So, as I expected, yesterday was pretty crazy. At least I had the morning off to get some rest, eat a good meal, and touch up my reeds. The bassoonist in my quintet, Edo, lives nearby, and has kindly been giving me rides to our quintet events so I don’t have to take the tram so much. I was especially grateful to have a ride yesterday so I didn’t have to walk to the tram in my dress and heels.
Edo picked me up in the middle of the afternoon, and I went with him to see his sister, son, niece, and new baby nephew. His sister is a pianist and artist, and has a beautiful apartment filled with antique furniture and artwork. She is married to an American man, so she speaks very good English. It’s always a pleasure to talk to her; she is a very interesting woman. As an added bonus, I was served some Bosnian coffee and chocolate. It was nice to have a relaxing moment before the whirlwind that was to come.
Our quintet arrived at the performance venue about two hours early. We performed in the Bosniac Institute, just next to the Music Academy. It is a sort of museum and is filled with all sorts of interesting artwork, old clothing, furniture, and other items that symbolize Bosnia’s cultural history. I want to come back as a tourist so that I can get some information about all of the displays, and spend more time looking at them.
There were so many video cameras, photographers, and reporters that kept us occupied right up until the performance time. While we were doing a few last-minute run-throughs, there were cameramen getting very close to us to film our faces, fingers, etc. It was pretty distracting, but I guess it’s a good thing to get so much attention! Once we were done rehearsing, we had to pose for several photographs, and answer many questions. Fortunately, none of the reporters asked me to speak in Bosnian! I spoke a little bit in English, explained what I was doing in Sarajevo, and expressed my excitement about the formation of the quintet.
Around 7:15, I snuck off to a small, quiet room so that I could “hide-out”: collect my thoughts, and get a little bit warmed-up. The rest of my quintet soon joined me, and we took a few minutes to tune and discuss how we would walk onstage, bow, etc. Finally, it was time to perform. We were all a little bit flustered and nervous because of all of the hype. And, of course, none of us are perfect players, and the acoustics of the hall were a little strange, so we had a few little slips here and there. However, overall we played our best, and the concert seemed pretty well received by the audience. It feels good to have the premiere under our belt, and I’m sure that we’ll improve for subsequent concerts as we get used to playing together.
After the concert, the director of the Sarajevo Arts, one of the people responsible for getting our concert organized and promoted, invited my quintet and our guests to the Sarajevo Pivnica (brewery). It was nice to celebrate afterwards, though we were all pretty worn out from the day’s events. Whew!
For those who understand Bosnian, here’s the links to two of the articles written about us. Non-Bosnian speakers can at least enjoy the pictures J
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