On The Road Again

With the orchestra about to embark on a major European tour at the end of next week, we're all starting to think about the logistics of such an undertaking, and preparing in our own way for the various challenges that might lie ahead. Most of the concert halls we'll be playing are familiar to those of us who've been in the orchestra for a while, and our tour staff does a remarkable job of taking care of us, but there are always unexpected problems that crop up when you're trying to move over 100 people, 90-some instruments, roomfuls of wardrobe trunks, and tons of other cargo around the world. Particularly grueling for our stage crew will be the first week of the tour, when we'll play five concerts in five cities in five nights.

The range of things that can go wrong on a tour is remarkable, and it's amazing that more concerts aren't canceled as a result of some unforeseen glitch. Back in 2004, when I was blogging about touring for ArtsJournal.com, I wrote a minute-by-minute description of the day that we and all of our gear had to get from Glasgow, Scotland to Lahti, Finland in a single 12-hour period (with a two-hour time change and winter weather working against us,) and we almost didn't make it. And just this week, an even worse situation was unfolding for the Philadelphia Orchestra in Budapest, and only some quick thinking and quicker emergency rehearsing saved the concert.

Sarah will be along on the tour as the cover conductor, and naturally, we'll both be blogging as we go. We've even procured some video capability, so assuming that we learn how to use it, you can expect at least a few multimedia moments as well. The orchestra's intrepid Outreach Manager, Mele Willis, is also hard at work on an eTour web site aimed at kids, so if you have some of those, watch this space, and we'll let you know when Mele's site goes live.

Lastly, if you want to really get inside the touring experience, the BBC is teaming up with Minnesota Public Radio and the man who hosts our Friday night live broadcasts, Brian Newhouse, to produce a week's worth of radio programming about the Minnesota Orchestra, including a live broadcast of our tour-opening concert at London's Barbican Centre. The BBC offers a live stream of Radio 3, and MPR's Classical stations will be rebroadcasting the London concert during our usual Friday time slot. I'll have more details as we get closer to the date.