The joys, challenges of playing outdoor concerts | Faulkner

The slow movement of Beethoven’s “Emperor” Piano Concerto is the sound of a perfect summer evening. I learned this lesson in musical sublimity as a high school student sitting under the stars at the Festival at Sandpoint, in Idaho, listening to the Spokane Symphony perform this masterpiece. It is one of a handful of transformative musical moments, which nudged me toward a life working in and with orchestras. More than 30 years later, this memory is both concrete and residue, but the combination of gorgeous music, luscious north Idaho air, and a sharing of this experience with fellow audience members created a kind of nostalgic alchemy that I will take to the tomb.

With Artown and the region’s outdoor concert season around the corner, I thought I’d share some joys and challenges of playing classical music at outdoor concerts. The joys are plentiful, and have to do with the kinds of elements I have described above. Summer concerts are often a relaxed opportunity to make music with friends one hasn’t seen since the end of the orchestra season. The audience is often in an informal, relaxed, and enthusiastic mood. In the cases of the Reno Phil’s Pop’s on the River and Bravo on the Beach series at Lake Tahoe, for instance, they’re a chance for us musicians to play repertoire that we don’t usually get to; and to feel something like rock stars or Broadway artists while doing it.

Despite all this wonderfulness there can be troubles, and since we musicians can from time to time complain, here are some of the concerns you might hear about:

Heat:  The only thing better than donning a tuxedo on a 100-degree day, is then to have to go outside and perform a physical activity in it. Mercifully, most of our concerts are after sundown, and on the really hot days we get to take off our jackets. Direct sunlight is also death for a delicate string instrument, so we are very particular about staying in the shade. But once the sun goes down, we can have the problem of…

Cold: The all-timer in this regard was a Labor Day weekend concert at Lake Tahoe a couple decades ago. An early fall storm, put the snow level not so much higher than the stage. I had to hold the hot bulb on my music stand light to warm my fingers enough to be able to feel them, let alone play. Speaking of temperature, heat and cold cause instruments to go out of tune. Inconveniently, temperature drives winds and strings in opposite directions, which magnifies…

Acoustics: Since amplification is almost always necessary outdoors, and the priority is quite correctly for the audience, not the orchestra, to have optimal sound, occasionally we can’t hear each other or even ourselves all that well on stage. It once happened that the exact moment I realized the low growl echoing off a building two blocks away was the sound I was making on my bass was also when I felt the mosquito on my left hand that was sucking the majority of my blood supply. Since I wasn’t in a position to stop playing, I resorted to spastic head slams against my hand to stop the bloodletting.

Speaking of bugs: On a still, dark summer night, insects are attracted to light. At concerts the light exists above the stage and on our music stands. When the infestation is really bad, it’s convenient to be a string player so that the bugs in my nose and mouth don’t affect my playing. Smears and splotches are also added to the sheet music on nights like this. There is something that keeps the swarms off the stage, and that is…

Wind: In our part of the world the wind can blow. Hard. Clothes pins and sheets of clear plexiglass are usually required to keep the music from blowing off to Oz. Simply turning pages without missing notes can be an Olympic event. When the Sierra sirocco blows at sunset, a 10-pound sand bag is sometimes required to keep the entire music stand from blowing over.

Rain: Rain is a deal breaker as far as outdoor concerts, but canceling is always a last-minute decision and it is often touch-and-go as to whether a storm cell will erupt over the stage. Sitting on a stage constructed of steel and looking at clouds the nauseating green-yellow color of a broken bone overhead can make a musician fear for his instrument as well as his life.

If I had more time, I would tell you about the hazards of playing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture with live cannons and how musicians are really good at complaining about things, sometimes maintaining that there is no such thing as a good outdoor concert…only less bad. Instead, I will invite you to join me and musical colleagues in the great outdoors for transcendent experiences of shared music. As it did for me that summer night so many years ago, it can change your life.

Scott Faulkner is principal bassist of the Reno Phil and Reno Chamber Orchestra. He had the honor of playing music with Marilyn Sevilla for nearly 25 years.