one down, one to go

Same town, but one more show. Last night's inaugural performance at the Renee & Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall went very well, despite our operations director's near-panic over some confusion regarding what sections of the chorus would enter through which doors (we spent what felt like nine or ten years rehearsing the Glass, but did we rehearse entering and exiting the space? Not once.) Also despite late entrants into a box walking in talking at full voice, then scraping their chairs all over creation on the terrazzo floors -- all while the musicians were playing, singing, etc. Some people ain't got no cultchah.

Here is the Los Angeles Times' coverage of the evening

And here is the Orange County Register's trio of articles

Actual reviews of the music will cover tonight's performance as well, and will be published in Monday's papers. So for now, it's all about the architecture, the general sound of the hall, the famous people who were here, and the catering.

We ran through the world premiere for Philip Glass this afternoon. He was very unassuming and very quiet, though he remarked that the first time a composer hears a piece out loud is always very special -- he can't keep it all in his head when he's composing, he says. I think he's pleased, even with the fourth section (out of five) which I think he just delivered earlier this week. The instrumentalists aren't as comfortable with it yet as we all are with the rest of the piece. Ah well, we'll see how it flies!