bars and the tables full of silent auction items. Terry placed a bid on a leather hand bag but was thankfully outbid. There were the usual suspects, a signed basketball, gift baskets and a few art prints.

Elegantly dressed stilt walkers wandered among the crowd. I envied them thinking it would be the perfect angle to sketch the crowd from. Hal Studholme compared the event to a party thrown by Salvidor Dali’s wife. While Terry was being a social butterfly finding her friends from the Philharmonic, I agonized about what I should sketch. There was an upper level which would have given me a good overview, but Terry pointed out that the dining room doors would be opening in half an hour. Not enough time for a detailed overview. I bit the inside of my mouth and waited. She had made the right call because only moments later the doors swept open and the stilt walkers tried to convince people to go inside.

We sat at the table with the Friends of the Philharmonic. Dinner was decent. I ate quickly and started this sketch in the pauses between courses. Everyone at the table knew of this blog and that they might end up in the sketch. A member of our group joked that I should sketch the woman seated at the table behind us. She had on a tight shear dress and was busty. He said my site would get twice as many hits. I didn’t sketch her. On stage there was a billboard sized check to the Orlando Philharmonic for $10,000.

A Beatles cover band performed as we were getting desert. Then a scrim lifted and the Orlando Philharmonic was there as back up. Soon the dancing started but I had a cold so I wandered back out to the lobby thinking I might try a second sketch. I didn’t have it in me. I lounged on a large couch and watched a group of 6 or so stilt walkers dressed in 60’s rainbow flavored suits as they danced and vogued.

We went up to a friends room upstairs and marveled at the TV inside the bathroom mirror and neon lights under the dresser which were motion activated. Down at the valet we found out parking was actually $10. We were Shang hai’d! My head was ready to explode and I just wanted to rest.

Friends of the Philharmonic Holiday Meeting

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Terry invited me to a lunchtime meeting of the Friends of the Philharmonic. The meeting was at the Interlachen Country Club (2245 Interlachen Court, Winter Park.) She informed me that there was going to be a White Elephant Holiday gift exchange that was rather fun.When I walked into the Country Club dining room, I was certain I was the youngest person in the room. I looked around for Terry but didn’t see her. After a text and second phone call, I saw her enter the room. She introduced me around and the pre-dinner chatter grew louder. Gretchen was kind enough to compliment me on the sketches that were used on the United Arts Report to the Community. Jenny Rudberger from the Philharmonic played violin the whole social hour walking around the room.

When everyone sat down to eat, Terry told me I could start my sketch. I sat on a couch at the front of the room and got to work. A waitress served me a salad, putting it on the coffee table in front of me. I ate the fruit but didn’t eat the whole salad since I wanted to keep making progress with the sketch. The lunch was some rather dry chicken and mashed potatoes with a distinct flavor of liquor. I grew agitated when I couldn’t find a watercolor palette and rag. Luckily I had a backup palette and Terry suggested I get some napkins from the men’s room.

When I finished the sketch, I joined Terry back at the main table. When the business meeting started up, it was announced that there are 181 members who are Friends of the Philharmonic. The treasurer recited a list of numbers all of which culminate in the fact that the Friends are solvent. Executive Director David Shillhammer announced that the Philharmonic would again join forces with Mad Cow Theater to keep Opera alive in Orlando. Frank McClain will direct La Boheme in April with a limited staged performance at the Bob Carr.

Then came the moment everyone was waiting for, the White Elephant Gift Exchange. All the presents were neatly wrapped under a Christmas Tree at the front of the room. At each table people had to figure out who’s birthday was closest to December 1st. That person had to hand a rubber ball to the person to their left. The person with the ball could then pick a present from under the tree and unwrap it at the table. Once the present was unwrapped they would hand off the ball to the next person. That person could steal the first present if they wanted or pick a new gift from under the tree. Stealing was encouraged. At our table Dianne Souder unwrapped a small stuffed gorilla that made shrieking gorilla noises when it’s tummy was pressed. I didn’t feel like stealing it, so I picked a small heavy box from under the tree. I thought maybe it was a golden bar because of its weight, but it turned out to be glass coasters. Useful I suppose, I shoved it towards Terry. Terry got two large, tall oriental coffee mugs with symbols for peace and happyness transcribed on them. They were tasteful and nice. Most presents were tasteless and tacky like a door stop and a gator cup with a ceramic gator head inside the cup which would slowly appear as you sipped the coffee. You can probably tell that I kind of covet the gator cup which was picked by Nancy Phipps. Well maybe she will re-gift it next year.