Has anyone met any of the musicians at a concert or recital

[vandermolen]

Do dead ones count? I met J.S. Bach in Leipzig at Thomaskirche in 2011. Left a flower on his grave.

On that basis I have 'met' Sibelius (2013) and Holst in Chichester Cathedral as well as VW and all the others buried in Westminster Abbey.

[ritter]

On that basis I have 'met' Sibelius (2013) and Holst in Chichester Cathedral as well as VW and all the others buried in Westminster Abbey.

And I've "met" Wagner three times, Bach in Leipzig, Stravinsky (along with Diaghilev) in Venice, Bruckner in St. Florian, and Falla in Cádiz. Hope to say hello to Liszt this summer (after stopping by Wagner's once again)....

[Kontrapunctus]

Daniil Trifonov, Denis Matsuev, Valery Gergiev, Yevgeny Sudbin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Birgit Nilsson, Alexei Sultanov, Bella Davidovich, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Barbara Nissman, Melos String Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Juilliard Qt, Lazar Berman, Emil Gilels, Nikolay Khozyainov, Anton Kuerti, Alexander Peskanov, Gidon Kremer, Joshua Bell, Julian Bream, Christopher Parkening, David Russell, John Williams, and dozens of others. Some were after concerts, others were when I recorded them for broadcast on my local NPR station.

[Mirror Image]

Daniil Trifonov, Denis Matsuev, Valery Gergiev, Yevgeny Sudbin, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Yo Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Birgit Nilsson, Alexei Sultanov, Bella Davidovich, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Barbara Nissman, Melos String Quartet, Kronos Quartet, Juilliard Qt, Lazar Berman, Emil Gilels, Nikolay Khozyainov, Anton Kuerti, Alexander Peshkanov, Gidon Kremer, Joshua Bell, Julian Bream, Christopher Parkening, David Russell, John Williams, and dozens of others. Some were after concerts, others were when I recorded them for broadcast on my local NPR station.

Wow!

[Omicron9]

In the mid '90s, I met Elliott Carter.  It was a concert of his music in Boston at Jordan Hall.  I was on an aisle seat, and before the concert I happened to glance across the aisle, and on the seat directly across the aisle from me was Mr. Carter.  I am a huge fan of his (especially his string quartets), so I walked across to his seat and said "Mr. Carter?"  To which he looked up at me and said "Yes?"  I said "Thank you for the string quartets."  He looked off to the side for a moment, then looked back at me and said "You're welcome!"  I asked him to sign my program, which he kindly did.  I still have it. 

-09

[ritter]

In the mid '90s, I met Elliott Carter.  It was a concert of his music in Boston at Jordan Hall.  I was on an aisle seat, and before the concert I happened to glance across the aisle, and on the seat directly across the aisle from me was Mr. Carter.  I am a huge fan of his (especially his string quartets), so I walked across to his seat and said "Mr. Carter?"  To which he looked up at me and said "Yes?"  I said "Thank you for the string quartets."  He looked off to the side for a moment, then looked back at me and said "You're welcome!"  I asked him to sign my program, which he kindly did.  I still have it. 

-09

Great stuff, -09! I'd have loved to meet this wonderful composer... The Spanish National Orchestra offered several concerts in the early 2000s a series called "Carta Blanca", in which Carter was given carte blanche regarding the programming, but he was too frail to come to Madrid. Still, it was a treat to hear Symphonia: sum fluxae pretium spei in concert (even without the composer in attendance).

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

Seeing that a score video of Chris Dench's Piano Sonata made me remember that I actually met him a couple of times and chatted with him a bit about his work (and Bruckner) a couple of years ago as he was putting the finishing touches on the piece. He gave me a copy of the recording once it received its premiere. I also ended up meeting the pianist, Peter de Jager, by coincidence at a performance of Wagner's Ring that November.

If anyone does have time to listen to this piano sonata of epic proportion, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/v/uvy2rf8hspU

On Monday I am meeting another composer who has recently had a few performances in Canada of an opera he wrote. Since he has been writing a bit for guitar recently I might see if I can get a little composition from him for solo guitar that I can play........ and also that evening I am excited to have a piece of mine played at the Melbourne Recital Centre by some good friends of mine.

[king ubu]

Jazz musicians quite often ... but there's no queuing up and signing of stuff involved there, sometimes just a quick thank you and a handshake, sometimes there is the possibility to hang out, have a beer after the concert or in a break and have a long chat. Not sure this is of much interest here, so I'll spare you the details (included are people like John Tchicai, Peter Brötzmann, Alexander Hawkins, Matana Roberts ...)

Never felt like waiting at the CD signing desk after classical concerts ... and wouldn't be bold (obnoxious?) enough to wait at stage entrances or similar (well, I did, a couple of times, at jazz events ... but then I needed to so for some publication/semi-official stuff).

[Judith]

Jazz musicians quite often ... but there's no queuing up and signing of stuff involved there, sometimes just a quick thank you and a handshake, sometimes there is the possibility to hang out, have a beer after the concert or in a break and have a long chat. Not sure this is of much interest here, so I'll spare you the details (included are people like John Tchicai, Peter Brötzmann, Alexander Hawkins, Matana Roberts ...)

Never felt like waiting at the CD signing desk after classical concerts ... and wouldn't be bold (obnoxious?) enough to wait at stage entrances or similar (well, I did, a couple of times, at jazz events ... but then I needed to so for some publication/semi-official stuff).

First time I met Steven Isserlis,( met him twice) sort of invited myself in a room. He was fine about it. Autographed my Elgar CD. He introduced me to David Waterman from Endellion Quartet as he was in audience too.  Came out of the room though not believing that I had done that!!

[king ubu]

First time I met Steven Isserlis,( met him twice) sort of invited myself in a room. He was fine about it. Autographed my Elgar CD. He introduced me to David Waterman from Endellion Quartet as he was in audience too.  Came out of the room though not believing that I had done that!!

Nice! Saw him play once only, but that was quite good and he did seem like a very down-to-earth person (he popped a string midway through the Prokofiev concerto and had to address it ... while changing strings on stage and then continuing to play a few bars before the point he had dropped out with a loud and high-pitched "sorry!").

I guess the point is noticing when it's okay to do that and when it's not. There's of course always the American way, too (musicians telling you "thank you so much, I appreciate it very much" with a big smile and ushering you out of the way almost while telling you ...)

[Judith]

Nice! Saw him play once only, but that was quite good and he did seem like a very down-to-earth person (he popped a string midway through the Prokofiev concerto and had to address it ... while changing strings on stage and then continuing to play a few bars before the point he had dropped out with a loud and high-pitched "sorry!").

I guess the point is noticing when it's okay to do that and when it's not. There's of course always the American way, too (musicians telling you "thank you so much, I appreciate it very much" with a big smile and ushering you out of the way almost while telling you ...)

Proves he's only human and things do happen!