Oklahoma City Philharmonic

This past Friday offered our management team one of those scary moments - ARTIST CANCELLATION! Scary, yes, but also fun and exhililating. The URGENT email came mid-day. And in case you've forgotten - Friday was New Year's Eve-Eve. The urgent news was that Louis Lortie, the pianist scheduled to play with us eight days later, had taken a fall while hiking in Italy. His doctor was allowing no travel for one month while he rehabilitates. Fortunately, his agent had already secured another artist to offer in his place - Andrew von Oeyen. And he would be willing to perform the same concerto - Beethoven's "Emperor". He's been here before and we were, in fact, looking for an opportunity to bring him back.

One always wants to do due diligence, right? But under these circumstances, due diligence would be duly difficult. Maestro Levine was travelling back to OKC from Florida. It was a weekend; a holiday weekend. And the chances of getting hold of other artist managers, much less artists, would be a challenge. Our General Manager, Kris, scoured the internet to find evidence of Mr. von Oeyen's previous experience with the concerto, and she quickly learned that he had played with work to great critical acclaim. Further, it seems that he is especially suited for the core German piano repertoire. Great!

Once we were able to talk with Joel and report that von Oeyen was a perfect candidate (experienced in the rep, available, affordable, willing) and to also talk through the challenges of investigating any other artists given the time of year, we went about securing Mr. von Oeyen.

Next comes releasing the news to the press and to ticket holders. The rule in our business is that you never announce a change until you have the replacement plan confirmed. The website and email blast are the easy parts. The newspaper is the tricky one. The Oklahoman is typically able to run a beautiful cover story on the upcoming concert in the Sunday edition's Life section. The Sunday edition begins hitting news stands on Saturday, meaning that it was already printed by the time we confirmed the change. So the Sunday paper ran with a wonderful interview with Mr. Lortie discussing the Beethoven - no harm done, really. But fortunately, Rick Rogers was able to include a brief announcement in the final edition. Whew!

So the show goes on. And luckily, in this case, with the original program and rehearsal schedule in tact. To our friend, Louis Lortie, we wish a speedy recovery. And we look forward to his third OKC visit as soon as possible. And thanks to Andrew von Oeyen, who will leave Paris late tomorrow night for a quick trip to USA. Just for you. See you at the concert!