Our final day in New York was a blast. The alarms let us sleep in a full extra 15 minutes and we were grateful. Until we realized we still needed to pack. Then we rushed around like mad people, which we kind of are. It comes with the program and that's why we love it.
Breakfast was excellent. There was real bacon. Remember that person who has been needing active culture yogurt? Well, the staff was even more on point today, catching that person as they entered the room and gave them two active culture yogurt, which officially makes them some of the best staff on this trip. We wouldn't have been as well fed without them. So, thanks!
Over the morning we all toured Carnegie Hall. In simple words, it was shiny. In more grown up words, Carnegie Hall is so full of history (and gold). It is beautiful, both visually and auditory. The sound rings like I have never heard before, resonanting even off of the resonants. I don't think even that does the sound justice in terms of quality and beauty. The history is rich. It was built by Carnegie (duh) in the late 1800s as a gathering place for artists, philosophers, politicians ( they don't need any more gather places. They have plenty) and the like. It remained open during the Great Depression but almost was killed the 1970s. But it wasn't and all was well because the city bought Carnegie Hall. And that, in a very compressed nutshell, is the history of Carnegie Hall that I can remember.
Lunch was still a private affair.
We had our rehearsals in the afternoon ( fun fun fun!) And dinner was catered in. Dinner (sandwiches, pasta, fruit, salad, juice, cookies, etc) was wonderful. Popular vote puts in the upper appreciation and enjoyment of all meals of this trip.
Then we got to the most important part of our trip: actually playing our instruments. All the bands did well. From the performer's perspective, the sound bounced off the walls. It was easy to get lost in the music and forget the science part of music and easy to forget to watch. But it was easily the best concert and most enjoyable one we've ever had. From thw audience's viewpoint, it was nice. The bands blended well, and we could hear everything, from the piccolo to the tuba to the random person dropping stuff or coughing or breathing. Most interesting concert I've ever heard, especially from up in the Dress Circle ( 3rd tier). We couldn't be more proud of everyone for all the work they put in and hope they had the time of their lives tonight. Soon we will load the buses and on back to the land across the cornfields, where there are trees and small houses and grass and no New York pizza.
We should implement a New York pizzeria when we return. That'll fix that problem.
