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Wade,

I was looking at your bio on the Mississippi Symphony site http://www.msorchestra.com/index.php/ab ... de-rackley" target="_blank
and noticed that your wife is a horn player in the orchestra. How does that work in terms of practicing at home? Do you practice separately? Play exercises, etudes, and duets together? Is there much material for tuba and French horn? Or, do you prepare your own stuff?

Thanks, Wade. Sounds like you and your wife have no problem practicing your instruments under one roof. In my amateur/semi-pro world, I've run across quite a few husband/wife instrumentalists, some of whom have had to schedule their practice times so as not to bother one another. (One situation was a violinist who went nuts if her bass trombonist husband dared take his instrument out of the case when she was practicing.) I've not known of any professional orchestra couples (other than you two), and wondered how you arranged your practice times. Thanks again for such a great response.

Have you heard string players during the last minutes before tuning up in an orchestra? I have practiced in a two musicians’ household and in several practicing facilities not insulating sounds in either direction. If people play in a way consistent with itself, I am not too bothered. Yet, playing with inconsistent rhythm drives me nuts, as I am not able to predict what will come in the parallel (to my own playing) musical listening.

So I would tell the self-announced violin queen to shaddup and bow.

Klaus