The symphony practice session was interesting. The conductor had them play segments of a Seblius symphony over and over asking for more this and less that, as one could expect. I couldn't hear any difference. There was a lot of discussion between the various principals and the conductor, I couldn't make out much of it. There was another assistant conductor sitting right in front of us in the audience (of about 25 people) with the score and offering a few comments, mostly thumbs up. My wife introduced us to him at a break and he said he had spent time in Cincinnati studying and knew Louis Langree quite well, the former maestro there (and my wife's favorite, she' texted him about the experience).
These musicians pick up new music each week and somehow master it in three days or so and then assemble once to practice together, it's quite impressive to me.