i started working at the national endowment for the arts a couple of weeks ago, and so far i've learned a ton and am really enjoying my work.  aside from the job itself, it's been very novel to be working downtown.  during lunch one day of my first week, i walked to the natural history museum to check out a photography exhibit, oh you know, natural history museum, just during my lunch break :)  i can see the capitol from my building and everyhing is literally a 5 minute walk away.  if you're going to move to dc, you may as well work for the government right in the middle of everything, right?!

this past week we had a very cool field trip to the national gallery of art's east building (modern art).  they have an exhibit going on until october 6th called Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929: When Art Danced with Music.  the show tells the story of the original russian ballet under the leadership of Serge Diaghilev.  i knew of the russian ballet and their performance of stravinsky's rite of spring, and i knew they were known for using contemporary music in their shows.  i had absolutely no idea how inclusive they were of music and art contemporaries in their performances, and that they were so forward thinking in all of thier costuming and dance techniques.

just look at the artists that collaborated with diaghilev and the ballet over only ten years: stravinsky, prokofiev, erik satie, debussy, rimsky-korsakov, picasso, matisse, coco chanel (ha!)

^^original rite of spring costumes!^^ (via)

 ^^costumes for the blue train by chanel^^ (via)

^^costume for the song of the nightingale by matisse^^ (via)

a co-worker in my division is friends with one of the curators of this exibit and she met up with us to give us a behind the scenes guided tour.  i loved hearing about everything from the preservation of the original costumes to who decided to paint a big blue wave on the wall of the space.  overall, i have to say they did a beautiful job with the presentation.  if you have any interest at all in the history of dance, ballet, music, theatre, or visual arts (or history in general), i would make sure to check out this exhibit. it's so well done and so entertaining that you don't even realize how much you've learned until you leave.

my favorite video installations were of baryshnikov dancing (i could watch him dance all day long) and rudolph nureyev playing the faun in the afternoon of a faun. (video here)

^^original costume design for the faun by bakst^^ (via)

^^because yes^^

the museum has set up a small, temporary shop right as you exit the exhibit.  i die for museum shops and couldn't resist this little hand-painted turkish bowl. 

loved this exhibit and highly recommend it!

note: any views or opinions represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the blog owner and do not represent those of people, institutions or organizations that the owner may or may not be associated with in professional or personal capacity.

have you ever been inside of an organ?  i hadn't until reilly took me up into the huge organ at national presbyterian.  with 7000 pipes, this multimillion dollar instrument is over three stories tall and about twenty feet deep.

^^reilly poses with some of the metal pipes^^

^^once you climb inside, there are mazes of planks to access different areas but no real walkways that would obstruct the sound^^

^^reilly pretends to lift one of the massive low register pipes :) ^^

after my tour, reilly climbed back down while i stayed to hear something played from the inside.  then something really cool happend that i wasn't expecting.  when we listen to live music it always comes at us from one direction.  even if you stand in the middle of an orchestra while it's playing, it's still not quite three dimensional.  but when you are inside of an organ, pipes are all around you in every direction, some close and some far, so the sound comes at you from every direction and from many different distances.  it's kind of like the first time you heard dolby surround sound in the movie theatre and it gave you chills.

i'm not especially into organ music, but this was moving.  it was surround sound, but live.  and loud. and the vibrations actually move your body.  this video kind of gives you an idea of it.  it's dark in the organ so you can't see anything in the vid.

 
inside an organ from Katie Gill on Vimeo.

my last day of work was our sunday concert at national presbyterian.  it was bittersweet to be so excited about leaving, getting married, and going to australia but at the same time saying goodbye and enjoying one of these beautiful concerts for the last time as an insider.  schutz's musikalische exequien and bach's trauerode were both on the program.  they are both for funeral services and since we're kind of leaving one life and starting another i thought it was cool :)

it's really crazy how many people you meet and how much you learn in only three years of working somewhere.  there are lots of people to miss in this town!

todd studies a score while reilly plays for brandenburg vi.  the weather was nice so we had lots of light coming in those awesome windows.

it's been a busy and productive week ending with my last CCS concert ever (as an employee).  only 12 days of work left! i can't say it wasn't a little bittersweet, though.  the cathedral is a beautiful space and the sound is always moving.  and you always notice a new detail, no matter how many times you've been in there.

so long cathedral!

just when i think i'm so ready to be done with my job and move on to the next thing in life, i get to do some cool stuff at work.  working for music organizations is pretty cool in general, what other job are you required to be a part of beautiful concerts in beautiful settings involving some of the most talented musicians in the country?

but there are lots of other random unexpected things you get to do.  like last week reilly tells me he needs me to turn pages at his organ concert at the kennedy center.  i'm like, man i don't want to spend my thursday night doing this! then when i get there he says, oh by the way i also need to you to play the zimbelstern at the marked places (this is just a button on the organ that you push on and off and it makes little twinkling bells sounds).  no prob i can do that!  so while i'm bored by this whole thing, at some point i realize, wait: you live in our nation's capital, you're on the stage of the kennedy center with a full audience, you were just hanging with eschenbach backstage, and now you're technically playing the organ.  probably not going to happen again... this is actually pretty cool!

i've also gotten to check out lots of embassies and ambassadors' residences over the last few years.  being inside the buildings can really make you feel like you have traveled to the country.  everyone is speaking the language, the furnishings and other decor have been shipped over, and they give you customary food and drink for meetings.  some are nicer than others, like the 4 course french embassy meal that lasted for hours and was only supposed to be a short lunch meeting.  i have no idea what i ate, and left completely drunk.  it was wonderful.  the belgians also really know how to get it done, and lucky for us the current ambassador loves bach and our organization, so we get to spend lots of time there :)

today we met with the russians to promote our upcoming rachmaninoff vespers concert.  it was just a short meeting, but we were treated with coffee, tea, and russian chocolates.  since most of the meeting was in russian, which is so beautiful and rhythmic that it makes me sleepy, my mind wandered from the cups and saucers to the artwork to the chandeliers and back.

i guess the point is, i've been so ready to get out of here, but when it comes down to it maybe i'll miss this place just a little.

^^from the space room.  obviously.^^

While driving around today we heard a radio ad for the Washington Ballet's upcoming performance of the Nutcracker... starring George Washington himself, as the nutcracker!

We are so excited!  Not only has science found a way to bring the dead back to life, our 1st president is alive and well and dancing to Tchaikovsky!

From their website:
"Septime Webre’s critically acclaimedThe Nutcracker transports us back in time to historic Washington, DC and stars George Washington as the heroic Nutcracker."

Wait a minute... we heard wrong.  GW is not being brought back to life. WE ARE GOING TO TIME TRAVEL.  tickets here.

photo credit