The Really
Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle (RTOOT)
who
are we? -- strings section
The strings
section of The Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle (RTOOT)
has at last achieved critical mass, with some enthusiastic new
members and some adjustments from one section to another by our
more versatile members. We actually now have more violins than
cellos. But more strings are always welcome, provided they are
sufficiently Terrible.
As you may be aware, The Really Terrible Orchestra Of the Triangle
(RTOOT) does not assign seating within a section from best-to-worst
first-to-last. Our unique blend of tonal nuances is only achieved
through a careful analysis of who should sit next to whom.
This season we welcome
Ernest Hahn as principal
first violin. This sort of makes Ernest the concertmaster, although
things are not always as they seem in our ensemble.
Jeri Walter is our principal
second violin.
Jeri explains that
her parents both took up instruments after retirement, as they then
had more time to practice. While the Really Terrible Orchestra Of
the Triangle (RTOOT) encourages
members to practice mightily, the punishment for bobbles is
not too severe, so she figured, "Why wait for retirement ... Life
is short.” Despite having
never even touched a violin,
Mary Ann Brittain on impulse
decided to take up the instrument. She secured both a
teacher and a violin on the very same afternoon of January of 2007
at the well seasoned age of 64 and began lessons,
joining RTOOT after only two years in January
2009. Second
chances exist for violins and players! Thrown away, a full size
violin made its way to player
Julie Nettifee Osborne -- when RTOOT
came along, there were no good reasons not to give skills a "second
chance" too! The rest they say, is history!
Sandy Pham says, “I started
playing fairly young, but it took years for me to figure out how to
read music. So when I heard about The Really Terrible Orchestra Of
the Triangle, I knew I'd fit right in. When you don't find me
fitting into RTOOT, you can find me fitting in here:
http://sandyfitsin.blogspot.com/“
Sudha Ananthakrishnan started
playing the violin in 5th
grade,
reached her peak in middle school, and started progressively
getting worse after high school and into college, which makes her
fit right in with RTOOT. Now she is in graduate school and
trying to find time to practice between papers and
tests.
Will Filer is a gifted
amateur pianist with a background in blues and burlesque. These
skills translate quite poorly to playing his grandfather's
107-year-old violin which he inherited prior to joining.
A
welcome addition to the strings is professional violist
Patrice Barley,
who will play Mr. Hobgood's cheap
student violin, since our rules prevent her from playing something
that she's truly competent upon.
We
are also privileged to have the 7-year old prodigy
Tejas Chandrasekhar playing first
violin.
Jane Stinson has acquired a
most coveted "Somewhere in the middle" seat (by default) 2nd
violinist for RTOOT. Where she lives happily ever after.
Tara Bryan comes
to our violin section from Youngsville, where she is involved in
several projects, none of which are paying jobs.
Before
joining RTOOT,
Andre Gibbs last played over
20 years ago as a second violin (13th seat behind the kettle drums)
for Walnut Hills High School in Cincinnati.
Frances Ochart is a true Puerto
Rican whose father played piano in his salsa band. After Frances
decided to learn to fiddle, she couldn’t resist incorporating salsa
rhythms in her fiddling. However, now that she is studying
classical violin and playing in RTOOT (a childhood
dream)
she promises not to play play Handel with a latin beat.
Mary Bartell, originally
from Chesapeake, VA, now resides in the beautiful NC Triangle. Her
passion for playing brought her back from a 10 year
hiatus only to find she had made a grave mistake.... Now she
tortures herself, her husband, and her neighbors while
practicing...even the dog leaves the room. Additional members in
the violin section are
Judy Williams, Beth Austin, Cari Paulus, and Melissa
McMurry.
The
violas are coming on strong and we are happy to include
Jenny Holt, Genie Haley, Rennie Martin, Carolyn Fields and Birgid
Buntic. As a child in
Midland,TX,
Genie played the
viola, but after moving to N.C. where there was no strings program
in her school, she became just a wannabe musician. Later, her
husband, wanting to fulfill her wishes, bought her a new instrument
and she recently renewed her affair with the viola. Now she is
excited to be a fully qualified member of the RTOOT!
Birgid played in both
junior and senior high school orchestras in Elmhurst, Illinois with
RTOOT violinist Judy Williams. Also in the viola section we
have
Ted Ehrhard. Mr. Ehrhard,
who hails from Bynum, NC, is an electrician, piano technician, and
expert in car emission. Furthermore, he is a Bach enthusiast and
the founder, music director, sound man, and general roadie for the
Pittsboro Bach Society. He was originally recruited to play string
bass, but he left it out in the rain and it shrank, so he plays it
like a viola now.
Our principal
cellist,
Douglass Little, played
valiantly with the University of North Carolina symphony orchestra
for four years under the baton of Tonu Kalam, and occasionally
under the baton of Mr. Hobgood. She first learned cello in 5th
grade and after discovering the secrets of how to read music
decided to stick with it. Doug is also a black belt in
Taekwondo.
Sue Coon, dazzled the
cello world as a child, maxing out at age 11 with her
signature tune, "Whistle While You Work." After a gap of many
decades, she has returned to the cello and has been
working very hard at it, which is not to be confused with any
discernible improvement.
Bill Hirsch
moved
here from Delaware a dozen years ago and became delusional. He
looks forward to the day RTOOT “brings down the house” at Meymandi
Hall. “I love playing again”, Bill says, “But now I think I’m ready
to step up a level and start using the bow.” Santa brought Bill a
new cello for Christmas and his wife, four grown children, four
grandchildren and most of the neighbors found ear plugs in their
stockings.
Hampton Carmine is a composer
with a number of original compositions and arrangements in his
Sibelius portfolio. Betsy Dawson says, “I’m a retired Latin teacher
and life-long yogini. I love my cello Dulcinea, who forgives
me for playing many really terrible notes.”
George Radwan, Heather Szafran, and Marshall McClure
fill
out the cello section.
We are now proud to have three string basses, played by
Jamie Dixon, Jane Francis, and
Michael Lyle.
Michael is also our
assistant conductor.
Jane is a
former brass, woodwind and rock musician seeking asylum in the
upright bass section. Teaches private music lessons. Voted “most
likely to succeed” in the witness protection
program.