Klarinet Archive - Posting 001389.txt from 1998/03

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.edu>
Subj: Anna and the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 06:18:08 -0500

I read Anna's wonderful note on doubling issues but came to a dead
stop when she said that she played with the Christchurch SO from
time to time.

Am I incorrect of thinking of Christchurch as the southernmost
large habitable city in the world? Or do I have that mixed up
with some other town?

And the reason why I found this possibility fascinating, would be
that every time Anna plays a concert there (or even if Anna happens
not to be present for a particular concert), the works being played
are receiving their southernmost live performance on the globe.

I have no idea what I could do with this information, but it sure
would be neat to say, "Oh I did the Ginastera variations and no
one in the world south of me played them as well!"

I once played the Mozart Requiem in El Centro, CA. Now I don't
know if many of you know of this city in California but it is
really remote, lying halfway between Los Angeles and Yuma, Arizona.
So I was sitting in the motel room practicing basset horn when
it dawned on me that I was probably the finest basset horn player
in El Centro. It pumped up my ego so much that I began to look
for places where I could assert that there was no one better than
me in this or that respect. But the idea of living in
Christchurch and being the finest southernmost basset horn player
in the world would really be a distinctive thing.

I think that at one time I happened to be the finest basset horn
player in all of Montana, but then another guy moved in and he
played, too. So I became the second finest basset horn player
in all of Montana. It's the kind of thing one puts on a resume.

=======================================
Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
Rosanne Leeson, Los Altos, California
leeson@-----.edu
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