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Violins in DC

May 20, 2010 | Posted by Robert Vijay Gupta in Washington DC

With our noses to the grind this tour, flitting from city to city, I’ve not really had a chance to fully experience the amazing cities we’ve been playing in, but in DC, my free day gave us a chance to visit the National Gallery and the Library of Congress. Any day that I might be lucky enough to see a real Van Gogh up close and personal is a good day, but I had little idea of just how fulfilling my day would get…

Music & Culinary Tour: Part 2 - D.C.

May 19, 2010 | Posted by Chris Hanulik and Peter Rofe in Washington DC

Our gastro-adventure continued in D.C. This time we expanded our group to ten for tapas at José Andrés' Jaleo. In my last blog entry I mentioned that I had to drop Dudamel's name to get seating for our large group. It turns out that José Andrés and Gustavo are good friends, so after the restaurant presumably vetted our reservation, Gustavo and Deborah Borda showed up and crashed our party! The food and drinks kept coming and each dish was a revelation of Spanish culinary arts. My favorite was the Jamón Ibérico de bellota Fermín - black-footed Ibérico pigs which are raised on a diet of acorns. Unlike the other black-footed pigs I am used to eating, this one had a distinct nutty flavor with a buttery texture....I will never be able to go back to honey baked ham.

KUSC Tour Blog

May 18, 2010 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Washington DC

KUSC is on the road with us and covering the tour. We especially enjoyed Brian Lauritzen’s blog post about last night’s performance which opens with:

So, here’s the Coolest Thing about the Kennedy Center. Well, okay, I’m not going to give it away immediately, but I will share some things I’ve learned about the Kennedy Center since arriving here in Washington, D.C. yesterday that, while they’re very cool, they’re not the Coolest Thing.

You have to read the rest of Brian’s entry to discover “The Coolest Thing” about The Kennedy Center. It’s worth it.

Show in D.C.

May 18, 2010 | Posted by Barry Socher in Washington DC

It's been a long time since the orchestra was here in Washington, something like 12 or 13 years, and that last time was while the Kennedy Center was being renovated. We arrived at the new stage entrance and went inside seeing other changes to the backstage area and the hall itself. Some of us met with friends from the National Symphony and then we rehearsed a little to check the acoustics and get a feel for the room.

At intermission we had a surprise visit from a long-time friend from LA, Placido Domingo, here to attend to his other regular gig with Kennedy Center's National Opera.

Photos: The Orchestra at White House; Playing the Kennedy Center.

May 18, 2010 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Washington DC

Great Grandma Morgie (or First Day in DC)

May 17, 2010 | Posted by Bing Wang in Washington DC

It was drizzling this morning, but the rain didn't stop us from our plan. I also came to DC one day ahead of our "big troupe" and met up with my family who flew in from LA last night. We headed to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural & History.

Have you ever wondered what the first mammal was? I discovered we have a 210 million years old ancestor. Judging from today's rodents, it looks like a type of mouse and its name is Morganucodon. About four inches long, the mammal was nicknamed "Great Grandma Morgie" by the Museum of Natural History.

It's always exciting for us to perform at the Kennedy Center. After a short acoustic rehearsal to get us used to the hall, the concert started at eight o'clock. The place was jam packed and the crowd kept cheering endlessly after the performance. Light in the hall came on after one encore, signaling us to leave the stage.....

A Rainy Day in Our Nation's Capitol

May 17, 2010 | Posted by David Bohnett in Washington DC

I just took this photo of one of our two tour semi-trailers outside the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. The tour has been fantastic so far, and our musicians have performed brilliantly in San Francisco, Phoenix, Chicago and Nashville.

It was very exciting to walk into the imposing and impressive John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to pick up my ticket for tonight's sold out performance. The staff member who helped me at the box office was overwhelming in her praise for Gustavo and our orchestra, having seen last night's segment on 60 Minutes. She kept saying 'how great it is for the kids', and I couldn't agree more.

Earlier on the tour in Chicago, my hometown paper, The Hinsdale Doings, ran this fun 'Local Boy Makes Good' article, and it was great to hear from family and friends who read it.

Video: Pre-concert Happenings

May 17, 2010 | Posted by LA Phil Staff in Washington DC

From the bus to the stage, the orchestra gets ready for another concert.

On to DC!

May 17, 2010 | Posted by James Wilt in Washington DC

I resisted my natural proclivity for thriftiness and decided to spend a little more money to travel “in front” of the rest of the group to Washington, DC. Most of the orchestra stayed in Nashville and are arriving in DC this morning for rehearsal at The Kennedy Center. The good news is we have the next day off, which is actually more like excellent news.

There are so many things to do in this city. Yesterday, a group of us checked out the Spy Museum, which was very cool. My kids are sneaky teenagers, but they’ve got nothing on the characters celebrated by this unique museum. From there, we walked over to the White House, the Washington Monument and its reflecting pool, which is actually more like a reflecting mud pit - it was recently drained to combat an outbreak of bird botulism among the local ducks. We also visited the Lincoln Monument, and the new WWII Memorial - beautiful, but 60 years late, in my humble opinion. My dad fought in the Pacific as a marine, and it was good to see a fitting tribute to the tremendous sacrifice that that generation made.

No Airport Cuisine

May 17, 2010 | Posted by Ingrid Chun in Washington DC

Today we had a completely free day- no need to check out of the hotel, no bus to catch, no airport cuisine, no plane travel, and finally, no concert! It was good to catch a breather before going to all the wonderful cities in the second half of our tour. It has been a busy tour but a very successful one so far. The audiences were simply enthralled with Gustavo and responded to the way we played our hearts out every concert. The excitement of performing for music lovers everywhere and the connection we build with them are what make what we do so fulfilling. Another part of the tour that I enjoy the most is getting to spend more time with my colleagues. We bonded over meals, shared our adventures and laughed about our misadventures over a drink or two, or three. Tonight we went to the Germantown Cafe, a popular restaurant in a charming neighborhood on the outskirts of downtown. The waiter told us that it was the first time since the flood that they started serving with wine glasses rather than paper cups in order to conserve water.

Washington DC

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