It was a tough 70
days, all my friends advised me against it, it involved 10 venues 21 different
flights (and securiy checks) and airports (and security checks) plus a few trains. 90% of this tour I organized myself; if
this was one of the many Los Angeles Philharmonic tours I have taken in the
past, I would have been an aggressive complainer, but looking back on this tour
I see pleasure and fulfillment.
The logistics of
this tour, for example, were the essence of poor management, my own poor management! It started with
two short masterclasses in Northern Arizona University and the University of
Redlands in Southern California then Direct to Tempare, Finland for a week,
then immediately to Boston to participate in the annual Boston Brass Bash. I
was smart enough to give myself a 48-hour jet lag adjustment time on all the
trans Atlantic fights.
From Boston the tour
took me to Penn State University and from there to the NERTEC tuba symposium in
Ithaca, New York. At this point I want to mention that the organizers in all
these venues managed all their events superbly.
After the NERTEC
event I went to New York City for little rest and recreation. In 3 days we went
to see and hear Aida at the Metropolitan Opera, The Musical, Chicago, and the
Boston Symphony in Carnagie Hall. That’s more listening to live music in a
short time than I have experience in 40 years! All the performances were great
but in the company of my Japanese friends I enjoyed it more.
The next day I got
on a plane again and made the necessary connections to get to Ljubljana,
Slovenia for 9 days to conduct brass ensembles in several cities and give
masterclasses. By this time culture shock was normal to me; food, people,
language, were always in adjustment, which I always found invigorating.
Next came my old
work place, the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, UK. It’s always
a good feeling to return there. After Manchester I went to London and the
Guildhall School of Music and Drama, which, as RNCM, now seem to have evolved
in to annual venues that I can depend on for the future.
The nest day was
another trans Atlantic flight to Los Angeles and to the campus of the Pasadena
City College, for 28 private lessons, which subsidized the trip. This was my
second time there and I will be there again May 9-13 next year, 2016. Mexico City was the
next stop and again it was a week of masterclasses lessons and again that very
special kind of culture shock that keeps life interesting.
I’ve never encountered such a tour, cultural
experience or adventure like this tour since 1967 when I traveled with the Los
Angeles Philharmonic around the world with Zubin Mehta, which included Europe,
most of the pre 1989 communist countries of Eastern Europe, Greece, Turkey,
Tehran, Iran, where we played for the coronation of the Shaw and an unforgettable
week in Zubin’s home country of India. I’m absolutely sure that this trip in
1967 was the influence that has created such a deep need in me to travel and
experience as much of the world as possible.
But now this article
seems like just a wordy printout of Bobo’s 2015 spring world tour. However, the
focal point of this tour was music, brass music and teaching brass music; this
has become a need and a passion for me that is far greater than just the
traveling. I’m asked in every place I go ‘what is the difference between
students in different parts of the world?’ The differences are vast and
interesting but what is more impressive is the fact that playing is getting
better all over the world and one can fine extraordinary young players almost
everywhere today. It’s an exciting thing to see, and with my more than sixty years of observing
the growth of brass playing in the world, I am able to make an experienced
guess of what we might see in the next 60 years. I can absolutely guarantee
there will be some amazing and unbelievable things to see and hear.
May 20, 2015,
Oaxaca, Mexico
