I called San Francisco Performances' event: A Day of Exploration with Midori, the best bargain in music. For $15, attendees to this event gets to spend a whole day with Classical music mega-super star Midori, watching her perform, teach and share her music.
I became aware of SF Performances in 2004. That year, I won a cultural make over contest with this organization. As part of the program, I attended several concerts and dance events produced by SF performances and received coaching in appreciating performing arts. (Shameless self promotion here).
After the make over, I had attended a few more performances produced by SFF Performances: the Qatsi film trilogy by Philip Glass and a The Contemporary Music Symposium with Midori.
The 2006 Contemporary Music Symposium was a particular enjoyable experience, which prompted me to attend this event.
Our day began with a lecture by Robert Greenberg. Robert Greenberg is a popular classical music lecturer and I had attended several of his talks. He is quite humorous, but his style can be a little bombastic. In this lecture, Bob explained the background of and the finner points of the 5 pieces of music Midori was going to performed on Feb 6th. Midori herself provided the demonstration to illustrate the points Bob was making! It was such a treat.
After the lecture and demonstration, it was time for master class. 4 students from SFCM, SFSU and SFS Youth Orchestra were chosen to participate. The participant played a selection from the 5 pieces of music and Midori, listening intently in the audience seat would comment on the execution. While the comments were filled with technical jargon I did not understand, being present at the master class made me appreciate the music better. Many times, I thought the student's performance was flawless, only to hear Midori's comments. Upon implementing her comments, the playing seemed to improve the emotion of the music. I really enjoy this format and hope to attend more master class in the future.
After a quick break for lunch, the program continued with panel discussion. The first discussion was about composition of contemporary music. On the panel were Midori, John Adams(!), Matthew Cmiel and Joan Jeanrenaud. I was not familiar with Matthew and Joan, but John Adam was a big name, so it was interesting to see him on the panel. There was a lively discussion on how performers should play new music, are new music more difficult to play, the commissioning process. It was all quite interesting to me, a music lover that is an outsider.
Following the composition panel discussion was another discussion on Contemporary music. On the panel were Midori, Charles Amirkhanian and Mason Bates. Here, there was discussion on how to promote new music. Mason was not in favor of dumbing down the music, instead suggesting adding graphics, or changing the musical format to be more conducive to playing in clubs where people are moving around. Again, interesting discussions.
We were then treated to the Viola project. SFCM students playing violas and violins performed music compose by their peers. There was a piece which I really enjoyed. There was a strong Chinese music undertone and when the composer was being acknowledged, I noticed she was a short Chinese lady (Yu-Chu Liang).
Finally, Midori wrapped things up. She again touched on how performing music composed after she was born was important to her. Then she performed various movement from Feb 6th concert. Then, in an effort to show music history moved in circles, she asked the audience if she could play Bach?
Can she? Please!!!
The prgram ended with standing ovation to Midori's beautiful Bach music.
At the reception afterwards, I had the opportunity to ask Midori if she had chosen more accessible pieces for this contemporary music event compared to the 2006 event.
From the previous event, I recalled enjoying Judith Weir's music for 247 strings. The rest of the pieces were a blur. In this event, John Adams' Road Movie had an almost jazz like groove which was highly enjoyable. James McMillian's After the Tryst had an romantic touch which I enjoyed. Toshi Hosokawa's Vertical Time Study III was more technical, but I could clearly identify its roots from Japanese music. It was different, yet enjoyable. Even the 2 pieces I did not as much, Penderecki's Violin Sonata #2had familiar sounds and Huw Watkins' Coruscation and Reflection was quite upbeat.
Midori was super sweet. She smiled at my question and said "No, I didn't think this series of music was, the way you describe it, 'more accessible' than the last time. Maybe you are just more used to it."
Before returning to the south bay, I went to Paul K for dinner. I had driven past this restaurant numerous time on my way home from SF symphony's performances and had wanted to try it during the Dine About Town promotion. Alas, I stuffed myself with too much food during the reception and could not eat some a full 3 course dinner.
I ordered instead the braised pork shoulder with grill radicchio and creamy polenta. Please see review on Yelp!
