Waiting for Andy Akiho

He’s an adventurous young composer-in-residence with the Oregon Symphony who became obsessed with steel pans and now includes them in most of the music he writes. Sue and I both felt his pieces could be shorter, but maybe that says more about us than about him. We share his appreciation for steel pans and cellos, but maybe we’re not getting the full arc of his intention. There’s an interesting 14-minute video about him on Youtube, including one of his compositions.

This photo is only half the stage, made while the musicians were warming up for the first piece, which included Akiho on his steel pans and a marvelous array of percussion instruments. The second half of the program was Brahms’ 2nd Symphony.

Thanks for your response to my my last blip. I’m still not able to spend much time online because of the headaches. They haven’t stopped, but they are less intense since I cut back on screen time.