Idaho

Well, things have been going well up here at the Y. This past Thursday and Friday the Philharmonic went on tour to Idaho. lol. We were originally going to California, but that fell through, so Kory (our conductor) decided to go to his homestate of Idaho. We performed 3 times. Once at a high school for all the kids in the school district involved in music (it was his school district growing up), once at BYU-I, and once at the Civic Center in Idaho Falls. It was really fun, and the concerts were awesome. The best performance was at BYU-I. It was an amazing experience. The tickets were sold out, the audience loved it, it was our best performance, and ya. It was amazing. We played 3 pieces: an overture to Mussorgsky's Opera (sp?), a Tchaikowsky Violin Concerto (our soloist recently graduated from BYU and he was AMAZING), and the Shostakovich 5th Symphony (the same one we played for All State last year). Every time I play the Shostakovich, it is one of the most incredible experiences ever. It was written by Shostakovich in Russia during the oppression of Stalin. The piece is all about Stalin, the terrible things he did, and its effect on the people. It is a very moving piece and it literally changes lives. When it was first premiered, everyone in the audience had lost at least one loved one to Stalin's forces. During the concert, people openly wept, and afterwards the audience clapped for almost an hour (the performance itself was only 45 minutes long). As our orchestra has played it, we have heard the reaction from some people in the audience. Some responses were that it changed their life, it was the most amazing performance they have ever heard, they were truly touched, the had tears running down their face, etc. Everytime we play it, Korey prefaces it telling a little bit of its background. He always tells the audience to try and imagine what it would have been like being in the audience when it was first performed. Well, the last time we played it, right before we started, I tried to think of what it would have been like for the musicians at that first performance. I cried through it. It was amazing.
Well, sorry about the abrupt stop, but I need to leave soon for church. I hope everyone is doing well!