It was also fun to be reunited with friends I haven’t seen in a few months and to find out what happened to them over the summer. Everyone’s kids are getting older. The very young ones sometimes catch on to the fact that playing music, as their Mom or Dad does, is fun. They learn a few timeless themes, like Ode to Joy, from TV commercials. Since I don’t have kids and I don’t watch TV, I wouldn’t have known this. Then there are the life cycle events that people and their families go through. Someone’s son started college. Someone else is expecting a baby. Someone got a promotion. Someone else retired from his career in IT and is planning a second career as a ski instructor.
We have some new repertoire, some new members, some new gigs, even a new server. Fall is a time of renewal for us in many ways.
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I always enjoy orchestra rehearsals, but the second one this month was really special. I've been running like crazy recently, and so have several of the people I talked to at rehearsal. Rehearsal is more than a sanity break. It refreshes the spirit. I especially liked the talk our conductor gave us about Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, which we are playing. He said that Mozart’s music often has a child-like quality, a reassuring feeling that things are as they ought to be. This is true in spite of all the atrocities and hatred that were going on in Mozart’s time, just as they are now. Mozart’s music brings us to a place deep within us where there is calmness, release, and strength. To me, music is like a religion. The word "child-like" brought me a revelation and an understanding about myself. I had a defining experience when I was about 10 or 12 years old. My mother had bought me a clock radio with green stamps, and I liked to listen to classical music before going to sleep. One night I heard Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, and I knew right then that playing the violin was going to be a way of life for me. I regretted, and still regret, that I can not sing, but I knew that my violin would be my voice.
Many blessings to Mozart and all musicians.