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Sorry, I cannot comment on which was broken but I can say with CERTAINTY that it was replaced and that it was somewhere in the treble section. And the masterful technician did in fact do it in a snap!! (during intermission....the door to the stage was opened just once to check on his progress, suggesting to me that he didn't delay the start of the second half by much if any).

I don't think I was terribly clear about what bothered me. Like I said in my earlier post, I am not bothered by public prayer (especially at a religious university). I thought WHAT was said during the prayer could have easily offended someone who has worked so hard to achieve the level of skill that Tao has. Sure, maybe he himself believes God's hand is in his work. I was simply saying that I would want to say something to the contrary were I introduced in that way. So were my piano teacher to say "Oh Christine your playing today was a gift from God," I would most certainly say something along the lines of "No, I just practiced a lot!" Of course the more likely reference to God in my piano lesson would be more along the lines of "Dear God...when will Christine stop playing?"

Have you followed the career of Turkish pianist Fazil Say? He is leaving Turkey because he came out as an atheist and has been suffering since.

The event was part of the Gilmore Keyboard Festival (hardly a Christian event). Tao (along with George Li who performed earlier in the week at Devos Hall home of the Grand Rapids Symphony)is a 2012 Gilmore young artist.

If so, quite remarkable.

Sorry but I'm still doubting it, including because I'm pretty sure he would have needed a pretty specific string, not necessarily the exact one for that note but pretty specific -- and I didn't think technicians went around with those strings.

Sometimes they can sort of "re-tie" the existing broken string, if one part of it retains almost all the length, which is a little different than what you said but close to it -- but I would think that couldn't have been done 'in a snap.'

I do realize of course that what you said may be right.

I'm going to ask about this on the Tech portion of the site.
(here's the thread)

It's their turf, and they do things their way. He should certainly have been told in advance, and not five minutes beforehand, but rather at the signing of the contract, when he could have made a considered choice to bow out, or not--not too likely he's going to refuse to play while standing in the wings, and risk breach of contract issues. But he should have been told in advance--that's all--they needn't have asked for permission.

I am a practitioner of "theapathy"--don't know, don't care. My concern with religion, and it's a serious concern, is in the area of secular politics, where I regard them as any other legitimate political constituency or organization with special interests, and feel they should be treated accordingly.

But on their turf, it's their call.

Tomasino

I'd only expect this to happen in a Muslim country, a 'fundamentalist' country.

I've been to many, many music events in religious buildings (mainly churches, but also the chapels of universities or colleges) across Europe - this is often where Baroque music concerts take place - and I have never encountered such a thing. Not even in Turkey (basically Muslim, with religion very much in evidence and minarets on all sides, but a secular state).

The US is pretty much a 'fundamentalist' country, just take a not too close look at American politics.

I guess my biggest personal concern would be living up to the advanced billing that my talent was God-given and the expectations that such a comment could imply. If I were presented as working on my own merits instead of on those bestowed by Him, the audience expectations might be lower and their disappointment less!

Regards,

Hi Everyone,

I am the technician that Christine is speaking of. My family has been servicing the pianos for Calvin College and Seminary since 1926. (3 generations with me.) I've been servicing there full time now for 38 years.

I am required to be on hand for just such emergencies to possibly touch up tunings during intermission if needed, so, I am always there for these kinds of events hiding somewhere... Christine found me though!

The piano was a Steinway D. Conrad plays the piano VERY VERY hard. The string that he broke was G#6 in technicians terms. That is, 2 octaves above the G above middle C. So yes, 3 wires are involved there and when one breaks, that means, technically that 2 wires are now out of commission leaving only 1 wire to play on.

He did not take it out the broken wire. Instead, he humorously chose to leave it as it was instead until intermission.

The second intermission began, I walked from the back of the room to the stage. I removed a piece of the broken wire, took it to my car and took the measurements. Steinway's in many cases mark the size of the wire on the plate. They did not mark it on this particular piano so I had to measure the string which I did at my vehicle where I carry all of my piano wire. It was size 15 1/2.

From the time intermission began, to the time I went to my car, retrieved a new wire, went back into the auditorium, removed the broken wires and replaced them with new ones, tuned them up, stretched them up several times tuning them both each time and then touched up a few notes on the piano, it took me exactly 19 minutes.

The reason I know this is because the people from Calvin that were back stage that Christine spoke of, timed me. They told me how long it took me from intermission to completion yesterday while I was there tuning two more D's for another piano rehearsal that evening. The actual event for the two pianos is tomorrow.

