The rain had little effect on attendance at the opening night of the 22nd season of the Hot Springs Music Festival on Sunday.
The festival opened with its traditional Brass Fanfare inside the Arlington Resort Hotel & Spa, followed by a Mentor Showcase concert in the Arlington's conference center.
Lynn Payette, the festival's associate director, said despite the weather and some slight venue changes, opening night attendance was "excellent." Due to the rain and some other logistical changes, the Brass Fanfare was moved inside from its usual location on the terrace in front of the Arlington, and the Mentor Showcase was moved from the ballroom to the conference center.
"It had stopped raining by the time the fanfare would have started but it was still just too wet outside and nobody wanted to risk putting the instruments near or around water, and we also had a portable microphone set up and nobody wanted to be holding something electrical and be standing in water," she said. "It was really for everybody's safety and the comfort level of our audience, who I think enjoyed being inside the air conditioning at that point."
Payette said the changes were so well received by the audience that festival organizers may consider having the opening night concerts inside from now on.
"It just turned into a very positive, almost party-like atmosphere, because we were indoors, everybody was comfortable, and they were just surrounded by glorious, glorious music," she added. "We'll just have to see what else develops because every day is an adventure, but all of the other main concerts should be where the schedule indicates."
The opening piece, "Festival Fanfare," was conducted by the festival's new low brass mentor, James Decker.
"It was spectacular. That was his first introduction to the music festival and our first introduction to him, and it was the right kind of piece that just gets everybody's attention and you could tell that it was the right tone for the moment and it just got better and better," Payette said.
Payette said the next big festival highlight is the first full orchestra concert by the Festival Symphony Orchestra, accompanied by a chorus, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Oaklawn Magnet School.
Payette describes the concert as "a lineup of spectacular music in a variety of styles," adding, "I think it's a wonderful opportunity for the community to see the array of the exceptional talent in our apprentices, who literally come from around the world."
The Sentinel-Record is publishing a daily schedule of events on the Arts page. Visit http://www.hotmusic.org for a full schedule of festival events.
Local on 06/06/2017