G.P.

Me and violin soloist Anna Lee at the dress rehearsal before our Shostakovich concert in Aspen (photo Laura Mirahver)

This has been one of the busiest summers in my life, and thus I have not been able to update my blog, sorry! Anyway, the concerts at the Viola Congress in Stellenbosch were awesome and we had really good time after one of the toughest weeks of my life conducting-wise.

After our last rehearsal in Stellenbosch, with concert master Suzanne, principal flute Helen and principal cello Peter

After the festival I was right away re-invited to conduct at the 39th International Viola Congress in Dresden, Germany, as well as guest conduct the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra in South Africa, so I guess I was not the only one thinking the concerts went well! Thanks goes of course to the wonderful musicians in the congress orchestra. It was a pleasure working with you!

Me and Steve at Piccadilly Circus

I had no time for sight seeing South Africa this time since I had to fly back to Aspen immediately after our last concert to catch up what was going on at the American Academy of Conducting at Aspen. I had an 8-hour layover in London so I actually got out of the airport and had a cup of tea with my British friend Steve whom I met last year in Manchester.

Aspen as seen from the Aspen Mountain

In Aspen the program was busy as ever. I definitely got my dose of cello for a couple of years this summer! Everyone else in AACA orchestra seemed pretty exhausted as well. During the last three weeks there were three more concerts of our own, an opera masterclass with a public performance, a repertoire reading, and a composer reading. In the middle of this turmoil I tried very hard to gather an ensemble to perform Mendelssohn's "Scottish" symphony, but in the end I was happy to conduct just one reading of it (thanks guys!!!).

The amazing AACA orchestra (photo by Laura)

I must say I was amazed until the very end how great players we had in AACA. Even when we felt there is not enough rehearsal and we felt frustrated while playing, when I listened to the concerts afterwards we sounded awesome! This orchestra really held up the standard during the whole 9 weeks of hard labour! And I must repeat that I have never enjoyed playing cello in the section as much as this summer! All the cellists were both good orchestra musicians and great guys and gals as well.

Asher Fisch teaching opera masterclass at the Wheeler Opera House

Another highly positive experience was following the Opera masterclass by Asher Fisch. He was no doubt the best teacher this summer! He was genuinely interested in helping the young musicians, and he had such a vast knowledge about how things work in opera (especially Italian opera). I was really sad that I had no chance to conduct anything for him!

Going overtime... again?

The AACA program is undoubtedly among the best conducting summer academies in the world, but it of course could be better. A lot better in fact, with the amount of money some generous American folks have pumped into it! Just to mention one thing - I mostly hung out with the orchestra musicians during the festival, and practically all of them complained about the fact that there is no proper rehearsal going on, since the orchestra has to repeat and repeat for the sake of fixing the conductors' mistakes. And, on the other hand the orchestra had to sit idle for long periods because some of our teachers started waxing lyrical about totally insignificant matters thus wasting everyone's time! The timing of the rehearsals was an absolute disaster most of the time, and many times we ran overtime which should never happen if you respect the professionalism of the musicians. In my opinion our teachers (all of them!) should try to give us a good example of how to run an efficient orchestra rehearsal - but obviously Aspen is not the place to learn that!

The majestic Maroon Bells... A sight to remember for the rest of your life!

Aspen was really a memorable experience in both good and bad. Most I will miss all my new friends and colleagues in AACA. We will never play again together as an orchestra, and that is kind of sad! We will probably run across each other individually, since most of you guys will find your way in some good orchestra, and hopefully I will conduct some of those orchestras some day! The beautiful nature of Colorado is another thing to miss. The hikes to Aspen Mountain and Maroon Bells were among absolute highlights of the summer for me!

Thanks everyone for an unforgettable summer! Hope to see you again some day!