I arrive for my appointment with my favorite oboe repair person, Heidi Chisholm. She greets me warmly, we sit down at her cluttered workplace and my oboe is rapidly is disassembled by expert and experienced hands; her intelligent eyes sparkle as she fills me in on the latest news from the oboe world.
As Heidi works on my instrument, I look around her shop crowded with tools, supplies and a music stand with orchestral excerpts.
We chat about politics or our families; on this particular day, Heidi mentioned that she often works on the instruments of talented young oboists that face an extremely uncertain job market and a lack performance opportunities when they finish music school. So here’s the plug: Minnesota State College offers a nine month band instrument repair program with 97% of graduates finding work in their field! She also mentioned that Oberlin Conservatory of Music offers a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Piano Technology; a two-year program of study designed in association with Steinway & Sons. Food for thought; we do currently have a big shortage of skilled technicians.
At this point, my blog entry may become a bit nerdy, unless you are an oboist, but stay with me! I asked Heidi about using swabs to clean out the bore of oboes; knowing that I was baiting her. Her eyes started to flash and she said, ” Never pull a swab through all the way an oboe. ” “Let me show you this!” She pulled out an old oboe that had been cut in half and lined it up with a ruler. “See”, “look how narrow the bore is”! I remember at one point that Heidi displayed ruined instruments with stuck swabs on her wall.
I thoroughly enjoy my visits with Heidi. Not only is my instrument expertly repaired; it often feels like my instrument plays like velvet when I get home. I value our conversations peppered with her sharp wit and observations about all subjects. And then, I confess that I look forward to a culinary treat in nearby White Plains. A few years ago, I discovered an excellent Chinese restaurant, Aberdeen Seafood and Dim Sum, tucked away in the lobby of a Marriott hotel in the middle of downtown White Plains. They serve a wonderful assortment of dim sum, translated as “touch the heart”. This visit I made an order to go that included a delicious combination of shrimp and snow pea dumplings, pan fried chive dumplings and delicate vegetable dumplings covered in a casing of rice dough flavored with spinach.
Placed on a towel on the seat next to me, I had a wonderful picnic on the ride home! I look forward to my next visit to Heidi’s. I do have to stop by this weekend to pick up an English Horn that she repaired for Hofstra University- with perhaps another side trip to Aberdeen Seafood and Dim Sum!
AND: Here is the “Tree of the Week”
HAPPY SPRING!!
A Musician's Travels 