So The Orchestra performed last saturday to a larger-than-expected audience in our ever-so-humble school gym. Admittedly not the best acoustic space, but at the downbeat, it didn’t seem to matter…
First, let me say straight up, this was The Orchestra’s best performance to date; the songs were relatively in tune, we were all relatively in time, and we (OK, maybe not me) all looked great.
That said, it was over all too quickly; I actually found myself wondering if we had forgotten to perform a piece because we had never played the entire lineup without stopping before, and the abruptness with which it was all over was somewhat off-putting. When it was over, the sense of exhaustion was astonishing – the 10 months of preparation bringing all their weight to bear upon my shoulders.
Tired as I was, it seems I got what I prayed for: that the members of The Orchestra would walk away with a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction (One violinist sent me a text message about an hour after the performance, telling me she already missed the orchestra), and that the audience would encounter something special (More than one audience member spoke to me of getting goosebumps during the performance). I am thankful.
At the same time, only hours after the performance, I was already thinking about next year’s concert: what to play, where to play, etc. One piece already has its foot in the door: Edward Elgar’s Nimrod from Enigma Variations (oh, come on – don’t tell me you didn’t see that coming!).
The weariness still hasn’t quite worn-off, but neither has the euphoria – and the great sense of expectation as to what The Orchestra can really do…
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