Last weekend saw my last performance
with the Queensland Pops Orchestra.
Though the last year has seen many
changes, I have to say that, for the previous seven years or so,
playing with Pops was one of the highlights of my musical life. And while the
music that Pops plays is not, perhaps, the most challenging, mentally
or physically, or the most musically fulfilling, it is usually a
great deal of fun!
Over the last seven years, we have
worked with some truly wonderful musicians – The King's Singers and
Burt Bacharach were particularly lovely to work with from a musical
point of view. And then there were others who I would put in the
“interesting” category, like Michael Bolton – until you have
sat on stage whilst he attempted to sing opera, reading phonetic
French from the Autocue, while 5000 salivating Gold Coast matrons
screamed and threw their knickers at him – you haven't LIVED.
(Actually, I'm exaggerating about the knicker throwing - at $1000 a
Gucci gusset, I don't think those Gold Coast ladies would risk
throwing their knickers at anyone - but you could see they wanted
to..)
Some of my favourite memories are of
the Brisbane seasons of Australian Opera's My Fair Lady and The
Pirates of Penzance; building Pit Camaraderie and flu germs; ogling
Richard E Grant and Anthony Warlow/aka Johnny Depp/aka Captain Jack
Sparrow, sharing books and many jokes.
Then there were all the Lord Mayor's
Christmas carol concerts at the City Botanic Gardens – playing
amidst thunderstorms and heat waves, trying to protect one's violin
from the elements, whilst tigers and Guy Sebastian danced behind us;
trying desperately to keep from giggling, with television cameras
zooming in on one's face (The Lord – creator of the Universe,
the stars and the planets, atoms and bacteria, creator of oceans and
volcanoes, of forests and rivers, disease and war, love and death –
looked down and saw that his people had decided to honour him by
dressing up as giant velour Clown Fish and galumphing round the
stage, “Thank you Jesus!”)
With the Pops orchestra I have played
with many well-known singers I had never heard of before – Glenn
Frey (The Eagles, I think?), Troy Cassar-Daley, Katie Miller-Heidke,
Sarah Blasko – and enjoyed most of their music. Or some of it at
any rate. Possibly. If you see what I mean.
And then there have been some I had
definitely heard of before – Tim Minchin, Eric Idle – it is not
generally known that we here in Brisbane gave the World Premiere of
Not the Messiah - and jolly good it was too!!
The list of memories goes on: Cirque de
la Symphonie - trying to play Wagner with young, virile, tighted men
dangling over our heads, playing for Tony Abbot and Campbell Newman
...yes, well, the money was good....
The annual concert series, The Best of
Britishes, the Celts concerts, with the wonderful Irish and Scottish
dancing, the Country music concerts – they have all been great fun.
But one of the things that has made all
these concerts so special, of course, has been the people, the
wonderful friends I have made along the way. The dinners between
shows, the curries and Hot Chocolates and lots of wine. It wasn't
until I started playing for Pops and found that musicians in
Australia are as mad and quixotic, as beautiful and fragile and
friendly as they are the world over, that I began to feel at home
here in Brisbane. The last year, as I said, has been a difficult one,
but I will miss my pops family, Katie, Donna, Chris, Anna, Geraldine,
Jenny, Jenny V, Celine, Inga, Paula,Ken and Tam, Natasha, Jane, even Kylie who I
only met during the last concert. Hope you all have a wonderful time
with the New Pops, and, drink a glass of red wine, occasionally, for
me! (yes, I realise I'm asking a lot, but just think of it as a sacrifice to old friends.)
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