Northshore Concert Band At Home: Jennifer Nelson
Today’s feature is the fifth in a series of interviews with Northshore Concert Band members. Learn more about these talented musicians in each fun, thoughtful, and often touching feature.
Jennifer recording for virtual groups with a click track. She has participated in several recording projects during quarantine.
Today’s member is Jennifer Nelson.
Jennifer has been a member of the Northshore Concert Band for 19 years. She is a private music instructor and plays Flute.
What part of your shelter-in-place have you come to appreciate the most? The least?
I appreciate spending the time at home together with my husband Bruce (who is also working from home) and our cat Fermata (who "helps" us work). I really like the extra time we get since we don't have to commute. Using Skype or Zoom for my private lessons has been working much better than expected, and for some students, this has actually been a better format and they have been making more progress than they had been before because now they are home, parents are home and monitoring practice more, and the kids don't have as many other activities competing for their time.
Things I miss the most are playing at band rehearsals and concerts, also being able to attend live concerts, and being able to travel. We had a trip to Ireland planned for spring break that got canceled, and the tour company gave us a generous voucher for future travel, but with things being so uncertain about when things can open up, it is difficult to plan when that trip can actually happen. I miss the human interaction at our rehearsals. I have been doing a lot of recording for "virtual playing" events, and while I enjoy that, it's just not the same as actually interacting with other musicians in real-time. But I am grateful to at least have the "virtual" playing opportunities.
What’s something that you miss that surprises you? What’s something that you don’t miss that surprises you?
It's more of a situation where I have come to realize all the simple things we took for granted that we have to change now. Who would have ever thought we'd be missing being able to just run over to the grocery store without worrying "Did I remember to bring my mask? Did I remember my hand sanitizer?" Trying to do two weeks’ worth of grocery shopping at once has been an adjustment in itself. We live a short walk from a grocery store, so it had been common for us to just walk over there frequently on an as-needed basis, sometimes more than one time a day! Now we try to keep our exposure to a minimum with a major shopping trip every two weeks, and that takes a lot more planning.
Something I don't miss? I've done very little driving since stay-at-home, and I don't miss my commute, and it's really been nice not having to put up with all the crazies on the road.
What have you been stocking up on (that isn’t toilet paper)?
There's this frozen chocolate pie that we discovered several months ago that we really like, and when stay-at-home was first put in place, suddenly it became very difficult to find in the stores. When we finally did find it in a store we bought a bunch of them, and now whenever we see it in a store we have to get at least one more.
Is there something you’ve been putting off for a long time, but are now doing with this time at home?
When we return from a major trip I like to take highlight photos from the trip and put them into a musical slideshow. I've been doing this for about 6 years as the trips happen and had retro-done a few others once I learned how to do this, but for a long time I had wanted to go back and do earlier trips or update some of the early ones after I learned how to add captions, and now I finally had time to do some work on that project. The added benefit was that since we can't travel right now, at least I could relive the trips through the photos.
Please briefly share your history with NCB - how & why you joined, etc.
I joined NCB in November 2001, right after the November concert. My husband, Bruce was invited to audition on euphonium two weeks before that concert, which he did, and was invited to play right away for that concert. At his first rehearsal he found out there was an opening for flute so he told them about me, and I was invited to audition the first Wednesday after the concert. I got in that night and the first piece we rehearsed was the Prokofiev March and it was the most amazing experience realizing this rehearsal with the band sight-reading it went better than some performances elsewhere. My first concert was an outreach concert in Indiana, and my first major concert was when NCB played at Midwest in 2001. Two biggest memories of that concert were being blown away by how Mallory conducted Elgar's Nimrod and playing Lincoln Portrait with William Warfield doing the spoken part.
COVID-19 has forced NCB to cancel the second half of our 2019-2020 Subscription Season. What do you miss most about NCB rehearsals and performances?
This has been rough because our playing together in rehearsals and performances is so much more to me. It's the music, it's the interaction with friends creating something beautiful, meaningful, expressive, and deeply emotional experience. Through our music, we can laugh together, cry together, and feel a special connection that happens in the shared musical experience. Creating music in this way is therapeutic for me and is why a couple of years ago, even when my dad passed away early in the morning of the same day we had a rehearsal, I went to that rehearsal. I needed that music therapy time to help me deal with the pain.
Please share any thoughts that you may have about the Northshore Concert Band.
This time apart is very difficult and I'm looking forward to when we can finally play together again.
Please share anything else that you would like our audience to know.
There's no substitute for live performances. They are to be treasured. I wish our audience could see the interactions we see as Mallory conducts us. The expressions we get to see as she conducts are so inspiring and moving and dynamic. She makes us dig deep into our souls and brings out things we didn't know were possible.
Jennifer participated in the virtual Bolder Boulder 10K (along with other NCB members). She has been participating in quite a few virtual races.
So much has happened in our world. Concerts have been canceled and our musicians and administration are now sheltering in place and working from home. For the health and well-being of our musicians, staff, and supporters we are working in accordance with the CDC and Governor Pritzker’s guidelines. Music is more important than ever and we look forward to the time that we can share our music with you. During this unprecedented time, subscribe to this website and follow us on social media for NCB updates, member interviews, music news, and more.
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