Leisure Suits And Long Nights

So, last night was the Minnesota Orchestra's annual Symphony Ball, our biggest gala fundraiser of the year. It's a massive undertaking, usually combining a mini-concert by the orchestra, a black-tie dinner, live and silent auctions, speeches, dancing, and all manner of drunken revelry. To be honest, it's not usually something I participate in beyond my orchestral duties. But this year, Sarah and I were asked to emcee the whole evening, so I was present from start to finish for the first time. It's a whirlwind evening, and you find yourself somewhat amazed that everything actually goes off as planned, although given how much time our development department and volunteer organizers spend nailing down every last detail, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised.

Anyway, the one somewhat unfortunate side effect of hosting this particular event was, um... how do I put this? Hm. Well, okay. It was this...

Fellow violist Matt Young helpfully snapped that shot with his cell phone in the men's locker room at Orchestra Hall, shortly after I finished changing into the green polyester leisure suit and ultra-paisley polyester shirt in which I would spend the next couple of hours. See, the theme of the evening was the music of Swedish supergroup ABBA, and the orchestra was playing backup to an incredible a cappella band from Finland called Rajaton, and Sarah and I had decided to get into the spirit of things with some rented disco-era costumes. Let's just say that one of us looked a lot better than the other...

Unfortunately clad hosts aside, the show was awfully fun to watch. Rajaton is a very high-energy bunch, and their voices are perfect for the ABBA hits. But back home in Finland, they're actually better known for their own a cappella material, some of which is positively shiver-inducing.



They're coming back to Minneapolis this fall to do a pops show with the orchestra, this time featuring the music of Queen. It ought to be a blast - there may be a lot that can be said against the pop music of the '70s, but it does seem to work unusually well with a full orchestra backing it. I know that, as a classical musician, I'm supposed to consider all pops work demeaning and beneath my dignity as an artist, but honestly, I love this stuff. How often does a violist get to rock out on an electric guitar riff that he grew up listening to on the radio? Sure, ABBA may not have Brahms's pedigree, but they knew how to work a serious hook...



Late update: Sarah has chimed in with more pics of our personal evening of That 70's Show. And like I said, some animals are more equal than others...