Monthly Archives: April 2007

Apr 17 2007

A Day in the Life

People sometimes ask me what my job consists of. Well, yesterday was an example of a difficult day. Here’s how it went…

06:45  Music Director calls from New York to update on travel problems due to huge storm (500 flights cancelled). It’s likely he’ll miss the first rehearsal, and maybe the second as well. This would only leave one rehearsal for Tuesday’s concert. Big problem.

07:30  Talk to Personnel Manager about possibly cancelling morning rehearsal.

08:15  After dropping boys off at daycare, arrive at work to meet with staff to figure out next steps. We decide to cancel the morning rehearsal and hope that Music Director will arrive in time for afternoon.

09:00  We find out the guest Concertmaster is stuck in Philadelphia. Her flight the previous night was cancelled and she got bumped from the morning flight. It’s likely she’ll miss both rehearsals. Not good.

10:00  Music Director likely won’t leave Newark until 12:30. We decide to send the guest Concertmaster by car from Philadelphia to meet him in Newark so she can catch a ride on the charter flight. Hopefully she doesn’t get stranded on the New Jersey turnpike.

11:00  Talk to Orchestra Chair and union rep about adding a rehearsal that evening. Usually you need to give 8 weeks notice to add a rehearsal without overtime. Cost of an overtime rehearsal: $24,000. Fortunately, we all agree that the problem is beyond our control, so no overtime required.

12:30  Music Director and guest Concertmaster are both on charter flight waiting for takeoff. They will probably miss the first half of the afternoon rehearsal.

12:45  Meeting with Orchestra Committee and Director of Human Resources to review new corporate policies.

14:00  Afternoon rehearsal starts with a cover conductor. Music Director and guest Concertmaster finally arrive safe and sound at 14:20, leaving 2h 10′ to rehearse Schoenberg and Schumann.

16:30  Meeting with the Concertmaster Audition Committee to review candidates.

17:45  Brief meetings with CEO and Music Director.

18:00  Special evening rehearsal starts. Only 2 musicians can’t make the evening rehearsal, which is amazing.

18:30  Touch base with Toronto Symphony staff backstage. The TSO is visiting Ottawa as part of their current tour. It’s a rare opportunity to meet colleagues from another orchestra.

19:30  Set up rehearsal hall for post-concert social for the two orchestras.

20:00  Toronto Symphony concert in Southam Hall. Peter Oundjian conducts a great concert, with Leila Josefowicz as violin soloist.

22:00  Make final arrangements for post-concert reception. It turns out to be a great party, with about 120 musicians and tons of home-made food, courtesy of our players.

23:20  Walk over to the Westin to catch a cab home.

I’m actually surprised we don’t have more frequent travel-related problems. We often have guest artists arriving the night before a rehearsal, so all it would take is fog, snow, equipment problems to cause serious headaches. Fortunately, it all worked out…this time.

Apr 10 2007

The Wannabe Gourmet

I am a wannabe foodie. I like reading about cooking – I just finished Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential and A Cook’s Tour and started daydreaming about enrolling at the Cordon Bleu school. On Sunday mornings, I begin with the weekly restaurant review before reading the sports section. I like cooking and baking, and prepare most of the meals in the house. I prefer fresh ingredients and try to avoid pre-packaged meals at all costs.

However, I have a long way to go before becoming a real foodie. I don’t like mushrooms, organ meat, most kinds of cheese, and have never tried foie gras. I have a tendency to over-cook meat and fish and have poor knife technique. I have never eaten at Beckta, Susur, Whalebone, Baccarat, or the other leading restaurants, although I have had memorable lunches at Henri Burger, Social, the Urban Pear, and Les Fougeres (compliments of our generous legal counsel). I don’t watch the Food Network, and I couldn’t tell Rachel Ray from Emeril Lagasse.

I think of cooking as one of the few creative outlets I have. I don’t get to play much these days, I could never draw or paint, and I certainly don’t dance. There’s a unique pleasure that comes from making a good meal and sharing it with friends and family. I just wish I had a wider repertoire to draw from.

If you want to read a good food blog, check out My Dinner Table or The Amateur Gourmet. These guys are serious about food in a way that I will never be. Enjoy.

Apr 9 2007

Survival Weekend

There are weekends when I think I have this parenting thing down. The early mornings don’t bother me, I deal effortlessly with minor crises, negotiate peace treaties between the two boys, and generally feel like I am completely in control.

This was not one of those weekends.

Maybe it’s my head cold, general fatigue, poor weather, whatever, but I have mostly been impatient and irritable. This is not a good mood to be in when you have two young boys in the house for four straight days.

17% of the weekend was spent wiping snot from Kieran’s upper lip. 14% was spent cleaning the house, although it only took 2% of the kids’ time to bring back the grime and clutter. 3% of the weekend was spent trying to convince the boys to go back to bed in the morning, an unsuccessful endeavour that robbed me of 27% of my required sleep. 6% was laundry, 4% was re-organizing the basement, and 1% was filling Easter eggs and hiding them on Saturday night.

Don’t get me wrong – the weekend wasn’t without some fun moments. We saw Meet the Robinsons on Saturday afternoon (a surprisingly good kids movie), went to the Children’s Museum for an Easter egg hunt on Sunday, and took a ride on the O-Train on Monday. We braved the cold to play at the park, and built numerous forts out of cushions and blankets. I may have even cracked a smile or two.

In the end, I self-medicated with Diet Coke and little chocolate eggs and coasted through the last few hours on a caffeine / sugar rush. It’s not a habit yet, so please hold the intervention for a later date.

Apr 3 2007

Ugh

Pussycat Dolls: Search for the Next Doll – worst show ever. It is a damning indictment of our society that millions of dollars are spent producing crap like this. I’m embarrassed that I even know this show exists. Shame, shame, shame.

Apr 3 2007

We’re Number 1(8)!

Mercer Human Resource Consulting recently evaluated 215 world cities in their annual Quality of Living survey, and Ottawa placed 18th overall (3rd among North American cities). Actually, we tied for 18th with Luxembourg. I’ve always said it’s uncanny how much Ottawa reminds me of Luxembourg.

For the second consecutive year, Zurich and Geneva finished first and second. I guess those cities are O.K. if you like spectacular scenery, great chocolate, discrete banks, and unwavering neutrality.

It’s hard to argue with Vancouver placing first among North American cities – everyone who lives there really is richer, smarter, cooler, and better looking than the rest of us.

But Toronto as number 2? You gotta be kidding me. This is a city that took its greatest natural asset (Lake Ontario) and made it virtually impossible for its residents to enjoy by erecting miles of condos along the shore. A city that combines insane real estate prices with rampant gridlock. A city that took Maple Leaf Gardens and turned it into a grocery store. Of course, it does trump Ottawa in strip joints and gang shootings, so I guess it depends on how you define “quality of life”.

So, while cities like Zurich, Dusseldorf and Copenhagen duke it out for world supremacy, I think the really interesting battles are going on at the bottom of the list. Baghdad finished last for the second year in a row, narrowly edging out Brazzaville, Banghui and Kartoum. Nice work George W., keep it up.