This is about love and an orchestra.
Around the periphery there were the things that happen in orchestras — the concerts; the rehearsals; the odd, off schedules — and there were the things that happen in love: the wooing, the awkwardness, the carpooled social events where it is not clear whether you are hitching a ride or bringing a date.
See the couples in the Virginia Symphony Orchestra.
In the Venn diagram of the first occurrence (orchestra) and the second (love), there is a big, shaded overlap.
In the Virginia Symphony Orchestra, everybody is in love with everybody else.
“There have to be, what, seven of us?” says Amanda Gates Armstrong.
“No, there are more,” Patti Ferrell Carlson says. “Let’s see. The Bishops. The Boyers. The Aguirres. The Whites.” The Whites throw great Halloween parties.
The principal flutist is married to the principal percussionist. The assistant principal second violin is married to the principal trumpet player. The acting assistant principal cellist married one of the bass players a few years ago; now they’re raising two small kids and two giant instruments.
In fact, in an orchestra made up of 48 core players, 18 of them are married to each other. Nine couples. Comparatively, the National Philharmonic has three pairs out of about 65 players. The Fairfax Symphony has two. The National Symphony Orchestra and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra each have five couples, but nearly twice the musicians.
If you count VSO’s non-full-time musicians, the percentage goes higher. The music director, JoAnn Falletta, is married to a substitute clarinet player. It’s very all-in-the- family.
On this night, Armstrong and her husband, Vahn, are chatting in the orchestra’s Norfolk dressing room with Carlson (clarinet) and her husband, Stephen (trumpet), a few minutes before a rehearsal. “Amanda had a beautiful wedding,” Carlson remembers. “Good shrimp, great tango.”
Amanda is the orchestra’s assistant concertmaster. Vahn is the concertmaster. They met when he sat on her audition panel, romance solidified when she asked for his advice in purchasing a new violin — she bought a 1699 Rogeri — and they married 11 years ago. At their wedding, they displayed a quote by the British occultist Aleister Crowley. It read: “If one had to worry about one’s actions in respect of other people, one might as well be buried alive in an ant hill or be married to an ambitious violinist.”
“I never thought I would date another violinist,” Amanda says. “I thought, oh my goodness, that’s not a good idea.” Everyone knows the stereotypes about violinists, especially violinists themselves, who are the first to good-naturedly repeat them: They are highly strung divas. Neurotic, probably, always wanting to be the center of attention. Not a good match for, say, the brass players, who have the reputation for being the frat boys of the orchestra. But maybe okay for the stately timpanist.
“An oboist and a viola player” might make a nice pairing, Benjamin Rous, the VSO’s associate conductor, says thoughtfully. Both instruments have that quirky, nerdy vibe. Or a lithe harpist and a beefy trombone player — that would be an interesting couple. It would be a scenario of opposites attracting, Rous admits, but who knows, sometimes these things work.
The Post Most: LifestyleMost-viewed stories,videos, and galleries in the past two hours
_1337038921.jpg)
Loading...
Comments