Symphony Potpourri

posted 09:04 AM Tuesday, April 13, 2010

By: Chip Chandler

A couple of brief items of interest as we kick off this concert week:

• Horn player Becky Casso is one of two finalists for Canyon ISD elementary teacher of the year. Becky, who's in her 24th season with us, has been in music education for 29 years. She is a music specialist at Hillside Elementary School. We think finalists should have to play an etude before the choice is made, don't you?
• Ran across this article a few weeks ago about encores. Readers, what do you think about them? Are you still blown away by the ones we've had this year? I'm still kicking myself for missing Eriko Daimo's version of The Beatles' "In My Life."
• And finally, here's your Symphony staff at work. Last week, we got a call from a random Amarillo resident with an odd question: What is the music they play when you're on hold with CVS Pharmacy? The caller had googled it and found two possibilities: Franz Liszt's Liebestraum and Karl King's The Golden Dragon. I put out a call for answers on Facebook while Sue started doing her own Google search and found this reply. Turns out it was the piece by King, who is mostly known for circus music.