Southbank Centre, London

So, I’m just about done with a three-week stay in London, and I’ve barely ventured north of the Thames.  Full disclosure: I’m here to perform at the Southbank Centre and am staying in a hotel near Waterloo.  But still, it appears that London’s South Bank is the place to be these days.  The Southbank Centre itself boasts the Queen Elizabeth and Royal Festival Halls, the Hayward Gallery, and at least ten mostly affordable restaurants.  On any given evening there are hundreds of people gathered at the terrace bar outside Festival Hall, in a sort of unofficial happy hour for the masses.  Many seem not to be there in connection to any cultural event, but merely to meet friends and enjoy the view.  If you face the river and turn left, you’ll hit the tourist favorite London Eye; turning right will take you to the British Film Institute and the National Theatre, all without crossing a single street.  Just a bit further is the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe, but you never have to leave the river to get there, and you’ll also encounter many more places to eat, drink, and shop along the way.

The London Eye, on the river Thames

This American lad can’t stop wondering why we don’t have a place like this in New York City.  Lincoln Center, even with its many recent improvements, still feels somewhat isolated.  And when was the last time you saw hundreds of people gathered outside by the fountain, drinks in hand?  Oh right, that privilege is restricted to ticket holders – never mind…  Furthermore, who can really afford to eat at Lincoln Center area restaurants?  Certainly not the throngs of young people I’ve been seeing outside Festival Hall.

OK, time out:  I know what you’re thinking.  There is all sorts of government funding here that we don’t have back in the States.  I will not even try to argue this point, because it is absolutely and sadly true.  But we seem to have it backwards in New York – we try to lure people to extremely expensive cultural events and then hope that they’ll patronize the similarly expensive restaurants and shops in the vicinity.  Why not bring the cultural attractions to places people already want to (and can afford to) be?

Time out #2: The second batch of naysayers will undoubtedly argue that NYC just wasn’t built this way – there is simply no room to spread out, and the city doesn’t have a central riverfront like Paris or London.  Well I think Brooklyn and Queens residents would beg to differ…and everyone knows they’re the ones with the best views of the city!

I do think we’re making slow progress.  DUMBO and Fort Greene are already great cultural destinations, as is Long Island City.  And the ongoing restoration of Governor’s Island looks very promising, not to mention the increasing popularity of our water taxi system.  Maybe there’s someone out there willing to take a giant risk and dream up a new cultural mecca for NYC.  My guess is they’d be substantially rewarded, both in profits and by history.  Are you listening, Mayor Bloomberg???

Enter the glorious independent coffee shops of the world! They are, often as not, run by fearless entrepreneurs much like ourselves and staffed by, run by, frequented by artist types too. They have good atmosphere, good coffee, comfortable chairs, wifi and a meal we can eat on our own and not look like someone stood us up in a Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks movie.

THE MORNING TIMES at number 10 Hargett St in downtown Raleigh North Carolina Is just such an establishment. Timothy the manager is super cool, they have an art gallery and couches upstairs, good wifi and indoor outdoor tables. The red velvet cake is “off the chain” they serve a breakfast bagel all day long and their sandwiches are packed to go so you can grab one and run even on a rehearsal break. I am also proud to report that I got a smiley face drawn in my delicious latte this morning.

They make you feel welcome for as long as you want to hang out, they are interested in what you do and helpful if you have questions about the area. Or they let you sit and conduct music and mouth words like an idiot with absolute impunity. Thank you MORNING TIMES for making Saturdays on the road, and every day I have been in Raleigh, a little friendlier and a lot more yummy.

All the students are hungry for information and so talented. Every rehearsal, whether it is a staging with the singers or an orchestra rehearsal, reveals amazing progress and always contains an electric excitement about making music. Professor of Opera and stage director Jonathon Field and I met at the Lake George Opera Festival about 15 years ago. Candide, as a piece, has some “issues”. If you have done the piece I will just say the words “Act II”. But Jonathon’s concept has embraced the quirky, frenetic, and zaniness that is Candide. It will prove to be a fun production.

Last week President Obama presented the Oberlin Conservatory with the National Medal of Arts and Humanities. Receiving the medal is Dean David Stull who was a senior when I was a freshman. There is definitely a renewed sense of pride that comes along with an honor like this. Everybody walks a little taller.

My free time is pleasantly consumed with spending time in the amazing music library. So many recordings, scores, biographies, analytical pieces. It is paradise for a nerd like me. I have also snagged some instrumentalists to play Poulenc Sextet as well as both the Mozart B flat Piano Quintet and the Sibelius Piano Quintet (which I do not know), Loving my time here!