As I write this, today’s been my least busy day this week, but there are still a few hours to go.
Yesterday I wrote about the video we were about to put up in the gallery, and I’m pleased to say that everything came together very smoothly on that front. Over the last couple of years, as the institution has adjusted to a smaller staff, and various programs (like this concert series) that push at boundaries or evolve in unexpected directions, I think we’ve become a more “nimble” entity. In the past, taking care of the steps I outlined yesterday – to get the video on display – would have meant a few days of negotiating with all involved. But we have precedents and systems in place now, so we can do something like this rather fluidly, yet still attain the level of quality and attention to detail that real professionals bring.
It’s great to be able to see the video and view the instruments side-by-side.
Beyond that, my morning was spent contacting a few more people about the series I’m programming next Spring, preparing a comp list for Friday’s concert, and doing a little prep work for our Summer events, which will be an outdoor film series in Berkeley’s downtown area. There are permits to file with the city and lots of other details to think about when we are doing something away from our “home” building. That paperwork and related planning are going to form the focus of my work next week.
This afternoon, more percussion instruments were loaded in, and the William Winant Percussion group had a rehearsal. Technically, the rehearsal shouldn’t have happened – they were supposed to start after the galleries closed tonight. But it was mellifluous and relatively low-volume gamelan music, not a Metallica sound-check, so none of the museum patrons complained. They played brilliantly, and the reverberant acoustics of the building just made the sound shimmer beautifully.
Later this evening, the 60-voice choir (actually a combination of three local choruses) arrives for a larger, longer, and louder rehearsal with the percussion group. I’ll take some pictures and report on that in detail tomorrow.
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