New World Symphony

Jacob and I seized the opportunity to attend an orchestra concert this evening. We haven't been to a concert, especially a concert without kids, in roughly 3 years. Anyway, we left the boys with our trusted friends and monthly childcare swappers the Freestones. (Thank you, Freestones!)

We attended the East Central Illinois Youth Orchestra's concert, and got to see our neighbor, Sungmin on the violin and our acquaintance Alice on cello.  The orchestra played 4 pieces, including a gorgeous oboe concerto. Let me tell you, this girl was good.  Jacob whispered to me, "It is really hard to make an oboe sound that good." and I agree.  We're both erstwhile clarinet players. They also favored us with some of the Lord of the Rings score by Howard Shore, and a personal favorite, Dvorák's New World Symphony.

I had forgotten how much fun it is to see orchestra perform live. It's not just the music, it's the movement.  The orchestra, like a great beast on the stage, moving, quivering, dancing in perfect time with the music -- because its movement creates the music.

The concert hall was lavish as well -- intricate mouldings* and gorgeous wood paneling.  I couldn't decide if the huge, yet somehow delicate pipe organ that was set into the stage was the teeth of the beast or its crown. Probably the crown. I mean, the violin bows, chomping away during the last movement of the New World Symphony were definitely the teeth. Like Jaws.

After the concert we presented Sungmin with an origami rose (courtesy of Jacob's mad paper folding skillz) and Hyuna told us that we were very good neighbors. We are so glad that we went. We had a blast.

*British spelling! As I looked at the moulding, I thought to myself: That's not molding. That's moulding.