free bird!

So I've seen a few concerts recently. Well, not really. The girls had "Performance Week" at their studio, and we went with some friends to see Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.

"Performance Week" is a quarterly event at the studio where E takes piano and voice and K just started taking guitar lessons. E's quite the pro, always very at ease about going on stage, introducing herself, giving the shpeel about who composed the music, and performing her pieces ("Chinatown" on the piano and "Animal Crackers in My Soup" for vocals) very well. K was very nervous, but you wouldn't know it. She marched right up there with her guitar, introduced herself and plucked out the cutest little rendition of "Happy Birthday" while singing in this high pitched voice. Won the whole crowd over, I was so proud of her.

They went first so we had to sit through the six or so other performances. I watched Tom's brain switch over to zoned out calculations of batting averages, NBA draft stats, or plans for the new construction as other people's kids had their "moment." So we listened to varying degrees of child talent poking through piano pieces, singing songs like "Colors of the Wind" "I Feel Pretty" and two songs about a failed marriage and a young single mother burying her newborn baby in the ground... you heard me. Seriously.

This girl who looked about 15 or so was going to be singing them in some sort of contest. She sets up the songs explaining what they were about and then sucks all the joy out of the room with these depressing songs. What the hell was she entering, American Idol for songs that make you want to kill yourself? It was very weird. Luckily the girls didn't ask me about it, I think they were pretty zoned out themselves by then.

On Sunday, we saw the children's performance at the CSO. I was so so excited to see Yo Yo Ma perform. I was a little disappointed that he didn't do a solo. I mean how many times do you get to see Yo Yo Ma? I won't complain too much because the show was great. I was surprised that the Silk Road Ensable was a bunch of what looked to be twenty-something guys. It looked more like an Abercrombie and Finch ad than a classical ensemble. They had a very dynamic storyteller spinning tales from various cultures, and then the musicians would play music that was interpretive of the pieces. One more slight complaint, not only were all the musicians men, but every female character was either a demon, snake, or some other evil creature. For a show that was so busy being culturally diverse, something was lost in the equality of the sexes department.

Anyway, my favorite part had to be watching Yo Yo Ma throughout the performance. And it may surprise you when I state that he was more impressive to me when he wasn't playing the cello. While other performers were playing and he wasn't, he sat in rapt attention to what they were doing,never took his eyes off them. He had a giant smile on his face, and you could tell how much he was getting into and appreciating the other performers' pieces- just loving the music. It was so genuine, and for someone of his stature, caliber, whatever you want to call it... it just made a big impression on me.

And so as not to leave out the boy and his musical expression, J also has a new favorite song. My mom tells me he woke up from sleeping so he could come out to the living room and sing the Luna carpet commercial. "773-202 boop boop boop boop Loooooooonaaaaaaah." (or Woooonah as he pronounces it)