Saint Paul's Church in San Miguel was the most packed I have ever seen it. 250 plus people crammed into the church and made an enormous difference in the temperature. The church went from pleasantly cool during the rehearsal to hot and humid. It's amazing how people can effect the local climate so rapidly. Or maybe not. Due to the size of the orchestra, 17 musicians, the end of my trumpet bell was at almost the same location as the ears of the people on the 1st row. Luckily the Haydn is pretty light and they all seemed to enjoy themselves. 1 very sweet lady who had the misfortune of being closer to me than anyone I think I have ever performed for, was such a good sport and played along with the clown show that now accompanies all of my performances.
As most of you know, Michael Pearl contacted me around 6 months ago to invite me to perform as a soloist and principal trumpet with Sinfonieta Potosina a small chamber orchestra. I was thrilled. What an opportunity. It turns out that my feelings about performing the Haydn trumpet concerto were correct. However, my excitement about Sinfonieta Potosina, ProMusic and ProMusica president Michael Pearl were completely off.
I am not familiar with the British class system but I don't think musicians are very high on the scale. It's been a long time since I have dealt with a person as disrespectful as Michael Pearl. When I was contacted by a media source in San Miguel about my upcoming performance I was happy to hear I was getting a little press. She asked if I could send her a foto. As you all know I have lot s of those. I know it may sound silly but I do think about my image and what I am trying to convey with every piece of PR I send out. So here's the foto I sent:
This was not the "image" that ProMusica and Michael Pearl wanted was the reply I received from the nice lady who, up until this reply I believed was an independent reporter. I now realized that while I'm sure this appeared as an article in Atencion, it was in fact an advertisement. Slick.
The most insulting and disrespectful insult came after the last rehearsal with the phantom Sinfonieta Potosina. I was sitting outside the church eating a very yummy Piasana torta when I notice a box filled with programs for that evenings performance. I opened the program and as I looked through I noticed my name was nowhere to be found. I am billed in the add for the concert inside of the program as "Our star trumpeter" In the program notes there is over 1 entire page dedicated to the fictitious Sinfonieta Potosina which in reality is just a pick up group comprised of musicians from Queretaro and Guanajuato that only rehearsed the day of the performance. We never played completely through the Haydn until the performance. Not a single mention of who the soloist for the evening concert is. Or any of the musicians who made a sound. Plenty of information on how to donate money.
Here's my encore from the concert:
Michael Pearl was sitting in the 2nd row and had the most disgusting look on his face when I brought out my rubber hose trumpet. I think he was the only person who didn't enjoy it. No surprise. He also didn't announce who the soloist was so I had to take matters into my own hands. How many times have you heard someone shout during the encore of a classical music concert, "What's your name?" That's how comfortable I made them feel. And how little information they had. Thanks ProMusica and Michael Pearl you really know how to treat your "star trumpet soloist".
I'll post more of my performance when I get a chance. I can't wait for you to hear the Andante.
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