I am about to go to the airport, but to those of you who don’t play bassoon, you were probably always wondering what it is like to play the second bassoon part of the Sibelius Violin concerto. The Berkeley Symphony performed this last Thursday, and I somehow can’t turn the music off in my head. First of all, I am glad I don’t play first bassoon. But the second part is challenging, mainly because the second movement is pianissimo in the low register. This means fiddling with reeds to get one that plays quietly but in tune. It means understanding that the piece begins the 2^nd half of the first measure. Then it means coming in on a low B flat which serves as the fundamental for a slow build up of a B flat major chord. It is beautiful, but can contribute to stress dreams. There are some nice parts in the first and third movements too. Of course everyone is paying attention to the violin soloist, who in this case was a dazzling Jennifer Koh, but I do think that if the bassoons came in wrong, people would notice.

Here is a review of the concert.

Always the first Sunday in October: the Castro Street Fair.  It is Indian Summer here in San Francisco, and we are having a heat wave.  Living only one block away, I went through the fair 3 times.  In the morning people were relaxed and the atmosphere was mellow.  By the afternoon, it was a party.  Here is a photo of me with Armistead Maupin, the author of Tales of the City.  There were plenty of music and food, plus naked people.

I am getting packed and ready to go on Tuesday.  Next stop, home to Stockholm.

There was a Super Harvest Moon on the 8th of September.  As I was watching it rise over Dolores Park in San Francisco, I recognized that for the next full moon, I would be in Stockholm.  I decided then that I would take  photo of each coming full moon and write about where I was to watch it.

From Dolores Park there are beautiful views of San Francisco.  I lived in the Mission for 10 years, and then moved to the Castro: so I have lived on both sides of the park.  Now it is being renovated, and half of the park is closed.  It is always full and even on chilly foggy days, people will have picnics and kids will be playing on the new playground.  Yoga and Boot Camp, and people sunning themselves on the shelf.  It is the people’s park.  Come visit me next year when I return to San Francisco and we will have a party in Dolores Park!

I will be traveling a lot during my sabbatical from San Francisco State University.  This will be my blog, to share my impressions and photos.