Principal Trombone Joseph Alessi heads to Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the 10-day Alessi Seminar, hosted by the University of New Mexico, with some 60 to 70 trombone players attending. Then to Ontario for some real vacation time . . . Associate Principal Horn Jerome Ashby will spend three weeks performing and teaching at the Aspen Music Festival and School . . . Concertmaster Glenn Dicterow will take a weeklong trip to Maine with his family for some tennis, golf, and R&R . . . Principal Percussion Christopher S. Lamb will be painting his house "inside and out" . . . Violist Vivek Kamath returns for the second year to the Sun Valley Summer Symphony to play in the orchestra and to perform a chamber concert with frequent Philharmonic guest, mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer. Also performing there will be Associate Principal Trombone James Markey.
Clarinetist Pascual Martinez Forteza travels to Valencia, Spain, for the Benifaio Summer Festival, bringing with him several Philharmonic musicians: flute and piccolo Mindy Kaufman, oboist Robert Botti, Associate Principal Bassoon Kim Laskowski, and Principal Horn Philip Myers . . . Violinist Kerry McDermott plays in chamber music festivals in Bridgehampton, Cape Cod, and Portland, Oregon, with her husband, former New York Philharmonic Principal Viola Paul Neubauer, and will spend "lots of time" with her children, ages three and five . . . Associate Principal Cellist Hai-Ye Ni will visit her family in San Francisco before participating in the 70th birthday celebration concert of her former teacher, Irene Sharp, at the California Summer Music Festival in Pebble Beach . . . Associate Principal Clarinet Mark Nuccio goes to his home state of Colorado for chamber music at the Strings in the Mountains Music Festival before heading to the Finger Lakes for camping and biking with his family . . .
Acting Principal Timpani Joseph Pereira travels to Tuscany for "wine, food, and fun" . . . Principal Viola Cynthia Phelps performs at Music at Menlo and La Jolla Summerfest in California, and at the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival on Long Island . . . Principal Trumpet Philip Smith heads to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with violist Peter Kenote, for a mental-health fund-raiser, and then to the Caribbean for a cruise with his wife, Sheila, to celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary. Will his trumpet go on board? "I've yet to go on a vacation without it!" he says . . . English Horn Thomas Stacy will lead his weeklong 27th Annual Stacy Seminar in Carmel, California, a master class and a recital, with a world premiere written for him by Raphael Fusco . . . Principal Associate Concertmaster Sheryl Staples will play at the Martha's Vineyard Chamber Music Society in August, in addition to spending quality time with her family‹at a location not yet determined at press time.
Lucy Kraus is a Publications Editor at the New York Philharmonic.
