Gold Medals, Cake, and Berlioz

We are an orchestra that likes cake. Luckily we are also an orchestra that has had cake twice since the last concert and will have it once more before our next concert. The first time it was leftover cake from the post-concert reception celebrating our 150th anniversary (marble sheet cake with buttercream!). Tonight we had our second round (orange pound cake!) but it was to celebrate the accomplishments of one of our members.

If you look in the back of the viola section you'll find Dr. Hugh Macdonald contentedly playing whole notes and off beats.* During the day Dr. Macdonald is the Avis Blewett Professor of Music at Washington University in St. Louis. He's made his career studying the music of French composers of the 19th century like Massenet, Chabrier, Lalo, and Berlioz. He's the editor of the 26-volume (wow) New Berlioz Edition and is currently working on an online catalogue of Berlioz's works. In 2006 he uncovered a never-before performed opera by Lalo and prepared a performing edition which led to the opera's premiere. There's a lot more to Dr. Macdonald's biography and this post would be about a mile long if I tried to include everything. So, here's a link to his biography. He's a big deal and sort of a celebrity among Berlioz fans and musicologists.**

Tonight after we finished rehearsing the Roman Carnival our harpist, Sue, stood up and announced that Dr. Macdonald had recently been awarded a gold medal by La Renaissance Francaise, an organization that (according to Dr. Macdonald) "has been around for a hundred years or so and gives medals out to people they approve of." What they approve of about Dr. Macdonald is his life-long advocacy of French classical music. He's one of the first 6 Americans*** to receive this honor. It was bestowed on him April 1st at the French Embassy in DC. Here's a link to a brief article about the honor.

While we were all eating the delicious pound cake I asked Dr. Macdonald if the prize was an actual medal and he said yes, that it "looked like he'd fought in quite a lot of wars." We're hoping he wears it to our concert on the 30th. So if you see something glittering from the back of the violas that night know that it's because we have a celebrity in our midst.

*Because, you know, that's all violas ever play.

**He's also incredibly nice and quite the host.

***Well, maybe people working in America, since he's English.