I just had a really strong sense of the energy of the audience (we had a nearly full house, and our hall seats 2500) and how much they were enjoying it. That always enhances my performance experience, no matter how tired or hackneyed a piece may seem to me - imagining the piece through the ears of someone who doesn't get to hear it as much as I do. It's a great perspective. And there were problems with the performance last night - it wasn't perfect. But I still managed to really enjoy it.
One of the reasons I enjoyed last night's performance so much was the fact that I finally could play the 3rd horn part. I'm really struggling with my new position as 3rd as some of the pieces I played over and over again as Principal while freelancing turn up here. This piece is one of them. I totally have the Principal part associated with many pieces, since that's what I played for so many years before coming here. So when it comes to playing a new part, one that often is in a completely different key and that has completely different entrances and rhythms, I find myself wanting to fall into the groove that I wore into my memory of so many Principal performances of so many pieces.
It's not that I want to play that part anymore; it's just that I keep thinking that that's what I should be playing while I'm sitting there when I hear that music. It's really hard to do something completely different at first. It's very weird. But I overcame it successfully last night (about time!) and was very happy.
And now for something completely different! Here's a neat sequence of pictures showing the progress of our new flower bulb bed in our front yard. They span from mid-April to the present. (The last picture was taken about a week ago.)
David has been cutting gorgeous arrangements of daffodils and tulips for our vases. We've been enjoying their beauty immensely on our various tables in our kitchen and living room. My favorites, though, are the hyacinths; they have such an enticing scent, and they give the entire room a luscious and fresh smell.
The other cool thing about these pictures is that we can see the "bald spots" of the garden so we know where to plant more bulbs this fall! Hooray!
So here are some really neat pictures of my trip to Cincinnati a few weeks ago! It was pure serendipity that I was visiting during one of my mother's amazing music concerts! This was her 5th grade chorus's debut concert - as in, these kids had never given a concert before in their short lives - but you would have never known it to watch and listen to them!
Here is my mom and the entire 5th grade chorus, warming up in my mom's ultra-festively decorated classroom:
This is the stage in the gym where the performance took place. The theme of the concert was very progressive - EARTH DAY. I was blown away by how many songs my mom found that were directly related to Earth Day - songs about recycling, getting Corporate America to care about its waste disposal, about how one person can really make a difference; African songs about the different earth elements, a really neat Spanish song about Fire, and a few feel-good songs with CD accompaniment for good measure.
She had these kids using the Orff instruments (the many xylophone-type objects which you can see below), rain sticks, percussion instruments, bongos...you name it! She also featured several kids in their own solos and in poetry narration. And my sister, Dana, had come in to teach these kids choreography on top of it all! It was SO neat!
Note the neat mural tapestry in the background:
I told my mom that I hadn't expected to be so completely entertained as an adult who has fairly sophisticated musical tastes, but I was pleasantly surprised - no, blown away is more like it! In fact, one of my favorite songs of the entire night was one that I memorized because the audience got to sing along. It's called "Good Garbage." I loved it particularly because David is an avid composter. When he first moved up here he started a biodegradable rubbish heap in our small garden patch at our old place (before we had our own yard). I got sick of looking at it (and finding it strewn across our driveway by various rodents) so I bought him an Earth Machine. We love it and it really improves the fertility of our gardens.
Anyway...back to the song. David laughed and laughed when I sang him the refrain of the "Good Garbage" song that my mom did with her kids (she had the whole auditorium full of parents and kids singing along!):
Good garbage breaks down as it goes!
That's why it smells bad to your nose!
Bad garbage grows and grows and grows...
Garbage is s'posed to decompose!
And for the closing shots, we have the star of the trip...little Jenna, who isn't so little anymore! She is 2 and a half, and is just the most adorable and fun bundle of energy you could ever hope to meet. But don't ask me...I'm hopelessly biased. ;)
I pushed Jenna on the tree swing my parents have in their backyard. We had lots of fun! (Kids are great exercise, I found!)
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!
That's all for now. I hope you're all enjoying your weekend, and that May is treating you wonderfully!
XOXOXO
Love,
Darcy
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