a room (and maybe a recital) of own's own

This morning the New York Times reports on the plight of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra members. Like everyone in New Orleans, including some cousins of mine, they have been scattered all around the country, looking for work and places to live. I especially liked the composer in Oklahoma who "said he did not have much money but could offer a room and the chance of a recital."

It sort of reminds me of my own experience with the ill-fated "Atlantic Southeast Ballet Orchestra," which was based in Charleston, SC with plans to tour the southeastern United States. The day before the first rehearsal, though, the orchestra manager sent out an e-mail with the subject "CATASTROPHE." The orchestra's funding had just disappeared, and after we played a benefit concert (for the orchestra) on 9/11, so did the orchestra management. They left the country, fleeing creditors. The orchestra members were left to pick up the pieces, break their apartment leases, and find somewhere else to work, since Charleston is not a hotbed of classical music activity, at least for 11 months of the year.

That was how I came to live in Miami, and worked in the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra before joining the New World Symphony last year. I still have a part for Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle, stamped "Library of ATLANTIC SOUTHEAST BALLET," as a souvenir.

A.S.B., 2003-2003, R.I.P.