Mozart in Munich 2006

Mozart Concert in Munich

Not much interesting here to tell. My concert was so quickly on its feet and done, I didn't have much time to see the city, hang out, etc... Ulf Schirmer was the conductor for this Mozart program. I must say I enjoy Mozart, but I don't know if I ever really fit into any niche of his music, except for a few sundry pieces here and there. I did have fun singing Susanna's aria for the first time with orchestra. I've never done the role (it's really low!) but had worked on the aria in high school, the role in San Francisco, and then dropped the whole idea as the years went on. This was quite nice, as I love singing in the bottom of my voice, and the aria really does reach down into the chest resonance I have. All in all, a very pleasant concert.

Cleveland Orchestra Debussy 2006

Cleveland Concert

Don't have many stories from Cleveland, except I finally got to meet Matthias Pintscher, the composer and conductor. He's very dynamic and much more down-to-earth than I expected him. VERY talented, too. It was a very interesting concert, with one of his pieces, then Debussy's Martyr de St. Sebastien. Both biblical pieces, but so starkly different. And it was a brilliant stroke to do the Debussy as a suite, and cut out all the dialogue. Hopefully one of these days, he'll write a piece for ME!

Indianapolis SymphonyOctober 2006

Indianapolis Concert

Next up was a concert of Carmina Burana in Indianapolis. I was so happy to be in Indiana again after many, many long years. I had not been back to my father's home state since before my grandmother went into a nursing home. My father didn't want us to see our grandmother in her later stages, as she recognized no one and was in a terrible state. He wanted us to remember the pie-baking granma, the goddess of macaroni and cheese and the maker of the STRONGEST iced tea you've ever sampled in your life.
My aunt Ruth was nearby Indianapolis, so I was able to make the drive out with a friend's car to see her! It was great to have a walk down memory lane, and find out more about my own family. Aunt Ruth has even collected family tree information online over the years, so it's always interesting to find out more about the Claycombs! I even had the luck that my Grandmother's sister (my great-aunt), whom I didn't even realize was still alive, called from Florida while I was there. My grandma was what everyone imagines in a grandma - I had forgotten that she had taught me how to crochet until I saw some of her handiwork at my aunt's house. What a treat! I hadn't even questioned my distance with that side of the family. The sheer distance and the loss of my grandfather and grandmother basically had shut the door on all the rest of my kinfolk up in Indiana. We just never went up there anymore. It was nice to make a small first step towards that side of my family again.
Happily, one of my main reasons for wanting to sing in Indianapolis all these years has been the orchestra's Principal English Horn player, Roger Roe. Roger's been a dear friend since we met at Interlochen Music Camp when we were both about 17. He's also from the Dallas area (Lewisville) and went to SMU, as well (as a President's Scholar, at that!) He has remained a close friend over the years, and has been principal in the orchstra for quite a few years. A few years ago, he came onboard Indiana University's prestigious faculty as professor of Oboe. (I knew him always as an Oboist in undergrad!) I'm very proud to know this lovely human being and musician!

0110 2006

0110

OK, I know I've told everyone about this concert in my annoying newsletter, but I still can't stress to you how FABULOUS THIS CONCERT WAS! You know all those lists at the end of the year "the Best of..." in all the magazines? In Belgium, this concert was by and large the top of almost everyone's list. Even in normally buttoned-up, uptight, bourgeois Antwerp, people were in an altogether different mood that day. Friends who went to both Brussels and Antwerp concerts told me that they figured they'd have to fight traffic and fight people to get parking, etc... Instead, people patiently let pedestrians through traffic, showed people where to park,. etc... In short, there was a special kind of cameraderie at least for a day that you rarely see in Antwerp. In all, about 100,000 people came to all the concerts in the four cities. The whole idea started from the rock group deUS' lead singer, Tom Barman. He wanted to get together some people to do a concert against Racism and Intolerance. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The 0110 concerts, held on October 1, 2006 in Antwerp, Brussels, Charleroi and Ghent, were organised by dEUS frontman Tom Barman, Arno Hintjens and Frederik Sioen to promote tolerance in Belgian society, and "against racism, against extremism, against gratuitous violence"[1].
According to the organisation, more than 100 000 people attended the concerts[2] (around 50 000 in Antwerp, 25 000 in Ghent and Brussels, and 5 000 in Charleroi)[3]. Over 140 Belgian artists and groups, often in unprecedented combinations (like Daan and Plastic Bertrand, Gorki and Isabelle A, and so on)[2], volunteered for the event. Tom Barman stated that this would not be a one-time initiative[3].

The concerts were sponsored by the Belgian National Lottery[4]. Summer rock festivals like Sfinks, Pukkelpop, Dranouter, Lokerse Feesten and Suikerrock urged their public to support the event[5].
The event preceded the 2006 municipal elections in Belgium by just one week, thus sending a political message as well.

The right wing opposition party Vlaams Belang wrote an open letter to famous Flemish artists, such as Clouseau, Helmut Lotti, Will Tura, Johan Verminnen and Laura Lynn, who where announced to participate, asking not to do so[6]. The party requested the boycot because the event "only targets Vlaams Belang"[7]. One Vlaams Belang council member has called upon the readers of his web log to start a "mail bombardment" to the concerned artists.[8] Critics speak of an intimidation campaign by the party.[9] On a party congress on 1 October, Filip Dewinter was quoted saying that "if it really were concerts against intolerance, the Vlaams Belang would have to be guest of honour", referring to the cordon sanitaire against the party.[10]

Vlaams Belang sees this as a direct attack by the establishment[11], because the event is sponsored by the Belgian National Lottery. The National Lottery however decided upon the sponsoring contract before the political content was clear[12]. The Antwerp mayor Patrick Janssens (SP.a) disapproved of the concerts[13]. The Vlaams Belang party also refers[14] to the fact that the official website of the event specifically states that "Flanders deserves better than extreme right"[15] and that Tom Barman, the main organisor, had already announced in 2005 that he was planning a concert "against Vlaams Belang" in October 2006[16].

My comments: You should see the VB's racist propaganda! We get leaflets in the mail here in Brussels - amazing. They talk about security on a page with a picture of a muslim man at the top. They write, "Yes, criminality is supposedly down in the capitol, but we know YOU don't feel safe!" It is just hate-mongering and disgusting... Their strong-arm tactics, like threatening high-profile Belgian artists in letters, just made things worse for themselves. They're ever trying to make themselves out to be the big victims, the underdog, "poor me, dogged by the State!" I am VERY glad that people of all stripes showed up to these concerts not just to see their favorite musicians play or sing, but to show solidarity that, although VB and the right wing are getting a big vote in Flanders, it is not EVERYBODY. A little positive peer pressure is a good thing, sometimes, to show that something is NOT acceptable and NOT cool.