Friday Fermata -It’s been awhile…

Updated to Add:  Good Review in the Philadelphia Inquirier:  http://tinyurl.com/mrapuw

Words that I would use to describe our concert last night range from nerves (that I haven’t felt before a concert since college), to excitement, hard work, pride, and emotion. I’m not sure what it was and had been thinking about it all day. Maybe it was the difficulty of the music, or my commitment to it, or the emotions and appreciation to the music that David Hayes displayed when conducting us (it was my first experience with him on the podium since the Philadelphia Orchestra wasn’t involved). David was proud of our work-we were all in this together and he conducted his heart out as we sang ours out too. I’m not sure what it was when I was riding home and my husband who was driving was surprised by my quiet behavior where I am usually chatty and wired after a concert. .Maybe it had something to do with the fact that during the “Eternity” (my translation) movement of the Martino of the concert, where the author talks about how death will finally end his suffering, I would think of my grandmother who died of Alzheimer’s who happened to be my biggest fan and how I wished she could hear what we were doing and how she should not have been robbed of her beautiful life and how death bites, and how I quickly realized that I couldn’t lose focus like this during the singing of it but how it brought something more to the experience – all within a few measures. And how I allowed myself to feel it just a little. I’m pretty sure it had something to with the difficulty of the music and how I finally experienced (just in time) the transition from academic study to aesthetic experience and I could enjoy what the piece was. Maybe it was all of these things combined with other things going on in my life to create an experience that was moving if not fulfilling. It’s been awhile so I must remember these moments and make sure more days are like that and not void of it.