Hey Rick!

It has been a few months since I last shared brief news of my musical adventures. When I quit DSO in 2012, I promised myself ten years to make CutTime® work. Covid took the final two. However, I must confess that I am enjoying letting go of responsibilities for retirement, even if it's less exciting. Yet it is rejuvenating to explore a different city (Pittsburgh, PA), esp. one so far along in its reinvention. No wonder a few people are so jealous they send me intimidators. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

In February CutTime Simfonica® performed a stellar show at Crooked Tree Art Center up in Petoskey, MI, recruiting new players Henyrk Karapetyan, Vardan Petrosyan and Ron Pangborn on violin, viola and drums respectively. Veteran Simfoni-cat Dan Winnick also joined. I was reminded when in 2000 the larger CutTime Players (then all DSO musicians) performed a weeklong residency and a couple of summer runouts across this region for the Center. The reaction to the string ensemble was similar: we might be back!

About a month later I subbed into the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) for the very last time for their Classical Roots and some educational and pops series. It was more sweet than bitter as I barely coped over 12 days with the left-hand discomforts that are causing me to retire. I also quietly said goodbyes to the few people left I really care about, and I saw that audiences had returned in full post-pandemic, at least for those series. I also resigned from their board of trustees, and the board of Chamber Music Detroit.

I didn’t have to play a note for the highlight of my year, however. The world premiere of my “Chaconne: For Interesting Times” for orchestra was as impactful as I’d imagined. Maestro Gerhardt Zimmermann, a mentor and friend since I was principal bass there 1982-85, led the Canton Symphony Orchestra with all the emotion, precision and power he’s been famous for over 42 years. This might become my best-known orchestral work. And yet it’s hard to predict. They performed my Essay No. 1 (After Sibelius) last year, and the response was huge! Plus Essay No. 2 (Never Forget) is ready to go, and it’s going to be equally memorable!

I don’t need to wait long for the next exciting premiere, however. The end of April will see the world premiere of only my second solo work, the “Concertino for solo and orchestra,” to feature graduating double bass student Kobe Coleman with the Allegheny College Community Orchestra. I was commissioned to write it last fall on the recommendation of his teacher Thomas White, who is principal in Canton and liked playing the first Essay. 

This 10-minute work is mostly lyrical (no fancy, barely-playable licks) and quite philosophical; about a young person coming of age and finding their groove. And MAN, what a groove I came up with (or borrowed)! I believe the work might become quite popular by adapting it for other instruments. You know me: I’m all about adaptation of the classical genre and life in general.

Speaking of which, I’m adapting the former Classical Revolution Detroit series in bars and clubs to my new home in Pittsburgh. I’m meeting many local players now who are excited by the idea. Plus there are two musicians here I’ve worked with in Detroit and Cleveland over the last decade, hot to jump in and recommend players and places. We’ll probably get in a few shows this summer, and then see if other bassists can replace me. The new series and Facebook page are called “OMG Classical.”

Well, that’s about it. I am adjusting to this slower pace where I focus on healthier eating and drinking, riding my bike and walking hills, orchestrating my best works and maybe come up with new ones, and limiting my playing to one set per month while I try to let Pittsburghers know what unique values I'm offering with the two dozen compositions and hundreds of symphonic reductions that I publish. If I can soon find here some young leadership to take this regional or national again, the spirit, music and methods of CutTime® might just outlive me!

Life is short, when it’s this good. Pork ‘n Beans anyone?

- Rick Robinson

Owner, CutTime Productions LLC