Aaron Goldman is the Assistant Principal Flute in the NSO

It's the middle of the second day of the tour - the orchestra is on buses from Oxford, MS to Jonesboro, AR for a concert this evening. 

Oxford, MS is one of those places that I would probably never go to if it were not for the Residencies.  Actually, I would probably not go to many of the places we go to on Residencies, not because they are in anyway unpleasant places to visit, but because I just wouldn't think of them as travel destinations.  Walking around Oxford though, I couldn't help thinking that this would be a great place to live: friendly people, kids playing out in their front yards, beautiful homes on tree-lines streets. 

My education and outreach activities don't begin until Thursday, so I took some of the extra time I had to practice, and explore a bit of Oxford.  I took a pleasant walk to the boyhood home of William Faulkner where you can see some interesting oak trees and a historic white house with a stone and wood stable all set back from the street. 

After a little more practicing, and dinner, I walked to the concert hall to prepare for the evening's concert.  The concert reminded me of some of the challenges of orchestral touring; one of the most difficult things to do is adjust quickly to an unfamiliar hall.  The Ford Center at the University of Mississippi is a pleasant place to play, but even in a good acoustic, adjustments to be made from what we're used to.  All in all, though, I think it was a good start to the week. 

- Aaron Goldman, Assistant Principal Flute