It was a perfect end to the day. I left the city via BART, feeling very happy!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Kirkwood lift No 6
The Bay area rained for 2 weeks in a row. I had plans for the first weekend, but could not ignore the siren song of powder any long. On this Saturday, I bought lift tickets to Kirkwood.
Readers of my blog would know, I had ski a lot in Kirkwood the past 2 years. I am very familiar with terrain there, so it was a good test of how much improvement I had made in the last 2 years.
I took NAC Ski bus for this trip. Due to weather conditions, the bus actually had to put on chains during the drive to Kirkwood! It was not until 10am before we were dropped off at the Timber Creek base camp.
I quickly gather my gear and headed for lift 7. From there, I crossed into the Mountain Village area and go up lift 11. The Kirkwood ski team had training runs on Short Spoke, so I skiied Wagon Trail and the lower portion of the Wall instead.
After a few runs, I was feeling pretty bored. I had done these 2 runs too often in the last 2 years! I was also feeling hungry, so decided to break for lunch early.
After lunch, I went back to lift 5 and ski on Lower Monte Wolfe and Race Course. Then it is up lift 6 for Zachary, a black diamond slope.
I did Zachary once last year. Snow condition was not great and I was not in control. While I did managed to ski down the slope, I felt very uncomfortable and did not return.
Zachary had a very steep start. I hesitated for almost 5mins at the beginning of the run, waiting for boarders to clear the area, plan the route I am going to take and gather some courage:)
I decided to make small turns. On the first few feet, my form was all wrong. I actually formed wedges with my ski! I side slide a little to below the first post of the ski lift, gather myself more and was able to parallel ski down the rest of the way. It was a thrill!
I decided to try the run again. I was not in complete control on the first few feet and side ski some again, but did parallel ski on more portions of the slope.
I this point, I started feeling tired and had a Gatorade break at the cafe below. When I went back to Zachary, I was properly skiing even more portions of that slope! Unfortunately, the boarding crowd had return from lunch and there were a lot of bumps in the snow. I fell 3 times while coming down. That was when I decided to invoke "Tao's rule".
Tao was a co-worker, a good friend, and a good skiier. He once told me whenever he falls on a slope, he would call it a day. The reason being he must be tired and any further skiing probably meant it was more easy to get injured.
Of course, Tao formulated the rule while he was living in New Hampshire, and the ski slope was 2 exits on the highway north of this house. I had to spend a lot more time and money getting to the slope and was not able to go home that early in the afternoon.
I went back to go back to Race Course and Lower Zachary and skiied on the blue slope for rest of the day.
Personally, I felt I had improved even from last season. I skiied down Zachary with much more control compare to last year. Technique wise, I felt I was not "attacking" the slope enough. I still had a tendency to lean back a little and my stance was still too wide. This caused some problem while coming down steep slopes because the inner leg got caught and caused me to fall. A lesson might be in order on my next ski trip.
I finished the day at 4pm, skiied back to the bus at Timber Lodge for the long but uneventful ride home.
Readers of my blog would know, I had ski a lot in Kirkwood the past 2 years. I am very familiar with terrain there, so it was a good test of how much improvement I had made in the last 2 years.
I took NAC Ski bus for this trip. Due to weather conditions, the bus actually had to put on chains during the drive to Kirkwood! It was not until 10am before we were dropped off at the Timber Creek base camp.
I quickly gather my gear and headed for lift 7. From there, I crossed into the Mountain Village area and go up lift 11. The Kirkwood ski team had training runs on Short Spoke, so I skiied Wagon Trail and the lower portion of the Wall instead.
After a few runs, I was feeling pretty bored. I had done these 2 runs too often in the last 2 years! I was also feeling hungry, so decided to break for lunch early.
After lunch, I went back to lift 5 and ski on Lower Monte Wolfe and Race Course. Then it is up lift 6 for Zachary, a black diamond slope.
I did Zachary once last year. Snow condition was not great and I was not in control. While I did managed to ski down the slope, I felt very uncomfortable and did not return.
