| Re: Question on conducting
I always have stuff happen with batons in concert with MYS.
A couple of years ago, I was using a longer-than-usual baton to conduct Rhapsody in Blue. At one point towards the very end, I gave a very strong downbeat and the laws of physics took over. My hand came down faster than the weakest part of this long baton could stand and the top 3/4 of the stick went sailing towards the trombone section while the handle stayed in my hand.
This last Rite of Spring show, in the middle of the Danse Sacrale, I clipped my music stand and the damned thing fairly disintegrated and I was, once again, left with the handle in my hand. I threw the thing to the ground, disgusted, and just went au naturel for the rest of it. A little boy in the audience, came up to me during the bows and brought the handle to me as the audience showed their appreciation to him. I laughed and gave it back to him. He turned out to be the son of our board president who later returned it to me because he insisted it become an MYS relic!
ML |