This weekend, being the 10th anniversary of the horrifying events in NY, PA and DC, was quite emotional for everyone. I continue to be amazed at the strength of our nation to recover from such a tragedy. I'm always reminded how important creativity and art forms are during times of trouble. Art, poetry and music transcend us to places of expression and reconciliation. I spent a lot of my weekend thinking about creativity and inspiration and how important both are to living a vibrant, passion filled life; how they help heal wounds and comfort broken hearts.
My weekend began with a fabulous concert at The Schermerhorn Symphony Center. First of all, the building itself is a gorgeous testament to vision and creativity. I am inspired as soon as I walk up the steps and into the lobby. I simply love just being there. It was a packed house, with everyone practically giddy to hear cellist great, Yo-Yo Ma.
After a warm welcome from Alan Valentine, Giancarlo Guerrero, our conductor, enters the stage. Now, he doesn't walk out. Oh, no. He bounces out like Rocky Balboa, the audience cheering him on! With a quick acknowledgement of our applause, he turns to face his orchestra and cues a percussionist. Drum roll!! Then, the orchestra begins our National Anthem. We are all on our feet, singing to the top of our lungs. The entire concert hall was singing with the orchestra. It was electrifying! Many of us were teary-eyed as we finished the song, singing "home of the brave!" Wow.
The entire program was music of Antonin Dvorak, a composer who immigrated to America from what is now the Czech Republic in the late 1890s. First on the program, was Symphony No.9 "From the New World." (4th graders study Dvorak and this piece of music.) It's is one of my favorite pieces. I listen to it at least once a week - and have for years. I felt so blessed to see and hear it performed live, in our beautiful symphony hall, while watching Giancarlo conduct. I was so struck by his passion for the music and how he "gave" that passion to the players, how they "gave it back" to him and to us in the audience. Breath-taking.
After intermission, Yo-Yo Ma performed with the orchestra. He not only shared his tremendous musical gifts with us, but also his wonderful spirit. We all felt that we were better people for just having been in his presence.
It was an evening I will never forget. It uniquely set the stage for the 9/11 memorials that would follow on Saturday and Sunday. I'll write more about that later. Stay tuned...