This past weekend I
was fortunate enough to perform with a festival orchestra in Lintgen,
Luxembourg. The ensemble was made up of players from a number of countries,
with a large contingent of Canadians (or players with Canadian connections).
Usually when I
perform in a concert which is quite a distance from Switzerland, the orchestra
is made up of players who I haven't met before. While there may be one or two
familiar faces, for the most part I'm the odd one out in an ensemble made up of
performers who have been playing together in various formations for years. It's
a sort of impersonal experience: you do your work, play the concert, have the
beer, and maybe make a few connections along the way. This weekend was
different.
The ensemble, styled Les Goûts-Réunis, have been performing in the festival rencontres musicales de la vallée
de l'Alluette since 2014 and were described to me by one of its
regular members as an ensemble which exists 'to have a good time with friends
and play a concert'. While I had met a few of the musicians before (three of us
studied together in Basel and I had played in Montreal-based groups with three
others) I was surprised how quickly I fell in with the whole ensemble. There
were numerous 'dots to connect' with a number of players: common friends; the
Montreal scene; the Schola; even the timpanist, a native of Calgary, asked me
right out if I went to Canterbury High School!
Working with them
was a real change of pace. The breaks weren't just a time to decompress, they
were alight with conversation. We were also lucky that on three occasions the
whole ensemble had a meal together which, along with a gathering the night
before the concert made for a really memorable project. As an added bonus, we
played at a high level! Both socially and musically, the
continuo section came together very quickly, which made for a real
stress-free experience. Almost everyone I had played with in other formations
before, but not all in the same section.
 |
| The continuo section. |
What made the
program special for me was that half of it I had first performed in my veryfirst tours with EUBO. Coincidentally, those first EUBO programs had been rehearsed
in Luxembourg. There was a real feeling of being 'at home' mixed in with
nostalgia for another time. This was especially the case when rehearsing
"The King Shall Rejoice" from Handel's Coronation Anthems.
Coming home on the
train, I really felt that this was no ordinary project. I do hope that I can be
a part of it in the future!
