The life of a pro tubist!

Tortuba · Post by **Tortuba** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:39 am

Here's a link to the Toronto Star newspaper and an article on how the tubist with the Toronto Symphony is spending his summer:

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Conten ... 0599119419

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 10:24 am

I just returned from two weeks in England. One of the most interesting things I saw was a fellow playing an old beat-up full-sized upright piano on wheels in front of Yorkminster Cathedral.

MileMarkerZero · Post by **MileMarkerZero** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 10:10 pm

like a hippo attempting a soft-shoe.

Ooooooooh. Stereotypes, too.

I also like their web page title bar: "Bringing class to the masses."

As one of the masses, I'm glad I can count on the Toronto Star for my daily dose of class.

CJ Krause · Post by **CJ Krause** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 1:31 am

UDELBR · Post by **UDELBR** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 6:00 am

Wasn't the pic on the front of one of Sam Pilafian's albums reversed?

winston · Post by **winston** » Thu Jun 24, 2004 11:31 pm

winston · Post by **winston** » Fri Jun 25, 2004 12:15 am

Doug@GT · Post by **Doug@GT** » Sun Jun 27, 2004 11:39 pm

You decide.

Doug@GT · Post by **Doug@GT** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:38 am

I was about to ask what side of the road cars drive on in Canada, but look at the pavement--no lines. Could be a one way road, so no help there.

The picture is so low-res I can't enhance it enough to read any of the writing.

Doug@GT · Post by **Doug@GT** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 12:57 am

I'm about to confirm myself as a genuine weirdo (Spiro Agnew avator notwithstanding).

I played around with the colors in the picture, and can make out button holes on the jacket of the guy carrying the laptop-case. Since the button holes are on the left side of men's jackets, and this dude doesn't look like a cross-dresser, the photo was obviously flipped.

Now, everyone make fun of me.

Z-Tuba Dude · Post by **Z-Tuba Dude** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 5:23 am

schlepporello wrote:Think about it for a moment, if she's playing a left handed violin then she obviously does solo work only. It would be very difficult for a left handed violin to work in an orchestra full of righties.

At the time that I was in college (during the Jurassic period), there was a left handed violinist in the Buffalo (NY) Philharmonic. We always wondered how she managed to play, and not hurt anyone else in the section!

Tortuba · Post by **Tortuba** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 3:58 pm

Actually, if you look close, I think you'll see that the original photo is actually a relection in a mirror (or highly reflective surface). There is a slight distortion on the right side of Mark's image.

Anyway, I didn't post the article to generate a discussion of reversed photos ( we do drive on the right hand side of the road by the way), I posted it as an interesting observation of the life of a pro-muscians who have to busk on street corners to feed the kids during the off-season.

Mark is the tubist with what is arguably Canada's finest orchestra, but he has to (or chooses to) play beside the hotdog vendor at ball games to make ends meet. It sure talks to the dedication of a musician who pursued a profession career for the love of music and not for financial reward.

Glad I kept my day-job!

kontrabass · Post by **kontrabass** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 4:30 pm

I believe the previous poster is correct - if you look to the far left of the image, you can see a mirrored pane of glass. This pane of glass bends in a 90 degree corner and in its image are the reflected musicians. Look to the right of Mark and you can see the 'distortion' - look even closer and you'll see:
-the line marking the corner which cuts off the head of the violin
-a concrete support pillar to Mark's right that disappears behind the reflective wall, otherwise it would appear behind the musicians on the ground.
-A man in a blue shirt to the right of Mark's tuba who is cut in half by the end of the reflective wall.
-a Grecian (or something) arch to the right that is cut off by the reflective wall. Notice the crossbeam simply stops - this is because it is behind the building with the reflective walls.

To further quell any debate, I am one of Mark's students. Leslie is definately a right-handed violin player, and that tuba - judging by the top-action piston valves - looks to be Mark's Yamaha Eb, which has a bell that points to the right. Therefore the image we are seeing has not been flipped, but it IS a reflection in a mirrored glass window.
QED

Dan Schultz · Post by **Dan Schultz** » Mon Jun 28, 2004 4:30 pm

Wow! A legit post followed by sixteen comments about the quality of the image!

Leslie Knowles (Mark's wife) summed it up for me when she said "Hey, it's all music, all performing," she says. "Playing Tchaikovsky with the TSO in the People's Republic of China in 1978 was incongruous, too. Busking blurs the line, ... all these people passing by who don't have $60 for a concert."

I know pros who sometimes play for the fun of it and I know some who won't open their horn case for less than $200. I much prefer the personalities of those who often play for the fun of it. I don't know Mark and Leslie but my guess is that they really enjoy playing music and it's not ALL business to them. My hat's off to musicians who make personal contributions to society.

JB · Post by JB » Wed Jun 30, 2004 11:50 pm

TubaTinker wrote:Wow! A legit post followed by sixteen comments about the quality of the image!

Leslie Knowles (Mark's wife) summed it up for me when she said "Hey, it's all music, all performing," she says. "Playing Tchaikovsky with the TSO in the People's Republic of China in 1978 was incongruous, too. Busking blurs the line, ... all these people passing by who don't have $60 for a concert."

I know pros who sometimes play for the fun of it and I know some who won't open their horn case for less than $200. I much prefer the personalities of those who often play for the fun of it. I don't know Mark and Leslie but my guess is that they really enjoy playing music and it's not ALL business to them. My hat's off to musicians who make personal contributions to society.

TubaTinker, you seem to be the only one (or at least certainly in the minority) in catching the point of the original post.

"I don't know Mark and Leslie but my guess is that they really enjoy playing music and it's not ALL business to them."

Agreed.

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The life of a pro tubist!

The life of a pro tubist!

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