Home from Sun Valley
Today, Tuesday August 16, I sit in Boise International Airport, on my way back from the Sun Valley Summer Symphony. I wished that I could have written while I was actually at the festival, but I found each of my days so filled with both activities, and much needed rest, that I simply didn’t even think of posting anything until just now.
So, a bit of postmortem on the SVSS. I have to say that this is, perhaps, the thing during my season to which I most look forward. We performed 11 concerts in 15 days, to an incredibly appreciative audience, and in a community which shows a tremendous respect for the arts. Schubert’s Ninth, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Firebird Suite, and the first four movements of Holst’s Planets (Mars through Jupiter) were some of our highlights, but I can’t not mention Beethoven’s Fourth Piano concerto, wonderfully performed by the up-and-coming Jonathan Biss, nor our Pops concert—always a fun affair for the brass section—nor our Benefit concert of music by Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, and Porgy and Bess highlights).
Then, when you combine that with several hikes into the mountains, tennis lessons, and kayaking for three straight hours across (and back from) Redfish Lake, plus starting and completing a trio for Tom Stacy, the Philharmonic’s English Hornist, it seems hard to imagine that there was much time for resting.
Yet, I always seem to find my time in Sun Valley incredibly refreshing, preparing me to start a new season at the Philharmonic with a fresh and positive attitude; Sun Valley is, for me, a chance to get away from the fast-paced, hey-wired life that one leads when living in the largest city in the U.S. I find that I get a much needed boost by coming here, whether it’s the fresh mountain air, the scenic lakes, or just getting to reacquaint myself with colleagues whom I haven’t seen in nearly a year. Musicians in the SVSS represent, among many others, the St. Louis Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony, Ballet, and Opera orchestras. This leads to another of the wonderful things about Sun Valley: keeping up on the happenings in other organizations, especially when we are all facing similarly difficult and changing situations.
But as always, the time goes by incredibly quickly. And while I am sad to leave here until next summer, I am excited to go back home to see my family, whom I have missed tremendously over the past 26 days on the road.
So, that’s it for now. I look forward to writing again soon.
So, a bit of postmortem on the SVSS. I have to say that this is, perhaps, the thing during my season to which I most look forward. We performed 11 concerts in 15 days, to an incredibly appreciative audience, and in a community which shows a tremendous respect for the arts. Schubert’s Ninth, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and Firebird Suite, and the first four movements of Holst’s Planets (Mars through Jupiter) were some of our highlights, but I can’t not mention Beethoven’s Fourth Piano concerto, wonderfully performed by the up-and-coming Jonathan Biss, nor our Pops concert—always a fun affair for the brass section—nor our Benefit concert of music by Gershwin (Rhapsody in Blue, An American in Paris, and Porgy and Bess highlights).
Then, when you combine that with several hikes into the mountains, tennis lessons, and kayaking for three straight hours across (and back from) Redfish Lake, plus starting and completing a trio for Tom Stacy, the Philharmonic’s English Hornist, it seems hard to imagine that there was much time for resting.
Yet, I always seem to find my time in Sun Valley incredibly refreshing, preparing me to start a new season at the Philharmonic with a fresh and positive attitude; Sun Valley is, for me, a chance to get away from the fast-paced, hey-wired life that one leads when living in the largest city in the U.S. I find that I get a much needed boost by coming here, whether it’s the fresh mountain air, the scenic lakes, or just getting to reacquaint myself with colleagues whom I haven’t seen in nearly a year. Musicians in the SVSS represent, among many others, the St. Louis Symphony, Dallas Symphony, Houston Symphony, Toronto Symphony, and San Francisco Symphony, Ballet, and Opera orchestras. This leads to another of the wonderful things about Sun Valley: keeping up on the happenings in other organizations, especially when we are all facing similarly difficult and changing situations.
But as always, the time goes by incredibly quickly. And while I am sad to leave here until next summer, I am excited to go back home to see my family, whom I have missed tremendously over the past 26 days on the road.
So, that’s it for now. I look forward to writing again soon.
posted by Jim Markey at 11:11 AM
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