On Tuesday morning, 12 of our 30 travelers returned to Barts to visit the newly renovated Bodley Scott Infusion Unit. The morning consisted of a tour of the facility and a brief chamber music performance by LSO musicians. The state-of-the-art oncological facilities housed harmoniously in this 900 year old hospital was a bright example of the juxtaposition of modernity and history that seems quintessential London.
In the early afternoon, the group reconvened at Regent Hall, located on the bustling Oxford Street, for a rehearsal. Soprano Janna Baty arrived directly from the airport after a long flight delay from Washington D.C. She added her rich and luxurious voice to the orchestra's storytelling for Barber's "Knoxville: Summer of 1915". We also rehearsed with the remarkable David Juritz, with whom we had performed at Tufts University on May 31, and who was now joining us on his home turf in London. David and Janna will be the featured British and American soloists in the Longwood Symphony's upcoming concerts on Thursday June 26 at 7:00 p.m. at Bishopsgate Institute and Friday June 27 at 7:45 at The Anvil in Basingstoke.
Directly following our rehearsal, we loaded up the bus and headed to the prestigious lawfirm Freshfields, Bruckhaus and Deringer for a Harvard Club of the United Kingdom event hosted by Don and (former LSO violinist) Sue Guiney.
As the musicians were warming up and changing into concert attire, a few members learned that the Queen was about to drive by! After a few minutes of waiting, the gates of the building across the street opened, and the Queen's motorcade poured out. As the car turned the corner, eager LSO members waved, and the Queen, in her iconic, peacock blue hat, waved right back!
The evening's event was a combination of music and medicine and was the first time the space at
Freshfields had been used as a concert hall! The program for the evening was an eclectic mix of chamber music by Ibert, Mozart, and a hilarious flute quartet purportedly written by Mozart's lost great great grandchild, Wolfgang Schroeder. Before each ensemble played, members introduced themselves and shared some information about their professional work in medicine and science. The program concluded with a performance with the Bach Double Violin Concerto with our co-concertmasters Sherman Jia and Sandy Mong.
Following the concert we had the chance to meet our audience, many of whom had fond reminiscences of Cambridge and Boston to share. Old memories combined with new ideas about the interface between music and science, leading to thoughts of how the Longwood Symphony Orchestra might return for a second performance at Freshfields. After the reception, we returned to the hotel, where many musicians gathered in the hotel restaurant for a late-night dinner where we got to taste London's famous fish and chips!For a look at more pictures, click here!
No comments:
Post a Comment