On Thursday, May 9, we had a day off school for Ascension Day. Marit and I decided to take advantage of the extra time to have a rehearsal day. You see, we had a concert the following day, and we were feeling like an extra day of rehearsal would be extremely helpful.
Marit’s quartet practiced first thing in the morning. It was a good chance to work out a few issues and get used to the sound in the auditorium. They then performed at the nursing home behind Hieber’s. They made a few mistakes they had never made before, but held it together quite well. They got their jitters out through that performance, and the old folks thoroughly enjoyed hearing Beethoven and Dvořák.
After a lunch consisting of pizza, veggies, and Marit’s homemade cookies, it was time for orchestra to rehearse. We dove into Tchaikovsky, working out a few final technical issues and delving into the images and stories portrayed by each movement of the String Serenade. Then we went over to the nursing home next door and performed. I heard a few residents making comments like, “These are master classical musicians!” and “Top quality!” At the end of the performance, I invited the residents to our concert the following evening.
A couple people videotaped our performance on that Friday, May 10 – the Chamber Music Concert. I don’t have those videos yet, but once I do I’ll post them here on my blog!
