How many people knew that, to get to Cuba, you may only carry a total of 42 pounds? This is not just in your checked luggage; this is a total of EVERYTHING you are bringing. With one week of performances left in "This Side of Paradise" at History Theatre, my preparation is well underway for Cubadisco 2013! Robert Elhai is creating two brand new arrangements for me with full symphonic orchestration, to be premiered on both May 24 and May 25, and other orchestrations are being collected to bring on the plane! Anyone ever weigh orchestral parts?... I will be trading clothes for music!
My first performance will be Friday May 24, 2013, with Cuba's National Symphony Orchestra, and my second performance will be Saturday May 25, 2013, as part of the festival's grand finale, with a combined symphony orchestra of all of Cuba's professional symphonies, totaling 400 players! This day has been described to me as akin to our Grammy Awards, with many performances and presentations televised live across all of Cuba's major broadcasting networks.
I'll be in Havana for a full week, staying at the Hotel Presidente (the regular stay of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole - see video footage of the hotel here!), performing at the Karl Marx Theater (an enormous venue seating 5,500 people!) and the National Theater (recently completely restored, a venue of over 2,250 seats), touring a nearby tobacco plantation, frequenting the beaches outside Havana, sipping mojitos with colleague Nachito Herrera and family, and hoping my sunscreen doesn't run out!
Here are my program offerings for the two concerts, in no particular order:
"Italian Street Song (Zing! Zing!)" (from Naughty Marietta by Victor Herbert) - with original full orchestrations
"Cockeyed Optimist/Singin' in the Rain/Spoonful of Sugar/Make Someone Happy Medley" (a premiere arrangement with full symphonic orchestration, by Robert Elhai and inspired by my own original medley arrangement performed last month for Fairview Hospice's In Harmony for Life Benefit Concert)
"How Glory Goes" (from Floyd Collins by Adam Guettel) - the full symphonic version recorded by Audra McDonald
"On My Lips Every Kiss Is Like Wine (Meine Lippen)" (from Giuditta by Franz Lehar) - with original full orchestrations
"For Good/Not While I'm Around/You'll Never Walk Alone Medley" (a second premiere arrangement by Robert Elhai, again inspired by my Fairview Hospice program)
This is an unbelievably exciting venture, not only because I get to travel to Cuba as part of this very first group of Minnesota musicians in cultural exchange, but also because I get to premiere these new arrangements by Robert; and, to add to the excitement, that has inspired Robert and me to look at future collaboration possibilities -- ALWAYS a fun prospect, as I admire and respect Robert so much. If you don't know his work, just check out his resume, including orchestrations of 93 film scores including The Expendables, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Sixth Sense, and X-Men, not to mention his Tony nod for Broadway's The Lion King!
Can't wait to post pictures and stories. ¡Hasta la vista por el momento!
My first performance will be Friday May 24, 2013, with Cuba's National Symphony Orchestra, and my second performance will be Saturday May 25, 2013, as part of the festival's grand finale, with a combined symphony orchestra of all of Cuba's professional symphonies, totaling 400 players! This day has been described to me as akin to our Grammy Awards, with many performances and presentations televised live across all of Cuba's major broadcasting networks.
I'll be in Havana for a full week, staying at the Hotel Presidente (the regular stay of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole - see video footage of the hotel here!), performing at the Karl Marx Theater (an enormous venue seating 5,500 people!) and the National Theater (recently completely restored, a venue of over 2,250 seats), touring a nearby tobacco plantation, frequenting the beaches outside Havana, sipping mojitos with colleague Nachito Herrera and family, and hoping my sunscreen doesn't run out!
Here are my program offerings for the two concerts, in no particular order:
"Italian Street Song (Zing! Zing!)" (from Naughty Marietta by Victor Herbert) - with original full orchestrations
"Cockeyed Optimist/Singin' in the Rain/Spoonful of Sugar/Make Someone Happy Medley" (a premiere arrangement with full symphonic orchestration, by Robert Elhai and inspired by my own original medley arrangement performed last month for Fairview Hospice's In Harmony for Life Benefit Concert)
"How Glory Goes" (from Floyd Collins by Adam Guettel) - the full symphonic version recorded by Audra McDonald
"On My Lips Every Kiss Is Like Wine (Meine Lippen)" (from Giuditta by Franz Lehar) - with original full orchestrations
"For Good/Not While I'm Around/You'll Never Walk Alone Medley" (a second premiere arrangement by Robert Elhai, again inspired by my Fairview Hospice program)
This is an unbelievably exciting venture, not only because I get to travel to Cuba as part of this very first group of Minnesota musicians in cultural exchange, but also because I get to premiere these new arrangements by Robert; and, to add to the excitement, that has inspired Robert and me to look at future collaboration possibilities -- ALWAYS a fun prospect, as I admire and respect Robert so much. If you don't know his work, just check out his resume, including orchestrations of 93 film scores including The Expendables, Pirates of the Caribbean, The Sixth Sense, and X-Men, not to mention his Tony nod for Broadway's The Lion King!
Can't wait to post pictures and stories. ¡Hasta la vista por el momento!
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