Hooters!

This little guy is one of four baby Great Horned Owls living right outside the window of the church we performed in today. The adult owls apparently adopted this nest back in 1982 and have been raising their family there ever since. The church protects the nest and people actually come from around Arizona to view the birds. The momma owl was perched within eye site of this fuzzy guy ready to strike with her sharp talons and beak if she anything threatened the safety of her nest. In fact one year a woman threatened to sue the church after "their" owl attacked her cat. A Great Horned Owl can prey upon animals larger than itself including skunks, porcupines, an even domestic dogs and cats. This window was the backdrop for my orchestra today and an audience member told me they could see the inquisitive face of this owl peeking at us during the performance. I tool a bunch of pictures to show Ara, she would have been glued to the window if she had been there!

The concert had it's ups and downs today. The Copland is just 13 players and was by far the most difficult in terms of ensemble awareness. I think it was good for us and I have to admit I have a general Copland aversion but after really living with this piece I started to feel the music in it. I've always heard Copland beautifully portrays the "new American Frontier" but that never really meant anything to me, it never connected to any emotions. So I did some research (read the liner notes of a CD) and found some concepts I could identify with. Courage, energy, reflection. I began to understand more... to see that image of the sun rising over the trees with a soft morning fog, the promise and mystery of the unknown, even maybe the slight sadness of leaving behind the familiar. I enjoyed the experience and the challenge. I really miss playing chamber music full time. I miss my old wind quintet. The music store I teach at is closing and I am at a crossroads. Do I continue teaching my diminishing studio or do I look at changing careers? Will I be able to tell Ara she can follow her dreams and make a living?