Wings & Strings photos

As promised last week, here are a few photos from Wings & Strings, the RCO's joint event with the Reno Air Racing Foundation held on Saturday, September 16. The pictures included here, all by our friend Stuart Murtland, give some idea of what this grand event was like. Over 400 people attended Wings & Strings at the Grand Sierra Resort Showroom.

Acclaimed actor Peter Graves acted as emcee.

The RCO, performing in front of the Grand Sierra’s famous airplane, played an exciting concert of music with an aviation theme.

The Orchestra was led by guest conductor Lawrence Leighton Smith, with RCO Concertmaster Phillip Ruder acting as guest soloist.

Astronaut Captain Gene Cernan also took part in the performance, reading stirring excerpts from his autobiography.

Off to a good start

Here in the RCO office, Monday morning after a concert weekend is always a time to decompress and reflect on how things went. And this morning as I think about it, I don't think things could have gone much better. One of Ted Kuchar's great strengths is his programming and this concert was a great example. The Dvorak Legends, which aren't played very often (although they should be) served as a great overture. Mozart's Divertimento, k. 131 is another masterpiece which is not often played, and I felt really good about how the orchestra performed this. It's a bear for the french horns and they really came through.

And then of course there was the Brahms First Piano Concerto. Superlatives are thrown around alot when talking about soloists, and what makes someone the "greatest" or "best" is very subjective, but it is certainly fair to say that that there are very few people on the planet who can do what Sergei Babayan can when it comes to playing the piano. The Brahms is a very challenging piece for all involved. Certainly the piano part is a major mountain to climb, but it is also difficult for the orchestra and conductor to fit perfectly with the soloist. It is an illusive piece, but very rewarding. Although it is early-Brahms, it has all those wonderful qualities that makes Brahms' music so great. Fire, introspection, lush melodies, rhythmic engagement inside of a classical structure. For my money, there aren't many composers who write more rewarding music--to listen to or to play.

But even if this great music had been perfectly played, it wouldn't have been the same without the audience we had. This season we have shattered our season ticket sales record (I think the number of total season tickets is about 725), and the hall feels different when it's full. I haven't seen the official numbers, but I think that we played for 900-1,000 people this weekend and as a musician in the orchestra, as well as the executive director, this is very gratifying. Thanks to all who were in attendance.

If you missed the concert or would like to hear it again, go to www.kunr.org on Thursday, September 28th at 9:06 a.m. (PDT) and click on the "listen-now" button.

Scott

As you’ve probably seen by now, after quite a while getting everything geared up, we’ve finally been able to update our website. Our thanks go to Christina of Feline Design, Inc. for the great work she has done on the site. Among the new features is this blog. We’re hoping to make this a place you’ll want to visit regularly for RCO updates and information, news from the world of classical music, and some other things that just happen to catch the fancy of the RCO staff.

We’re looking forward to the first concerts of the RCO’s 2006-2007 season, on Saturday, September 23 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, September 24 at 2:00 p.m. at UNR’s Nightingale Concert Hall. Maestro Theodore Kuchar will be leading a program featuring two of Antonín Dvorák’s Legends, the Divertimento, K. 131 by Mozart and the Piano Concerto No. 1 by Brahms, with guest pianist Sergei Babayan. Tickets are still available for both performances by calling (775) 348-9413.

This past weekend we presented Wings & Strings at the Grand Sierra Showroom. A collaboration between the RCO and the Reno Air Racing Foundation, Wings & Strings featured famed actor Peter Graves as emcee of an evening that included guest appearances by Honorary Chair Mayor Robert Cashell, Apollo Astronaut Eugene Cernan (the last man to walk on the moon), and celebrities from the aviation field. The evening’s entertainment included the full-size jet housed on the Grand Sierra Resort stage – complete with brass players on the wings! – live and silent auctions, a full gourmet meal, and a concert of music featuring the RCO led by Lawrence Leighton Smith, with RCO concertmaster Phillip Ruder as violin soloist in music from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. The evening before Wings & Strings, Mr. Graves introduced a special screening of his hilarious film Airplane!

We have some great photographs by Stuart Murtland of Wings & Strings, but have had some difficulty in getting them uploaded to the blog. But check back in a day or two.

Thanks to everyone who took part in making Wings & Strings such a wonderful event.

A few other items:

In the right hand column of this blog, we’ll keep semi-permanent links for sites of interest to us. One is, of course, our own website. We also have a link to the site and blog run by Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker and, in the opinion of the RCO staff, one of the most interesting and perceptive writers on musical subjects around today. His site also includes links to a bunch of other music sites you might like to explore. Also found to the right is a link to ArkivMusic, another of the RCO’s favorites and one of the best places to shop online for classical CDs and DVDs, from best sellers on the world’s leading labels to recordings of all kinds of interesting, rarely heard repertoire on dozens of hard-to-find labels from outside the U.S.

Also, although it’s a month or so old now, we thought you might be interested in this review from the Cleveland Plain Dealer on one of Ted Kuchar’s concerts at Kent/Blossom Music.

And to increase your anticipation for our March 2007 concerts featuring the great Australian didgeridoo player William Barton, here is a very interesting article from the South Pacific edition of Time Magazine on Barton and his involvement with classical music.

Looking forward to seeing you at our upcoming events and concerts.