In case you missed it, Tafelmusik is currently on tour across the west coast! Enjoy this update from oboist Daniel Ramírez, who shares his favourite highlights so far.
Day One. Travel to San Diego.
The day starts at 5am, time to get up and get ready to leave for the airport.
After a smooth check-in and clearing customs, we finally encounter familiar faces and have a nice breakfast together at the airport. This is not just another trip, it’s my first tour with Tafelmusik, so excitement is keeping me up despite having had four hours of not-very-good sleep.
We arrive at our gate, F32. The band is now together. Marco and Rachel are playing the guitar and singing something that, from a distance, could easily be Kumbaya.
The flight gives me the perfect opportunity to have two much-needed hours of sleep, and after that, and a terrible movie, we finally arrive in San Diego. It’s 22°C, and the sun is shining. Palm trees everywhere and a particular scent in the air bring back some memories. It’s been more than 20 years since I was last on the Pacific coast.
We hop on the bus and on the way to La Jolla, I start to think about how unreal this all still feels. A little more than a month ago I was living in Barcelona; now I’ve moved to Toronto, played in two projects and one opera, and am now starting a big three-week tour. It will probably feel unreal for a while, and I’m fine with that.
I throw my stuff in room 406 and go with Michael to get some food for our bellies and some conversation to go with it. We end up eating at two different places for the sake of trying as much of the local restaurants as possible, and Michael justifies it by saying we had fish at one places and meat at the other: two course of the same meal! Overhearing us, Tony, our Uber driver, pitches is his idea for pizza taco, where a folded pizza is the container for the taco. We do not stop for pizza on our way back.
Once at the hotel, I only have time to grab a jacket before heading out again to meet Carlos. We met when we were about nine years old and grew up learning the oboe with the same teacher. We’ve managed to keep seeing each other in different places around Europe and the Americas.
Back in my room just past 8pm (11pm eastern time) to get some rest. Tomorrow, concert day.
Day Two. La Jolla. First Concert.
On concert days I like to take it easy and not do much, so I went for a late breakfast at one of the cafés close to the hotel. Again, it’s warm and sunny outside, and for a moment I feel like I’m on a nice vacation in Southern California. But no, it’s time to finish that coffee and head to our dress rehearsal at today’s venue.
Everyone looks rested and relaxed, and the rehearsal goes nice and smooth. That vitamin D and serotonin are kicking in. I go back to the hotel after the rehearsal to prepare my concert clothes and rest a bit before dinner with Carlos. He picks me up at the hotel, and we go for some (more)tacos. The staff at the restaurant are from Tijuana, the city where I grew up from ages 5 to 15, and very close to Carlos’s hometown. We have a nice chat about the food and the different styles they serve, and I somehow manage to taste a few different things without overeating before the concert. I’ll take that as a win.
The concert goes really well, and the crowd loves it. Personally, the first concert of any project is always the hardest, it’s when I’m the most tense. The good thing is that from now on, it only gets better.
After the concert, I say goodbye to Carlos until next time (in a different country, perhaps?) and a bunch of the orchestra gather at a pub to close out a pretty great start to what promises to be a fun tour.