We have this morning until 1:15pm to explore Glasgow. However, at 1:15pm, we need to be down at the buses in concert attire to go to our last performance at University of Glasgow.
It’s definitely a relaxed morning because we take a walk towards Buchanan Street. There are rows of shops and we end up stopping by this Scottish store to buy junior bagpipes but we all have difficulty even inflating the bag…However, we did get to see how a bagpipe is supposed to be played and as wind players, we’re all fascinated by the bag and the double reed that lies inside the bagpipes.
We stopped to eat dinner at this burger joint called Bread Meat Bread but we were short on time and this was a sit-down restaurant, and there were 9 of us ordering, so it ended up we put down the money, the guys got a headstart on heading back to the hotel because wearing a tuxedo has a lot of parts, and the girls were supposed to stay and wait for change. However, they never really gave us back change and kept looking at us weirdly as we were sitting there, and it was 11:50 and we still weren’t getting change back, so we decided to just leave. All of us run back and we do make it down at the lobby in concert attire by 1:15. We’re also not entirely sure how tipping works because the receipts are a little different, so perhaps the extra 5 pounds we put down was just taken as a tip?
We play at a chapel in University of Glasgow. We first set up, then talk through our program tonight, and then we have 2 hours of nothing until the concert starts with jazz combo. We all feel a little worried that we didn’t rehearse, especially because though our performance of Nimrod went well last night, we just need to rehearse as an ensemble in general and there is always so much we could do better at each concert. I wander around campus by myself and pass by some jousters before finding the Huntarian Museum, complete with all sorts of historical, natural, and scientific artifacts.
I then run back to the chapel, run around the building a few times trying to find the entrance that is unlocked, and make it back in time to set up and walk out to the chapel to hear jazz play.
The stained glass is beautiful and the acoustics are lovely. It felt surreal knowing that this was jazz’s last performance, but they did a very good job. Then it was our turn to go. So as Dr. D had told us yesterday, today we perform Academic Festival Overture conductorless. And we played it well last night so we’re cautious and alert, but it starts off well as Owen gives the downbeat. Everything is going smoothly and sure we are counting, but we’re listening even more. And then it hits the section around rehearsal I where it’s a quiet section and then suddenly there’s a pause because no one knows who is cueing who. David (1st chair cello) looks to Owen (concertmaster) for the cello cue, but Owen isn’t even playing. Alex doesn’t know when to come in because he’s looking at David for the cue, and so there’s this grand moment of silence and we are all freaking out. Then Nick starts playing his bassoon quarter notes and everyone gets back on track and we end smoothly. Perhaps the pause wasn’t obvious to the audience members who didn’t know the piece, but to all of us performers, because we were panicking, it seemed so long and ominous.
The concert goes well after that. For me personally, I was more intune yesterday on Nimrod than I was tonight, but other than that, our performance went well, we delivered a reasonable amount of encores, and then we were off and back to the hotel.
The realization that this was our last performance of the tour hit me really hard. For me, it also means my last performance with MYA as a high schooler, and since I’m not music majoring, the opportunity for me to perform in a such high-caliber ensemble will be very rare. I was very close to crying during Nimrod (also because Nimrod is also a very familiar piece that I know by heart), and I definitely was quieter during the concert and for a little bit afterwards.
After we get back to the hotel, we all crash Alex’s room and they sightread Mozart’s Octet Serenade (oboe, clarinet, bassoon, French horn), which was quite something. Obviously they were sightreading, but tuning was pretty bad and over the course of that hour, improved a bit.
After dinner, we go back up to Alex’s room, but then later go across the hotel to the Baby Grand Bar and Grill where jazz is playing because I saw a video of Dr. D playing the bass at the bar via Camille’s snapchat. Sadly Dr. D wasn’t playing (he played one song and we missed it), but we got to see Neil sing, and also hear some awesome pieces.
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