When It All Comes Together For the Orchestra

Over the past few weeks, Lily was practicing her viola for her orchestra concert. One of her pieces was the theme from Dvorak’s New World Symphony, one of my favorites. What she was practicing, however, sounded nothing like the symphony I know. She is a beginning string player, so you can imagine what she sounds like. She’s still learning to tune her instrument and use her bow. As you can imagine, there are a lot squeaks when she plays.

When all 20 of the fourth grade orchestra students gathered together on their big night, however, the piece from the symphony came together as all the violins, violas, cellos and basses played. It wasn’t perfect, but to all of us parents, it sounded beautiful!

It was a week for listening to the orchestra. For Christmas, Ed bought me tickets to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, with Riccardo Muti conducting. For some reason, I’ve always wanted to see him conduct. I had never been to the Symphony Center before, so it was a great gift! Way back in December, though, February 28th seemed far away. Before I knew it, it was the middle of February and I needed to find a babysitter!

CSO

My friend’s wonderful teenaged daughter was up for the job. Ed made reservations at a restaurant we’ve always wanted to try. The traffic at the tollbooth on the Kennedy eased up when it was supposed to.  We found parking easily in the Grant Park parking garage under Michigan Avenue, and there was a section just for the Symphony Center! There was even a parking attendant helping people pay for their parking, and she was NICE! Going downtown had never been so easy!

Ed had bought us seats on the main level. Symphony Center was smaller than I had imaged and we were fairly close to the orchestra. No cameras were allowed, so I behaved and didn’t take any pictures to show you. The most hilarious thing happened between movements. These sophisticated people going to the Symphony coughed and coughed. It was thought they were so afraid to make noise when the orchestra was playing that they held it all in until the quiet moments between the movement. (You know, the time when you are not supposed to clap but wait for the orchestra to begin the next movement.) If I were a germophobe, I would have been violently twitching in my seat. Ed and I just looked at each other and (silently) laughed.

The highlight of the concert was Tchaikovsky’s Symphony no. 6, which was gorgeously played. It was worth a standing ovation, which we as an audience gave.

I have been stuck in the Grant Park parking garage for hours before (after Taste of Chicago and the fireworks) but this time, there were parking attendants helping direct cars out of the garage. Of course we got stuck behind someone who had not prepaid their parking ticket as they were supposed to, but the same nice parking attendant who had helped us before the concert helped this guy out. It was snowing gently as we left downtown Chicago.

We pulled into the driveway at exactly 11:00, the time we told the babysitter we would be home. Our evening out came together perfectly!

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When has it all come together for you?

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Songs You’ll Be Humming All Day {Tuesday Ten}

For the month of June, I’m co-hosting Tuesday Ten with Lisa and Rabia! What a great way to kick off summer blogging! This week, the topic is 10 songs that are stuck in your head right now.

The Golden Spoons

10. Lily and Emmy have their own playlist on my MP3 player, and the song that sticks in my head after we listen to their playlist is “Be Our Guest” from Beauty and the Beast. “Be our guest, be our guest, put our service to the test…”

BeOurGuest

9. One of the blogs I read faithfully is Tamara (like) Camera, and Tamara loves “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities. When I hear it on the radio, I automatically think of Tamara, and then the little instrumental part gets stuck in my head! Da, dah, da-da-da-da dah…

8. I really enjoyed listening to a different “Safe and Sound,” though, when the movie The Hunger Games came out. I love Taylor Swift’s “Safe and Sound.” It’s so haunting; perfect for the movie soundtrack. It also features The Civil Wars, one of my favorite duos.

7. Speaking of The Civil Wars, I love singing along to Barton Hallow. “Miles and miles in my bare feet, Still can’t lay me down to sleep, If I die before I wake, I know the Lord, my soul won’t take….”

6. Part of the reason I love The Civil Wars so much is because of the harmonies. Another group I love singing along to is The Wailin’ Jennys. I just bought one of the their CDs and have been listening in the car as I run errands. Hallelujah!

5. How about a little country? Sara Evans has always been one of my favorite country singers! “She left the suds in the bucket and the clothes on the line…Yee-hoo!”

4. Country music has a reputation for being full of melancholy. The Band Perry certainly has that covered with their song, “If I die young, bury me in satin; Lay me down on a bed of roses; Sink me in the river at dawn; send me away with a love song.”

3. I can’t write about music without including my own “theme song” for the year; Counting Stars by OneRepublic. “Lately, I’ve been, I’ve been losing sleep, dreaming about the things that we could be….”

2. And then there’s the song from Frozen. No, not “Let it Go,” or even “Love Is an Open Door.” It’s the opening song that doesn’t seem to have any words. However, the original setting is centered around a well-known hymn which I used to sing with my mom and sisters when we were visiting the nursing home with my dad. He held short prayers services for the residents who could make it to the common area, and my mom would play the piano. After the service, we would visit residents who were unable to come, and sang for them at their bedside. Do you recognize this hymn?

1. There’s nothing more infectious than laughter, and there’s nothing more infectious than the song “Happy” by Pharrell Williams. Lily and Emmy danced to this song for their dance recital, so we listen to it often! Clap along!

What song gets stuck in your head? Visit Lisa and Rabia, the hosts of Tuesday Ten, for more songs! You can also link up your Tuesday Ten post here, and every Tuesday in June!


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