Steve Reich & Musicians

[Dan Howarth <howarth@U.Arizona.EDU>]

hi folks,

i've just finished a grueling fourteen hour work day with Reich and co.
basically, i was their driver; this involved many, many hours of fun and
interesting conversation, as well as unusual hours... but anyway:

the ensemble consisted of two pianists, five vocalists, a conductor, a
sound engineer, four percussionists, and reich.
they were easily the most relaxed and friendly group of artists i've
worked with. their planes were an hour late; rehearsal was hindered by
fried microphones; they hadn't eaten in over a day; and worst - our staff
had some embarrassing moments with them. but in all, they were very
patient, friendly, and considerate. 
i ended up taking them to a local restaurant for dinner (and muchos
margaritas). i wish i had time to remember and write down the
conversation; easily put, it was entertaining. 

some of them had heard of the chapman stick, though none really knew much
about it. reich asked (and received, of course) for a tape of my music...
his parting words were a very stern "we'll be in touch." incredible guy.

he doesn't actually perform much of his own compositions, but rather
continually uses the ensemble (built of a very tightly-knit group of
old friends) in all of his works. - it was said that he writes some parts
specifically for a certain player in the group. 

the music was memorable. i've always been a glass fan, but i found reich's
marimba pieces (which were featured) to be much more interesting and
dynamic than the organ pieces of glass. the percussionists were amazing.

finally, i dropped them at the airport this morning, after many, many
handshakes and even a free cd of the two pianists' work titled 'double
edge'.

what a day. i can't wait to see if reich will call me. :)

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**  Dan Howarth, History/Music, University of Arizona, Tucson **
**  http://www.u.arizona.edu/~howarth (under construction)    **
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