Zachary had a very steep start. I hesitated for almost 5mins at the beginning of the run, waiting for boarders to clear the area, plan the route I am going to take and gather some courage:)
I decided to make small turns. On the first few feet, my form was all wrong. I actually formed wedges with my ski! I side slide a little to below the first post of the ski lift, gather myself more and was able to parallel ski down the rest of the way. It was a thrill!
I decided to try the run again. I was not in complete control on the first few feet and side ski some again, but did parallel ski on more portions of the slope.
I this point, I started feeling tired and had a Gatorade break at the cafe below. When I went back to Zachary, I was properly skiing even more portions of that slope! Unfortunately, the boarding crowd had return from lunch and there were a lot of bumps in the snow. I fell 3 times while coming down. That was when I decided to invoke "Tao's rule".
Tao was a co-worker, a good friend, and a good skiier. He once told me whenever he falls on a slope, he would call it a day. The reason being he must be tired and any further skiing probably meant it was more easy to get injured.
Of course, Tao formulated the rule while he was living in New Hampshire, and the ski slope was 2 exits on the highway north of this house. I had to spend a lot more time and money getting to the slope and was not able to go home that early in the afternoon.
I went back to go back to Race Course and Lower Zachary and skiied on the blue slope for rest of the day.
Personally, I felt I had improved even from last season. I skiied down Zachary with much more control compare to last year. Technique wise, I felt I was not "attacking" the slope enough. I still had a tendency to lean back a little and my stance was still too wide. This caused some problem while coming down steep slopes because the inner leg got caught and caused me to fall. A lesson might be in order on my next ski trip.
I finished the day at 4pm, skiied back to the bus at Timber Lodge for the long but uneventful ride home.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
First snow of 2010
The Tahoe Women's Services ski day was offering Sugar Bowl ski tickets for $25, good only on Jan 10 2010. It was such a good deal, I could not resist.
This morning, I arrived at Sugar Bowl Judah Lodge at about 9:30am. Since I had a short 2009 ski season, so I decided to start on Pioneer Trail, a green slope. While I felt I had graduated from green slopes, I also had a short 2009 ski season. It was better to bruise my ego than risk injury:)
On the flat part of the run, I had difficult finding my form. I was having a lot of difficulty sliding my inside ski, but as the slope got slightly steeper, muscle memory kicked in and I was able to ski better.
My confidence boosted by a good green run, I went up to Trail blazer, a blue run. Here I really felt I got my form back. I was able to go down this slope without stopping and felt I had really good control.
I would like to add that the snow condition was pretty good. There was a little ice, but mostly skier packed snow.
After a few more runs on trail blazer, I decided to push it further by trying a short black run. I went back on Pioneer Trail, but instead of skiing it all the way down, I turned right at Donner's Way, a black slope.
Donner's way was probably as steep as the easy black slope on Kirkwood, so I felt very comfortable. Unfortunately, it was a really short black and I had to ski through mostly green trail to get there. I went down Donner's way twice before deciding to move to village lodge ski lifts.
At village lodge, I went up Christmas Tree Express and started skiing Mistletoe and Ridge run. Both these slopes were steep enough to make things interesting for me, but gentle enough where I could work on my form and technique. I would also add at this time, the snow had melted slightly and all the iciness I was experiencing earlier was gone!
After another 4-5 runs, I took a break for lunch.
After lunch, I felt pretty good and decided to try an even more difficult slope. I headed to Disney express, with the intention of skiing one of the black slopes there.
At the lift, I asked an employee which was the easiest black slope she would recommend. She told me to try Crow's Traverse, the easiest way down, but also a blue slope. I decided to follow her advice on the first run. Crow's Traverse was a longer run, with parts of it steeper than Mistletoe and Ridge run, so that was more fun. But the snow condition here was more icy, probably because the slope was away from the sun.
I decided I did not like the snow on Disney Express and went back to Christmas Tree Express. Worked another 4-5 run when I decided to take a break. I was still having a little jet lag and did not sleep well the night before. I could use a snooze.
After an hour break, I went back on Mistletoe and found my form was messed up again! My skills were clearly not very stable. Looking at the time, I figured I would ski back at Judah lodge. On the way back to the lift, my trail merge with Pioneer Trail and I saw Donner's way. Figuring I could use a short cut, I went down that way.
