Sapporo Beer Fest

We started rehearsing for our last concert cycle this week, and the International Principals have arrived as well. Hal Robinson, my old teacher, has been giving us great master classes and sectionals, he's been playing in the section during our rehearsals, and he bought all the beer for us at beer fest last night. The Sapporo beer fest also started this week. I can't even describe how much fun it is. They have great beer and food. There's a Sapporo side, and a Kirin side. I've been to both, and I definitely like Kirin better, now that I've done a side by side taste test. You order your beer by the keg or by the tower, its pretty awesome. I wanted to write about it sooner, but since I've been there the past three nights, it's been difficult to sit down at a computer and concentrate when I get back home. (Its difficult to do anything...) After the second night, I didn't think I could go back for a third night, until Hal said he wanted to go. Bass players really do know how to party, that's all I gotta say. I've been there the past three nights, and there comes a point, usually around 9:30, where the language barrier at the beer fest breaks down. Japanese people are very friendly and nice. I met a Yankees fan the other night, and would yell "Matsui!" every time I yelled "Matsuzaka!" I tried to imagine what a beer festival like this in America would be like. Safety and security would be the first issue, because that's just what you need to do in America. Japanese people have earned the right to party like this, because no one causes trouble, no one's getting out of line, it's like Disney World for adults...with beer. In America, I think everyone would be so caught up on making sure everyone's 21, that no fights break out, and making money that it just couldn't happen. (I love Japan) I'm sad to think that this will still be going on after I leave.

I think I'm going to enjoy this last concert cycle. Our conductor is Andrey Boreyko, very Russian. We're also playing an all Russian program, Rachmaninoff 3rd piano concerto, a Scriabin tone poem, two short Liadov pieces, and a few other things I can't really remember. I've actually never played any of these pieces, they're not very well known. (If anyone's interested, Scriabin wrote some great things, but I think he never really got popular because he died of a small infection that ended up poisoning his blood, a few years before penicillin was discovered, ironically enough. However, he believed music, and only music, would one day save the world, and he wrote some amazing pieces...worth checking out) The rehearsals have been kind of rough, however. We spend a lot of time on only a few bars. Its very tedious, and the orchestra is clearly getting antsy, myself included, but I'm starting to see the purpose of this. (In the end, a conductor should never have to rehearse this way, but I can't think of anyone who's played the Scriabin piece before, and we're learning it inside and out) The Scriabin tone poem is very impressionistic, as far as Russian music goes. I really like what he's doing with it, even if I'm not a fan of his rehearsal style. (My stand partner and I made bets as to when we were going to play our first note yesterday morning, it was a half hour into the rehearsal) Also, Hal has been sitting in with us during the rehearsals, and its just fantastic. I'm fortunate enough to be sitting principal, so he gives me a few principal tips here and there. Its hard to believe that I actually only have one week left here. Time passes slowly, but I know it's just going to be a flash when I look back on it later.