Well, stick a fork in me…I am done with the 26 performances at MoMA in June, as well as the Sept-May run of the silents in Charles Silver’s “Auteurist” series, and have come out the other end. It’s taken a day or two for the music to stop swirling around in my head.
I initially thought I’d be able to shoot and post video blogs on a regular basis, but the mental space to do that — and a few other thing I’d thought I’d manage to pull off during this hectic run of mostly two shows a day — didn’t quite happen. There really wasn’t room for reflection on the work done each day to the point that I could articulate it back to anyone who checks this blog.
Throughout the 3-week run in June I challenged myself to make improvements on each performance in my music and improvisation. My watchword to myself (when I could remember it) was always “you can always play less“.
I got to know another bunch of regular attendees (seniors and otherwise) who really enjoyed the series, the sound of the Miditzer theatre organ, and my playing. There was one woman who had been coming to several shows with her elderly mother, usually sitting in the first few rows, who presented me with a gift at the end of one of the shows to thank me for my playing…an assortment of Godiva chocolates. Very sweet (pardon the pun).
It was great to have work to go to every day, and silent film accompaniment work at that. The second half of the run was done almost entirely on theatre organ, so that was another nice treat.
I’m still digesting everything and will hopefully post a more thorough report on what went through my mind during some shows, reflections on certain films, etc.
No more performances for two weeks, until Slapsticon, although I have other projects to finish and get out the door before I take the Amtrak down to DC/Arlington.
Perhaps as dust settles I can jot down some notes, and file a more thorough blog post on the “Auteurist” series. There’s plenty more silents coming at MoMA in the fall, and I hope to be busy playing for some of these series.
Until next time…