It's a small world,

especially in the orchestral music performance space in Southern California. I had no idea just how connected the music performance network was when I was a university student, blindly locking myself in a practice room for dozens of hours a week with the goal of playing full time. When I began breaking out of my practice confinement shell and started playing gigs, that's when the blinders started opening up, quickly connecting me with other musicians in the orchestral playing field. "Hey, are you free two weekends from now? There's a group that needs a bassoonist. It doesn't pay well, but it might get you more gigs." That was par for the course as university students, like myself at the time, began unknowingly networking with fellow performers.

Before I knew it, my blinders fell off completely after taking a bite of the "non union affiliated" gig apple for an opera company. I showed up to that gig only to find many of the same performers I had been seeing around town, all gathered on the stage at the same time because of one contractor. "Oh, shit. I'd better not mess this up. Hey, how are ya? It's nice to meet you in person." For the first time, I shook hands with the contractor who had been hiring me for gigs for several years, only having seen his name in emails I'd been saying "yes" to every time.

When I see orchestral and acoustic performing musicians on stage in SoCal, I always want to know who knows who and how they came to be on that stage at that moment. It's very possible that we have crossed paths at some point during my performing years in the area.

the old carnation Plaza

Disneyland used to have a stage for performing musical ensembles at the Carnation Plaza Gardens. I have fond memories of the bandstand there since I was a child, having performed several times on that stage as part of my elementary school band and orchestra groups. My last performance there was in 1999 with Chula Vista Junior High School's orchestra. If you used to visit Disneyland anytime until the late 2000s, you may be familiar with the iconic red and white striped covering of Carnation Plaza. While looking for old photos of it, I found a blog that helped me remember what it looked like. If you're nostalgic like me, take a look here: https://davelandblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/carnation-plaza-gardens-fond-look-back.html . This blog illustrates how historically significant this bandstand was.

Much to my disappointment, Disneyland replaced this plaza with the Fantasy Faire Village, featuring the Royal Theater that replaced the bandstand in 2013. After this point forward, it seemed that Disneyland no longer allowed non Disney related musical ensembles to perform within the park, relegating them to a stage in Downtown Disney.

A nod to the old Carnation Plaza exists at the Refreshment Corner outdoor seating area, where red and white striped vinyl umbrellas shade the round tables from the sun. A red and white painted "Ragtime Piano" sits on a small elevated stage where a pianist performs throughout the day. I've occasionally been able to catch a pianist performing here, only getting short audio glimpses as I pass by the typically crowded area.

One day, armed with a Nikon D850 and a 1990s Nikkor AF-D 50mm f1.4 lens, I decided to drop by the piano area in hopes of finding a performer there. I ran into this gentleman this particular day, who kindly (and briefly) spoke with me while he played. We had small talk while I pointed my large camera at him and took photos. *Ker-chunk* I hoped that the mirror slap from the D850 didn't bother him too much. This camera is, by today's standards, very loud when taking photos.

I didn't stay too long as to not bother him too much. The tune he was playing was something I didn't recognize, potentially something improvised. The visitors sitting at the tables eating their lunches didn't seem to be listening to the music, busy eating their Refreshment Corner hot dogs and sipping lemonades.

I still wonder how different Disneyland would feel if outside musicians were still allowed to perform at the old bandstand. Perhaps former Disney CEO Michael Eisner was responsible for the former experience. Although the Carnation Plaza is gone, it is nice to see that there is some semblance to its existence, and that a live performer is still an integral part of the area.