Uncle Jack's Baltimore Blog: Music Hath Charms in Charm City

   Uncle Jack was lucky that the public schools of his home town, Ashland, Wisconsin, had a wonderful music program. He started playing a little plastic instrument called a "Tonette" in the first grade, switched to the clarinet in the fourth grade and to the bass clarinet in the eighth grade. The band instructor, a revered teacher named Ted Mesang who later became director of bands at Oregon State University and appeared on national TV conducting a massed band with about 400 players during the half-time program at the Rose Bowl, told Uncle Jack he had a chance to become the best bass clarinet player in the history of Ashland High School and that is what he did. He even won a full-tuition scholarship to the University of Wisconsin in Madison on the strength of his superlative bass clarinet playing. (A full year's tuition was only $100 in those days but it seemed like a lot of money at the time, especially to his parents who belatedly learned that he had spent all his hard-earned tuition money on beer during his gala senior year).
   What he is really happy about, though, is that his experiences in the Ashland High School band turned him into a lifelong classical music lover. In spite of his scholarship he never was much of a musician but he made up for his almost total lack of innate musical ability by diligent practice so that when the time came he could play the right notes at the right time, more or less. At the same time he learned to appreciate what real
musicians can do when they put their minds to it and he has spent countless hours listening to great players rendering the work of great composers.
   Lucky for him and for Mrs. U.J., who loves good music as much as he does, Baltimore has turned out to be a music lover's paradise. The Baltimore Symphony is world class, Johns Hopkins University sponsors the Shriver Hall Music Series which brings world-renowned musicians to the campus all year long, the Peabody Conservatory offers student concerts several times a week, and there are a host of other music venues offering occasional performances. It is not exaggerating to say that they could attend a different concert just about every day of the week all year long if they had the time and the stamina to do it, which they don't, unfortunately.
   One of their favorite musical outings is the Thursday Noon Concert Series at the Peabody Conservatory where advanced students perform in front of an audience as part of their training. Each concert features a different musical family, e.g. strings, brass, woodwinds, voice, percussion. in various combinations. Every one of the half-dozen concerts they have attended has been delightful and they continue to be amazed at the remarkable skills and talents of these young people who come to Peabody from all over the world to study with great teachers.
   Last Thursday's concert featured percussionists including marimba players, tympanists, snare and bass drummers and a host of others. The final piece was a performance of "Musique de Table" by the contemporary Belgian composer Thierry de Mey which was one of the damndest things Uncle Jack has ever experienced. The three Peabody students who performed it must be among a tiny handful of people in the world who have mastered its intricacies and they did it flawlessly. If you have a few minutes to spare and have never seen "Musique de Table" performed, Uncle Jack thinks you might enjoy looking at one of the several performances of this unusual work available on YouTube. You can get to the right place by clicking on this link below. If this one doesn't work try another. Turn the sound up so you can hear it clearly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sg4quXjmoaA