Last Sunday saw our second and final performance of Davison’s Quintet for trombone and string quartet. Our first performance of this work, three weeks ago, was part of my recital at St Andrews Church, which was itself a component of my Masters of Music degree at the Con. Doing a recital for the first time in eighteen years has been a rewarding experience, and one that I’m planning already to repeat on the 8th of October- although it will be lighter in tone (in some ways!).
Strangely enough, the performance itself was very arduous for me, as I had been in bed for most of the week leading up to the recital. Being onstage therefore felt very uncomfortable, and I felt that I had to work for every note. I had, however planned for this in my run-up to the performance, even though deep down I was hoping for a more rewarding experience onstage. Having said that, the feeling of relief afterwards more than made up for this, as have the wider experiences that I’ve gained and enjoyed from the project overall.
Getting to meet and work with Andrew for this project has been an absolute delight for me, and his infectious enthusiasm for the organ and for music in general has been refreshing to experience. Thanks Andrew.
Finally getting to work with Kevin Power after all these years has also been a rewarding experience, and one that I know I wish to repeat again in the future.
Of course, the major part of the project has been working with the string quartet. When I first approached the players, I must admit that I was unsure whether they would enjoy the work, but as time went on it became obvious that they were finding the work a joy to play, which was a great comfort to me. I had bought the parts for this piece over twenty years ago, and it was only now that I was getting to play the work for the first time. Talk about holding onto your dreams.
With the first performance out of the way, the five of us were looking to performing the work again, which we did last weekend as part of a chamber concert by the Brisbane Symphony Orchestra, up at Bribie Island. We stayed up at Bribie the night before the concert, to rehearse and have a night together which was, like the other times within this project, a delight in allowing me to get to know and share some relaxing moments with the others. The final performance was not only the end of a six month long project, but the high and second to last point of the weekend- the final point being our relief and joy at bringing this project to a close. The handing back of their parts to me seemed to usher this final phase in- like seeing a door close for the last time. What will continue on will be my faith in human nature- and my friendship- so Anna, Annie, Megan and Matthew: I thank you for what we’ve shared over the last six months, and what I’ll treasure for many years to come, and for our friendship over the years to come. Thank you.
For the rest of you, I’ll will be putting up the footage from this second performance soon and, a little later- once I have my marks back- I’ll be uploading footage from the recital. Stay tuned!
