(Music) is one of the things that always gets cut when schools face (financial) difficulties. When I was in school, we had instruments and uniforms and we had great budgets and we took trips and now it's wham! Everything is gone. |
April is one of those months where everyone is involved in 10 different things. There isn't a day that goes by that someone isn't having some kind of recital. Work in the end of the school year and the (Easter) holiday, and it's very busy. |
It's a good time to do 'Harry Potter' since the new book just came out this summer. |
It's a nice idea around which to program a lot of different music. Using that as a theme was a good way to build an eclectic concert - anything connected with dance. It's shorter, lighter, different types of music. And we have a couple of surprises, too. |
No one forgets the first time you hear it. |
One of the other things I like about the April program is it gives me a chance to talk some to the audience. In researching this, I found some interesting connections between these pieces. During the time ragtime was popular, it was a world-wide craze. Brahms wrote some, and so did Stravinsky. In fact, the last thing Stravinsky wrote before 'A Soldier's Tale' was a ragtime piece, and that helps explain the quirky style of that piece. |
She was only 16 when she performed with us. She captivated the audience when she was here. |
There are so many pianists that play so well. Once they're at that level, the judging is so subjective. |
This is the first time we've ever done Mozart outdoors. |