“Jonathan Fischer, the Houston Symphony’s principal oboist, loves to travel. So he was happy to be among a group of Houston Symphony players who recently visited South America to coach the Colombian Youth Philharmonic,” writes Colin Eatock in Friday’s (7/11) Houston Chronicle (subscription). “The weeks-long trip, which ended Wednesday, was timed to take place shortly before the young musicians from Colombia embarked on a tour of Texas, with concerts in Houston and Dallas.… The Colombians prepared some big, challenging pieces for their tour, including Igor Stravinsky’s ‘Rite of Spring.’ And in a combined concert with the Houston Symphony Friday and Saturday, they [played] play Carl Orff’s ‘Carmina Burana.’ Fischer recently spoke about his trip and the Philharmonic’s visit: ‘There were 14 of us who went—basically one player for each orchestral instrument. We went to a place called Paipa, which is four hours north of Bogotá. It’s a tiny town up in the Andes.… We would spend the whole day working with the young Colombian musicians. There were some big orchestral rehearsals, and when that wasn’t happening, we worked with each section of the orchestra separately.… To a person, every single Houston Symphony musician loved the experience.”
Posted July 16, 2015
