NCB Switzerland/France Tour - May 25 - Orléans

The National Capital Band arrived in Orléans at midday. Our concert venue for the evening was the Conservatoire (a school for music, dance and theatre arts), just across the street from the magnificent Cathedral de Sainte-Croix. The original plan had been to unload our luggage and instruments at the Conservatoire, then walk just around the corner to the Hotel Groslot (the ceremonial hotel d'ville, or city hall, of Orléans) for a short performance and reception with some civic leaders. Unfortunately, we were not able to enter the Conservatoire building, as there were performance examinations in progress which could not be disturbed. We were given a small breezeway to store our luggage, and our instruments remained on the truck while we ate lunch on our own at cafes near the cathedral.

Poster from the Conservatoire
Performance in the Hotel Groslot	Another view of the performance in the Hotel Groslot

Following lunch, we made our way to the Hotel Groslot, unloaded the instruments and did a short standing concert in a richly decorated room, where an official of the local tourism council greeted us and welcomed us to the city. Following a short reception, the band was divided into two groups and given a guided tour of the Hotel Groslot and the Cathedral across the street. Many of us were quite moved by standing in a house of worship that had taken nearly 600 years to complete.

During our time at the Hotel Groslot, a short but vigorous rain shower had happened. When we returned to the Conservatoire to set up and do sound checks, we discovered that all of our luggage, which had been left in a partially open breezeway, had been moved inside for us. Although some pieces had gotten wet, we greatly appreciated the effort that was taken to safeguard our things.

Stephen Bulla at Hotel Groslot	Major James Allison (center) makes a presentation at the Hotel Groslot
The city's tourism official speaks to the band, with Jamie Hood translating

We performed the sound check, and then walked a couple of blocks to a small restaurant for dinner. On the way, we passed a couple of the students from the Conservatoire carrying a concert bass drum, which was for our use during the concert. The meal itself was one of the more unusual during our trip, with some excellently prepared shrimp and some small “burgers”, which turned out to be small pieces of steak with various condiments served on a round bun.

View of the Cathedral de Sainte-Croix, showing the 'wedding cake' towers

As we were walking to dinner, some students were carrying a bass drum toward the Conservatoire

Our evening performance, which was a part of a continuing concert series at the Conservatoire, commenced at 8:30 pm, to a full house. The performance began with a couple of bright openers, Sovereignty (Brian Bowen) and God With Us (Kirkland/Gettke, arr. Kevin Norbury). Ian Anderson gave a fine performance of the Rhapsody for Cornet and Band (Ray Bowes). This was followed by a vocal solo sung by Wendy Hood, accompanied by Stephen Bulla on piano and Wendy's husband, Jamie Hood, on trumpet. Jamie was doing quadruple duty during the concert, serving as the master of ceremonies (in fluent French), translating, and playing euphonium with the band in addition to his trumpet work during the vocal solos. The first half of the concert ended with Bandmaster James Anderson's work, The Words of the Amen.

Wendy Hood sings, with Stephen Bulla at the piano	On stage at the Conservatoire
Major Allison presents our contact at the Conservatoire with a print of an original painting by NCB member Laura Boutchyard

As with most of the venues during the tour, the stage at the Conservatoire was quite hot, so the band played the second half of the concert without their red festival tunics. Items during the second half of the concert included Blessings! (Nick Simmons-Smith), Erik Leidzén's classic horn solo The Old Rustic Bridge (soloist Randi Bulla), two items from the pen of Leonard Ballantine, ’Mid All the Traffic and Sweet By and By (featuring Chris Dennard on flügelhorn). The final program item was the tone poem Confrontations (Dudley Bright), which is based on Stanley Ditmer's moving song “I'm In His Hands”. Following some courtesies and presentations, the band played two encore items: On the King's Highway (Erik Leidzén) and America the Beautiful (Carmen Dragon, arr. Bob Clemons).

Following the concert, the band loaded all of the equipment and luggage and set off for Paris, arriving at the hotel about 1:00 am. Although the hour was late, there was a great deal of activity and traffic near the hotel, which was located just a block from the Avenue des Champs d'Élysées and a few hundred yards from the Arc de Triomphe.