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The Festival Banner. Photo by A.S.

I have spent already two weeks in Hot Springs, Arkansas. They have a nice little music festival here, and I am assisting the music director (Richard Rosenberg) with two other young conductors, Case Scaglione and Dana Sadava. There is a lot going on, orchestral and chamber music concerts going on every day, and the players have all the time rehearsals or master classes. Just the need for assistant conductors seems to be overestimated. The job would be perfect for one assistant, but for three it is too little to do, especially since the town itself does not offer much entertainment...

Conducting the Hot Springs Music Festival orchestra

Yesterday we had a nice orchestra concert, which I opened with Rossini's overture to "La Cenerentola". After that we accompanied 8 (!) students taking turns playing the Vivaldi's Four Seasons, after which maestro Rosenberg conducted the original version of Grofe's Grand Canyon Suite. The locals really seem to appreciate their festival, the venue (Fieldhouse) was packed almost full!

Andrew__Laura__Richard.jpg Andrew Soli with Laura and Richard Rosenberg. Photo by A.S.