Suddenly, the slope looked really difficult. I was tentative skiing down Donner's way, wondering what had changed between the morning's run and this run.
I decided to try Donner's way again, and deliberately tried to start at the same location as the last run. I felt my concerns were mostly mental. When I psyched myself up, I was able to do a fairly clean run down Donner's way.
The lifts were closing at 4:30pm and it was about 4:15pm when I got down. I decided I wanted to do one more run before calling it a day. Feeling a little tired and not wanting to risk injury, I decided to do Trail Blazer one more time.
It was a good start to the season. I was happy to get my snow legs under me and felt I had regained most of last season's form. This was going to be a busy year and I hoped I would ski a few more times before the 2010 season is over.
In case you are wondering about the trails I mentioned, Sugar Bowl trail map can be found here.
This morning, I arrived at Sugar Bowl Judah Lodge at about 9:30am. Since I had a short 2009 ski season, so I decided to start on Pioneer Trail, a green slope. While I felt I had graduated from green slopes, I also had a short 2009 ski season. It was better to bruise my ego than risk injury:)
On the flat part of the run, I had difficult finding my form. I was having a lot of difficulty sliding my inside ski, but as the slope got slightly steeper, muscle memory kicked in and I was able to ski better.
My confidence boosted by a good green run, I went up to Trail blazer, a blue run. Here I really felt I got my form back. I was able to go down this slope without stopping and felt I had really good control.
I would like to add that the snow condition was pretty good. There was a little ice, but mostly skier packed snow.
After a few more runs on trail blazer, I decided to push it further by trying a short black run. I went back on Pioneer Trail, but instead of skiing it all the way down, I turned right at Donner's Way, a black slope.
Donner's way was probably as steep as the easy black slope on Kirkwood, so I felt very comfortable. Unfortunately, it was a really short black and I had to ski through mostly green trail to get there. I went down Donner's way twice before deciding to move to village lodge ski lifts.
At village lodge, I went up Christmas Tree Express and started skiing Mistletoe and Ridge run. Both these slopes were steep enough to make things interesting for me, but gentle enough where I could work on my form and technique. I would also add at this time, the snow had melted slightly and all the iciness I was experiencing earlier was gone!
After another 4-5 runs, I took a break for lunch.
After lunch, I felt pretty good and decided to try an even more difficult slope. I headed to Disney express, with the intention of skiing one of the black slopes there.
At the lift, I asked an employee which was the easiest black slope she would recommend. She told me to try Crow's Traverse, the easiest way down, but also a blue slope. I decided to follow her advice on the first run. Crow's Traverse was a longer run, with parts of it steeper than Mistletoe and Ridge run, so that was more fun. But the snow condition here was more icy, probably because the slope was away from the sun.
I decided I did not like the snow on Disney Express and went back to Christmas Tree Express. Worked another 4-5 run when I decided to take a break. I was still having a little jet lag and did not sleep well the night before. I could use a snooze.
After an hour break, I went back on Mistletoe and found my form was messed up again! My skills were clearly not very stable. Looking at the time, I figured I would ski back at Judah lodge. On the way back to the lift, my trail merge with Pioneer Trail and I saw Donner's way. Figuring I could use a short cut, I went down that way.
Suddenly, the slope looked really difficult. I was tentative skiing down Donner's way, wondering what had changed between the morning's run and this run.
I decided to try Donner's way again, and deliberately tried to start at the same location as the last run. I felt my concerns were mostly mental. When I psyched myself up, I was able to do a fairly clean run down Donner's way.
The lifts were closing at 4:30pm and it was about 4:15pm when I got down. I decided I wanted to do one more run before calling it a day. Feeling a little tired and not wanting to risk injury, I decided to do Trail Blazer one more time.
It was a good start to the season. I was happy to get my snow legs under me and felt I had regained most of last season's form. This was going to be a busy year and I hoped I would ski a few more times before the 2010 season is over.
In case you are wondering about the trails I mentioned, Sugar Bowl trail map can be found here.
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