Day 1, I was jet lagged and needed to take a photo. I remembered that I did bring my tripod on this trip so made a project of a boudoir shot as I was too lazy to get out of bed.....
Day 2 began our rehearsals and performances at the Proms, Royal Albert Hall. This is a gigantic oval arena that seats 6,000 people. The main floor resembles a circus arena in shape and patrons gathered there to stand, shoulder to shoulder, for the complete duration of the performances. The acoustic is enigmatic - you play a note and the sound doesn’t come back so adjusting balance and rhythm to what I hear was a big difference than what I’m used to. My strategy was to play with a warm tone a bit more sustained than usual and it seemed to work out alright.
I found it interesting that each performance began with an unamplified announcement from what sounded like 20 gentleman speaking in unition that heralded in British accents a welcome, plea for donations for music education, and how much the organization had garnered so far.
I love traditions like this!
