Geof, Charlie, Kerry, and I have just returned from playing concerts and giving master classes on our mini-France tour which included stops in Mulhouse and the beautiful Loire Valley. The preparation phase for this tour was, by necessity, spread out over several months, with the initial correspondence well over a year in advance. It’s an enormous undertaking to assemble even a 1-week tour like this – since we don’t have an agent in France, Kerry made the initial contact with several potential venues and professors. After we had received positive feedback, he and I worked together on all the details of dates, venues, contract negotiations, itinerary planning, etc. Sorting through literally hundreds of e-mails in French and handling the ridiculous minutiae of French bureaucracy was a challenge, especially because we are both involved in so many other projects at the same time, often away from home. Invoices, purchase orders, program details, stage setup, contact addresses, phone calls with bad connections in rapid French, a last-minute cancellation, the wrong personnel listed on the publicity for one venue, no street address for another hall, GPS programming, merchandise gathering… and that’s just the non-horn-related parts! You either need the patience of a saint or a lot of extra hair to tear out during this process (I fall into the latter category. Or used to.)
But of course, the reason for all this is the music. The new jewel in our repertoire is Walter Perkins’ arrangement of music from Porgy & Bess (in four movements with a fifth, “Summertime”, as an encore.) Walt sent the score, Geof made printed parts, and we had an initial reading last autumn – after which we switched a few parts around to fit the quartet better. Then we met for 3 days in February and a weekend before the first engagement in the end of March to put the whole program together. Finally, the fun part! We generally start off by getting the general feel of the pieces and the program, making sure everything flows, then we dive into excruciating detail to make sure every chord is in tune, every articulation matches, every entrance is clear as to who gives what, every nuance has a chance to find expression. Often, it’s me coming into a piece for the first time and the rest of them reviving something that has been in the repertoire and done a certain way for over 20 years, but in the case of Porgy & Bess, it’s fresh for everyone. Here are two clips from our concert in Cholet:
On the road finally, we fell into the usual whirlwind of packing up the tour van, driving to the next location (with the invaluable assistance of Geof’s wife Sherry), meeting our hosts, being whisked off to give a master class, fitting in a nap when possible, having the sound check in the hall, getting a pre-concert snack, giving every ounce of concentration and energy during the performance, going out for large and late dinners afterwards with great wine, getting up the next morning to repeat the process again. It’s an intense and beautiful experience.
On this particular tour, we planned in an excursion to Chambord Castle on our way through the Loire Valley. This provided us with a backdrop for an impromptu photo shoot. Some of the shots were more serious than this one: 
and this one:
Here was our favorite:
It’s important to find time during the tour to relax and recharge before the next burst of energy.
Here are a few pictures of highlights from the tour:
Virginie Maillard, our gracious hostess in Mulhouse, led her students and the workshop participants in a horn choir at the beginning of our concert. The felt hats she made for everyone were priceless.
After our concert in Cholet with the friendly and enthusiastic Prof. Jerome Percher. Afterwards, Geof ended up literally giving him the shirt off his back.
Charlie imparts his wisdom about low chops to a student in Mulhouse:
Kerry is the MC for all of our concerts, and giving the whole presentation in French didn’t phase him one bit! 
My folder…
posing under an advertisement for our concert in Sainte-Hermine
After playing for the Journée du Cor in Mulhouse, the Festival des Veilées Musicales in Saint-Hermine, another Journée du Cor in Cholet, we ended the tour by performing the 1st movement of the Schumann Konzertstück with the Brass Band Pays de la Loire followed by a 30-minute program on our own.
After all the hard and often tedious work of putting together a tour, I have to say that the thrill of performing and the enthusiasm of our audiences and the students we teach make it all worth it. (Remind me when I’m sitting here grinding my teeth organizing the upcoming 2013 AHQ tour in America :->)