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June 16, 2000 - Boston, MA
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Dear Readers,
Bummer: my "earlybird" flight out of Boston was just cancelled, so I'm sitting cross-legged on the floor of the airport, trying to keep my eyes open, watching Dad advance along a long zigzagging line of people in front of the U.S. Airways reservation desk, hoping to change our tickets. I don't know when we'll get out this morning, so I might as well use this time to write a bit.
I came to Boston two days ago, the morning after a recital in Philadelphia, with my keynote speech all prepared for the American Symphony Orchestra League. The trouble was that I also brought with me an unexpected case of laryngitis. I rarely get sore throats, but this week -- the only time all year when I actually needed my voice for a performing situation -- my vocal cords swelled up and my voice turned to a hoarse whisper. There was nothing I could do except shut my mouth, drink more and more water, and try to stay out of sight of friends at the convention who might've wanted to talk to me (and vice versa).
By doing those things, I managed to recover enough of my voice yesterday to last precisely 16 minutes, and that was all I needed. At first it felt pretty strange to be on stage without a violin in my hands, but after a few sentences, I got used to it. In my speech, I talked a bit about things that I do to keep in touch with audiences, and things that I thought both artists and orchestras might do on the Internet and on television. Just before my part of the program, the League introduced its web site for kids -- www.playmusic.org. (Actually, if you go to that website, you'll find an essay from me to kids -- as well as one from fiddler Mark O'Connor and pianist Helene Grimaud -- and a lot of other music-related things that you might find interesting.) After my speech, the program concluded with a performance by the New England Conservatory Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, and everybody went to lunch.
I stuck around a while to talk with the members of the Greater Boston Youth Symphony and tape a public service announcement for the Orchestra League's radio campaign, then I had lunch with an old friend from Curtis who is now a member of the Boston Symphony. She and I were the two violinists in a series of string quartets that we formed over a four-year period at Curtis, and I hadn't seen her since she graduated three years ago. Later I went out for a walk around Boston, to get some photos and a feel for the city. As I passed through a public park, I suddenly found myself in the middle of an open-air folk-music festival. The performers and the audience looked like they could have stepped right out of the 1960s -- bellbottoms, beads, easy-going geniality and all. That is actually very much in the character of Boston. People here seem friendly and are very helpful to visitors, and everybody seems to live pretty much however he or she wants.
While I was out, I dropped by a violin shop (in a building called "The Electric Carriage House") to visit with the owner and have my violin pegs checked out by the violin maker who installed them the last time I was in Boston. While there, I played a little on one of the maker's new violins (only two weeks old) and fiddled around with another violin from the middle 1700s. Since I hadn't touched a violin for nearly 40 hours (something very rare for me), my hands felt like mush, so I warmed up slowly and eventually things felt normal again -- which reminds me of something funny that happened in Boston. When I was talking with the youth orchestra after my speech, I guiltily admitted that I hadn't practiced for more than a day (extremely unusual for me), and they laughed and shook their heads and clicked their tongues at me. Which just goes to show that everyone in music knows the value of daily practice!
Oh, it looks like Dad's near the head of the line at the airline ticket counter. I have to hurry now, to pack away the computer and board whatever flight we can catch. We're carrying only hand luggage on this trip, so maybe we'll be off to Philadelphia sooner than we had hoped. Anyway, thanks for keeping me company while I was waiting! I'll write next from Baltimore, or Atlantic City, in both of which cities I'm playing the Elgar Concerto next week.
Yours from Boston,
Hilary
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Line in the airport, and girl dancing
Woman across the airplane aisle from us, on the way to Boston
My next-seat neighbor on the same flight
A little hand
Me, delivering my speech
Stage setup during the speech
A sidewalk in Boston
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Mounted policeman giving directions to tourists
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Policeman and horse, watching over the intersection
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Tree in a Boston park
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People walking through the park
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Manmade lake, also in the park
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Some architecture in Boston
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Singer at a folk festival in the city
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Viszla dog at the folk festival
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Tiny part of the Boston skyline
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Leaves, photographed against ripples in a small lake
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