Off the ground
Okay, best to get the introductions out of the way first. My name is Dave Bremner, and I am the Principal Trombonist of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. We're leaving today on the biggest tour the orchestra has ever undertaken, and I'm going to keep Stuff readers up to date with all the goss and goings-on behind the scenes while we wing our way through China and Europe.
The NZSO is without a doubt the biggest band in the land, and being on the road is not too different from a rock band on the road - flights, hotels, tour buses and so on. The only differences are that there are no TVs thrown out of hotel rooms (well not for a long time anyway), no mid-air dodginess, and tour buses are strictly for players only.
I'm sure it's a logistical nightmare putting a tour like this together: over 110 players and management on the road for nearly four weeks. The planning for the tour has taken years, but I guess as a player it was only really last week, when we were rehearsing, that the scale of this tour dawned on me. Five countries (China, Germany, Slovenia, Switzerland and Austria), 12 concerts, music by at least seven composers, and some of the most amazing concert halls in the world.
Rehearsals last week went well and without any dramas; the only casualty was our music director, who had put his back out before arriving in New Zealand. It was a good chance for a few of the players who have young families and so can't join the tour, to come and hear the pieces we're playing and say goodbye.
One sad note for me is that my brother Stephen, who was supposed to come on tour as part of the percussion team, can't do so due to a nasty whitetail spider bite that has had him holed up in hospital for a week and probably at least another few days. I don't know what's worse for him: the pain of the injury or the boredom of being stuck in hospital for so long. At least he's on the mend, and hopefully he'll be on the next tour.
The highlights of the tour will undoubtedly be the concerts, but there are a few other things I'm looking forward to. When we were in Beijing for the Olympic arts festival in 2008, I missed out on trying deep-fried scorpion - apparently its really good. The orchestra's principal bassist, Hiroshi Ikematsu, is the guru of weird and wacky foods, and though he tells me snake is more a delicacy of Shanghai, I'm determined to find these scorpions. Also on the menu for this tour will be goulash, Wiener Schnitzel, chocolates in Switzerland and a few of Germany's finest pints.
Right then, time to pack and make my way to the airport so I can get in the first of many queues for this tour. First stop on tour is the World Expo in Shanghai; we are taking the long way there through Melbourne, Dubai and then finally Shanghai....brutal. So the iPod is stacked with music, and I have a couple of great books, so will be in Shanghai in no time.....(there's a Tui billboard in there somewhere).
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Picture: Mable Wong
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Yeah David! Good on ya! Woohoo! Have a great trip!
Have a great time. I look forward to following this blog.
(On a not quite related note, I just got round to listening to the latest Dimmu Borgir album, where their orchestra is huge. Any plans for a symphonic metal gig at some point in NZ?)
Great post David. All the best.
look forward to hearing more
More essential reading, and something else to look forward to each day. Have a great trip Dave, I'm all ears.
Go Bremner!
I'm sure you'll have a great time - looking forward to hearing about it. I feel so sorry for your bro, a frikken spider, who would have thought - very suck!!
Best of luck for the tour and don't worry too much about missing out on the deep-fried scorpion. It tastes EXACTLY as you'd expect it would...
Thanks for the news. I look forward to more. Best wishes to the band. *waves* to Ed and Vicki
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Good luck with the tour David. Don't worry too much aout the foreign kai, just enjoy the ride my man. NZSO rocks!