Backstage at the Carnival Center-a View from the Pit
The Carnival Center for the Performing Arts opens in Miami this weekend, an event decades in the making. From October 3 through October 7, South Florida Musicians Association Secretary-Treasurer and Florida Classical Orchestra oboist Jeffrey Apana writes about what it is like to be backstage during this history-making week.October 4
Today was a long day. I drove up to West Palm Beach this morning to teach oboe lessons (I'm an adjunct faculty member at Palm Beach Atlantic University). Then I spent about two hours this afternoon adjusting my reeds. Then I drove to Miami to play tonight's rehearsal. Luckily, there was very little traffic today.
No matter how many reeds I have, I still have to spend time adjusting them each day. An oboe reed is basically two intricately carved pieces of wood, about a quarter of an inch wide and less than two hundredths of an inch thick, tied together. Any slight change in weather changes the reed...a little more humidity, and the reed swells up, etc.
Quite a few of the orchestra members teach...some have University positions, some teach in public or private schools, and many teach music lessons to future orchestra members. The average musician makes about $13,000 a year playing for Florida Grand Opera, so we supplement our income by playing in other orchestras (when schedules permit), teaching, or with other jobs. In addition to teaching music lessons and working at the Union, last week I played for Orchestra Miami, and in two weeks I'll play some children's concerts for Boca Symphonia. Now that we've lost our full-time orchestra, south Florida is lucky to have the quality of musicians we have, who are willing to piece together all sorts of odd jobs (and deal with often unpredictable amounts of income) to make a living.
Tonight we were in the pit, and some changes have been made since our tuning rehearsal last month. Half of the pit has the disadvantage of being under the stage, and the musicians in that part of the pit often feel like they're in their own world. Sound bounces off hard surfaces, and the part under the stage has an (obviously) low ceiling, in addition to being a few feet lower than the rest of the orchestra, so playing there can be like playing in a bathtub (very loud and boomy for those near you, and more difficult to hear those outside of the "bathtub"). Tonight those under the stage were on a platform to get them nearer to the level of the rest of the orchestra, but it may be a little while before we find an arrangement that we're happy with. But we've been told it sounds great in the hall. It sounds a lot different in the pit than in the hall, so we often have to rely on the conductor (who often gets feedback from someone in the hall during rehearsals) to tell us if we're too loud or too soft.
- 1. Backstage at the Carnival Center-a View from the Pit
- 2. October 4
- 3. October 5
- 4. October 6
- 5. October 7
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