NACO tour blog 2: Robert Service redux

Air North touches down

Whitehorse, Yukon

National Arts Center Orchestra

Western Canada Tour

“A concert by NACO on tour”

In homage to my favorite Robert Service poem

“The Shooting of Dan McGrew.”

A bunch of the players were tuning it up
in the Yukon Arts Centre hall;
The guys that handle the stage and the props
weren’t tired one bit, not at all;
In front of the band and ready to solo,
a Steinway looked just like the brochure;
All seen by a crowd that sold out to be wowed
by a concert by NACO on tour.

But first in the lobby a sound to enjoy,
a local quartet of some strings;
Their passion was good and still in their boyhood
they made music with rhythm and zings;
Meanwhile onstage we have tried out the hall,
we’ve pulled out our scores and rehearsed;
And all for the wonderful audience here,
who have come to assuage their thirst.

Was it music or light on that Arctic night
that started the evening’s playbill?
Ms. Louie’s creation, an Infinite Sky
gave the audience their first evening’s thrill;
Alexina was there to accept the applause
and Maestro James Judd took a bow with her,
Then into the core of this orchestra’s rep,
was Mozart’s last symphony, the “Jupiter.”

I’m pacing backstage and waiting my turn,
and pondering how far we’ve come north,
When I get the hand sign that gives me a quiver,
Just five minutes ’til Beethoven’s Fourth!
The piano’s a jewel and gives me the fuel
to express even more and ensure;
That the joy of performing (and traveling too,)
is a concert by NACO on tour.