lizzywednesday
05-31-2011, 11:41 AM
... but totally aside from the wonderful scenery (courtesy of all the servicepeople on leave during Fleet Week) in NYC this weekend to-and-from final rehearsals for my Carnegie Hall debut (!) that this weekend was great.
And I can now say that I performed at Carnegie Hall!
My (high school) alumni chorus sang the Brahms Requiem last night as part of a 200-ish voice choir that included a group from Auckland, NZ, accompanied by the New England Symphonic Ensemble and two very fine soloists and conducted by John Rutter, one of our favorite choral composers. We did very well and Mr. Rutter seemed to be very pleased with our performance as well.
It was very exciting to be on stage at Carnegie, but even more exciting to make music with my alumni chorus again. We owe a great debt to our former director, who died suddenly two years ago, for our ability to not only sing such a challenging piece of music but to also do it well. Most of us are not professional musicians and even more of us haven't done anything like this since high school, so it's especially wonderful to have this experience.
Of course, I couldn't have done it without the support of my family - my DH who came into the City early because I was running late all day and needed to be at Carnegie 4 hours before the performance start time; my in-laws who stepped in at the last minute to baby-sit DD (who was suffering from heat rash at my dad's); my Dad, who was my backup childcare for rehearsals; my brother Joe who offered to watch the baby without hesitation because he knows how much I miss singing with these folks and my sister, who ended up covering a lot more childcare than she thought due to schedule conflicts and assorted glitches.
Wow. That read like an awards speech.
And I'll go back to work now. Really.
And I can now say that I performed at Carnegie Hall!
My (high school) alumni chorus sang the Brahms Requiem last night as part of a 200-ish voice choir that included a group from Auckland, NZ, accompanied by the New England Symphonic Ensemble and two very fine soloists and conducted by John Rutter, one of our favorite choral composers. We did very well and Mr. Rutter seemed to be very pleased with our performance as well.
It was very exciting to be on stage at Carnegie, but even more exciting to make music with my alumni chorus again. We owe a great debt to our former director, who died suddenly two years ago, for our ability to not only sing such a challenging piece of music but to also do it well. Most of us are not professional musicians and even more of us haven't done anything like this since high school, so it's especially wonderful to have this experience.
Of course, I couldn't have done it without the support of my family - my DH who came into the City early because I was running late all day and needed to be at Carnegie 4 hours before the performance start time; my in-laws who stepped in at the last minute to baby-sit DD (who was suffering from heat rash at my dad's); my Dad, who was my backup childcare for rehearsals; my brother Joe who offered to watch the baby without hesitation because he knows how much I miss singing with these folks and my sister, who ended up covering a lot more childcare than she thought due to schedule conflicts and assorted glitches.
Wow. That read like an awards speech.
And I'll go back to work now. Really.