Reporter’s Notebook: Classics abound at ‘Music Mixology’
The music commenced with “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
And when members of the Pacific Symphony came upon the head-banging, guitar-grinding passage in the iconic Queen song, they stood and turned up their volume. Applause ensued.
Thus began “Music Mixology,” an entertaining elixir of alcohol, trivia and music performed Thursday night at the Boathouse Collective, the popular Westside Costa Mesa bar and restaurant.
The tunes were live. Like a human jukebox, six members of the Pacific Symphony — playing an oboe, a flute, a cello, a viola and two violins — responded to requests from a “menu” of 25 songs, from Bach to Adele. The songs even had drink pairings.
The trivia was varied. Think Vivaldi all the way to Michael Jackson and beyond.
I showed up ready to tackle the classical. My two companions — one of whom is a bona fide 1980s music encyclopedia — handled the other eras. We were confident our three minds would be competitive.
“You’re about to see when your local symphony orchestra meets your local pub trivia night,” the flutist, Benjamin Smolen, said at the outset.
The format had participants answering a few trivia questions on a sheet of paper for grading by a symphony staff member. Finalists approached the stage for an elimination round. The winner, in addition to getting a prize, got to pick the tiny orchestra’s musical selection.
“You pick what we play,” was the event’s motto. It had about 10 rounds, with some 60 questions.
Judging by my unofficial survey, I suspect most of the guests at the Boathouse Collective that evening were surprised to see (and hear) the musicians there. They were just at the venue for a night out, perhaps surmising that the classy chamber group in the corner was a regular fixture of sorts.
Not exactly.
Thursday’s rendition was only the second for Music Mixology. The first was held in April at Santa Ana’s 4th Street Market. Symphony organizers felt the debut was a smashing success, so, with help from the James Irvine Foundation, they decided to do it again in Costa Mesa.
The Boathouse was packed — so much so that, despite making reservations, I waited more than 30 minutes to be seated.
It also was noisy, not necessarily due to the noisemaking of talented musicians. When the Mixology games started around 8 p.m., the house seemed intent to continue talking, eating and drinking as normal, without much concern for the music. It stayed that way most of the evening.
Perils of playing a bar, I guess. But I digress.
My team fared quite well. We got to several elimination rounds, and on one of them, my 1980s-era music expert friend scored some symphony tickets. The only regrettable thing was he also was forced to dance in front of the crowd to get them. The reason escaped me.
Me? My 12 years of classical training paid off, though I started the evening with a stumble. I miscalculated the origins of “Ranz de Vaches,” a traditional cattle herdsman’s tune notably used in Rossini’s “William Tell” opera.
I think a lot of others got that wrong too.
Otherwise, I was handy for a host of other facts: how many movements are traditionally in a symphony (four), which instrument tunes the orchestra (oboe), what the head violin and orchestra leader is called (concertmaster), a composer who wrote a famous wedding march (Wagner), which Shaker song was used by Copland in his “Appalachian Spring” ballet (“Simple Gifts”) and which piece sparked a protest at its premiere (“Rite of Spring”).
Duh!
For the sake of keeping classical music alive — because everyone seems to assume it’s in peril — I hope Music Mixology inspired those who don’t attend concerts to do so.
During a conversation I had with a patron, he mentioned that he really enjoyed a concert he attended but he’s not a regular. It was one of those hey-that-was-great-we-should-do-that-again-sometime kind of things.
That’s easily solved. Call the Pacific Symphony. The box office number is (714) 755-5799.
---
BRADLEY ZINT is a classically trained musician and a reporter for the Daily Pilot.
