First Rehearsal

Written on 9/15:

Our first day rehearsing with the Sarajevo Philharmonic!  We only had one rehearsal, for La Traviata, and then we have to play the performance tomorrow.

Before the rehearsal started, many people greeted me and introduced themselves.  The musicians are very friendly and enthusiastic.  I am a little intimidated about remembering everyone’s name, especially because I am not used to learning Bosnian names.

As I warmed up, the second oboe player arrived, and shared a few tips with me about tempos. He is an older man, who has been playing with the group for many years.  I met him yesterday, and he spoke no English.  Between then and today he must have studied, because he was able to say a few things to me.  I’m very impressed…he seems to be learning English faster that I’m learning Bosnian!

The conductor for tomorrow’s performance is Bosnian, and so today’s rehearsal was run in Bosnian.  I’ve been studying how to count in Bosnian, so I could at least figure out what rehearsal numbers we were starting at.  However, I couldn’t understand any of the other verbal instructions!  Fortunately, we mostly ran things, so I could get a lot of information from listening and watching.

Since I couldn’t understand what people were saying, I had to concentrate very hard to perform at an acceptable level.  My concentration wavered a little during the run of the second act, and I got lost a few times when there were cuts.  I hope everything goes okay in the performance!!!

My American colleagues were surprised by how the orchestra behaved during the rehearsal.  (I wasn’t as surprised because Ross’s Bosnian guitar teacher warned me in advance.)  The musicians often talked and sang along, and sometimes even answered their cell phones during the rehearsal!  It was a little distracting, but I wasn’t as bothered by the “unprofessionalism” as I expected because (as my roommate Sara pointed out) everyone was so passionate and having so much fun.  I love that American professional classical musicians are so respectful and take their work so seriously.  However, sometimes I forget that music is meant to be enjoyed and help people communicate, and is not a life-or-death matter.

Alisa told us yesterday that people in Bosnia are very laid back, in part because they realize that the small stuff is not worth worrying about.  Many people here have lived through the siege in the 1990s, and every time they left their friends and family they did not know if they would ever see them again.  Now that things are better, people spend a lot of time in cafes, enjoying themselves, instead of working all of the time.  People are very patient, and don’t try to push through lines or rush others.  I hate that I am an impatient person, and hope that living here will help me learn to slow down and not worry all the time about unimportant details.

After rehearsal, the Americans (I need to find a fun nickname for the four of us) and an Italian horn player who also just joined the orchestra, had a late lunch in old town.  It is a really interesting and beautiful part of the city, and I hope to explore it more this weekend.  I think I will wait to describe old town until I get to know it better, so I will sign off here.  As they say in Bosnia, ciao!