I went to the VSO on Saturday night and loved it. The symphony was outside my comfort zone. I received an invite, I accepted and I went. ( ‘veni, vidi, vici’ !) I was nervous that I would not enjoy the performance, that I would be restless or perhaps even doze off. Au contraire mes amis – I loved it.
My New Year’s resolution is to step outside my comfort zone and bring more music variety into my life. I have been living on a steady diet of soft rock and a bit of jazz.
I know that music can be a great stress reliever. It can activate the creative side of your brain. It can motivate you to step away from work, rejuvenate you and bring you back to your work with new energy and creativity. Music whether playing it or listening to appreciate it can help you let go of anxiety and anger. Music is an outlet that can help bring better balance to your whole life. So, I enrolled in singing lessons ( I’ll save that for another blog). And, I have explored other musical outlets like the VSO – so it was perfect timing to get Saturday’s invite .
I went to the symphony curious. I wanted to appreciate as much as I could given my limited knowledge. I googled enough to know that the conductor was young ( early 30s) and the star pianist was in her early 20s. And I was at least familiar with the names of Strauss and Wagner.
I was captured by the beauty and the performance of the orchestra and the intensity of the ‘stars’. The Plasma TVs helped us see up close the physical and emotional intensity of these artists.
I was especially taken by the young conductor, James Gaffigan, who took time prior to the last performance – Strauss’ ‘Dance of the seven veils’ – to talk to the audience. His manner, his explanation and his humour exacerbated the WOW factor of the final performance leaving everyone so satisfied. I can’t wait until my next musical outing.
