A New Era Begins!!

Well, as I wrap up the 2015 Santa Fe Opera and Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival seasons, I can hardly believe what a whirlwind these past five months have been.  Winning the position of principal bassoon of the Dallas Symphony was only the beginning.  Selling the house, moving, finishing out the Milwaukee season and playing the summer season in Santa Fe has made for a real challenge.  As the light at the end of the tunnel appears, I can’t help but reflect though on the great things that have happened in the past few months.

Ending my tenure at the Milwaukee Symphony, though I have a leave for next year, was truly a bittersweet experience.  Of course I know that I have many new things ahead, but it was very difficult to say goodbye to the wonderful friends and colleagues I met in Milwaukee.  These people and the leadership of Andreas Delfs and Edo De Waart have helped shape who I have become and I have to thank them so much for all they have given me. I will miss you, but we will see each other again!

Selling the house and moving was the worst part of the whole experience.  They say moving is the most stressful thing you can go through and I totally understand that now.  It’s one thing to move across town but it’s another to move across the country.  And to leave a house you love so much makes it all the worse.  In fact, I have never lived in any domicile for as long as I have lived in that house.  2019 N Buffum St, I will miss you and I hope the new owner loves and treats you well.

The Summer has been great!  Daughter of the Regiment, Rigoletto, Salome, La Finta Giardiniera, and Jennifer Higdon’s new work, Cold Mountain, have been a joy to play.  It being most likely my last summer in the Santa Fe Opera has made the season more important to me than ever.  I’m cherishing every moment I have down in the pit with my great colleagues in the orchestra and feel so blessed to get to to hear some of the most amazing singing I’ve ever heard.  The chamber festival has also been incredible as well.  A Vivaldi concerto for flute, oboe, and bassoon; Mozart’s Piano Quintet and his Gran Partita, and Messiaen’s Canyons aux Etoilles.  The Messiaen has been a particularly rewarding and astonishing experience.  What a wild piece filled with chaos yet with moments of intimacy.  I am always thrilled to play pieces that I’ve never played and will most likely never get to play again.

I start work with the Dallas Symphony on September 1st and I’m so excited to start this new chapter in my life.  There are many things I’m looking forward to in the season, but notable things are Ravel’s Piano Concerto with my friend Helene Grimaud, Petrouchka, Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust, The Nutcracker, Mozart’s Piano Concerto #24, Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony, and to top it all off, a three-week European Tour in April of 2016.  I’ve always dreamed of playing in the great European concert halls, so this is particularly thrilling for me.

Change is hard, but necessary for growth.  So I’m looking back fondly but looking ahead with great excitement!