This type of thing is very stressful as we have time limits on everything however, when things like this take place, we do what we have to do. So, it took 4 minutes longer than the intermission was... Not to shabby!

It wouldn't matter to me.

I think a school like Calvin can run its concerts however it wants.
I think performers are people, too, and are entitled to whatever feelings they may have about the situation.

I think both should know what they're getting into.

On one hand, it would be nice for Calvin to let performers know to expect some kind of religious rite to mark the occasion.

On the other hand, if a performer has strong feelings against a particular religion, then it seems stupid to accept a gig at a strongly religious institution and then be offended by a prayer being read.

In other words, it's a two way street. If a synagogue or mosque (or Jewish or Islamic school) asked me to play a concert, I would definitely ask if there were any religious obligations or rites that would need to be observed.

This brings to mind one of my favorite stories:

I was raised Episcopalian and was used to classical music being a part of the normal church scene.

When I was in high school, some friends invited me to a Baptist revival. I went, not knowing what to expect, but assuming (naively!) that it wouldn't be that much different than the church I was used to.

The Baptist church had a wonderful organ. I asked politely if I could try it out. The music minister said yes. Wanting to choose something appropriate, I played through some Bach - the c minor Toccata, knowing full well that all of Bach's music was dedicated to the glory of God.

After a few minutes, the music minister came up to me and said:

"I'm sorry, you're obviously very talented and have a wonderful gift, but I don't think that kind of music is appropriate for a church."

This is from the OP's original post. I don't understand what is "unclear" about the setting or situation.

I have a good friend who has been teaching at Calvin College for 35 years. It never occurred to me that pre-performance prayers would be general practice at Calvin - but on the other hand, I'm not in the least bit surprised.

Calvin College is an educational institution of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, and traces its roots back to the Dutch Reformed Church of the Netherlands.

As long as the prayer was cleared with the performer in advance - and he was OK with it - then that's that. Obviously this was the OP's first concert going experience at Calvin.

When the OP mentioned the qualified tech who happened to be at the concert I automatically assumed that it had to be you Jerry !!!!

So cool -- one of our own people!
How great is that!


.....wherein I learn that techs do carry wire, and that it can be cut to length. (As I also saw on the other thread!)

But besides that: What threw me was the "in a snap" part. I assumed that meant much quicker than what it was.

Thank you!

And to Christine: You were right! (Of course.)

I thought it was a very clever pun too, saying that he did it in a "snap!" As in, broken wire....

It's their prerogative at their own venue and event and it's hardly the end of the world, but it would probably irk me a bit if I were him, yeah, knowing how hard it is necessary to work to achieve even my current level at the piano, let alone a concert performer's level. Sure, some people have greater potential than others, but from my personal point of view it seems vacuous to attribute that to one's chosen god, rather than simple genetic luck.

It reminds me of when people thank God for someone surviving some kind of medical malady - they never seem to thank the doctors who studied so hard for years to be able to save lives and who had an actual measurable causal effect on the person's surivival.

In short, I'd deem it very mildly disrepectful, but in a completely non-malicious inadvertent way and I ultimately wouldn't think too much of it.



Indeed. Islam hardly has a monopoly on fundamentalists. The USA certainly appears to have rather more than its fair share.

Kriesler and all,

The minister of music at that baptist church could have said: "I don't think that kind of music is appropriate for THIS church."

Then he would have been right on the money, wouldn't he?

When you EARN IT after thousands of hours of practice it's not exactly god-given, is it?

If all of man's abilities are god-given and he's a sinner from day one--there's not much left, is there?

Ability is earned, no matter what the endeavor, and is something to be proud of.

Bech

+1

I am not a religious person, nor do I have any religious or cultural connection to Christian beliefs. I would not be at all offended or discomforted by an opening prayer provided:

1. The concert was in a religious venue and I was told about the prayer ahead of time.
2. The service leader was sensitive to my beliefs, feelings and background and did not make assumptions or exclusionary comments that might make me feel uncomfortable or unwelcome.

Edit: Wow, I just noticed this is a very old post. Let's hope it doesn't descend into a flame war.

Is the time difference between Seattle, and elsewhere, that great? This post was started just a few hours ago.

Indeed. You took the words right out of my mouth.

It's a common pattern for immigrant communities to be more extreme/fundamentalist/conservative than their communities of origin. When almost an entire country is made up of such immigrant communities, then perhaps this is the inevitable consequence.

A Christian nation ... one nation under God ... in God we trust ...

... all non believers are welcome, nah, just kidding