A successful concert!

We have had our Concert Choir Concerts, last night and this afternoon, and I think the general feeling is that they were successful. Saturday we had a pretty good snow storm which started at about 5pm. A decision had to be made by 3pm whether to cancel the concert (based on forecasts), and the decision was made to go with it. The snow definitely reduced the size of the audience, but it wasn't bad considering - maybe 100 people or so - and we performed reasonably well - Jonathan, our director, said he got very appreciative comments afterward. I would give the Saturday performance a grade of C+ myself.  The ride home after the concert in the snowstorm was WILD but we made it ok. The Subaru made it up the unplowed driveway just fine. Zach plowed us out at about 1:30a.m. this morning! He probably plowed all night.

Today's concert was better - more like a B+. John, Cynthia and Katie were there from our family, and they concurred. The Ojeillo Dreamweaver was the better of the two, and much enjoyed. The Pärt, Adam's Lament had beautiful and powerful moments in it. Both Ellen and I felt better about it, and Sunday's audience was probably over 200 people. So all-in-all, pretty good. After the c0ncert, J&C joined us for supper (Katie had to get home) at the SuperFresh Cafe which is just a few doors down from the Latchis Theater (the concert venue).  It is the one place where John can order anything off the menu - it is vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy free, soy-free - you name it - and it is also delicious. We started with a bowl of fried potatoes to share - unlike your usual fries for sure -  and they were go-ood. We lingered over the meal and had a good visit. Ellen and I did not go to church today - it was just too much. So we had a restful morning - which I needed especially because I didn't sleep well during the night. But I felt good for the concert. I actually was able  to sing pretty well for both concerts. So - a good weekend!

Setting up the Latchis Theater stage for the dress rehearsal - note our new back panels which did a good job of projecting sound forward.

A zoom-in on our director, Jonathan Harvey, caught in a reflective moment. We like him very much.

Saturday, at noon, we had lunch with Clif and Eliza Bergh and their family (Sarah and the two girls, Phoebe and Maggie) - Ellen brought the lunch (fritos with chile on top) and I got a chance to see a TarHeels basketball game against Pittsburg. It was sort of a pathetic game. They lost by about 14 points- behind at the half by 20, they got it down to 10 in the second half and then slipped again. The Heels are having one of their worst years in a long time. That is partly because about 6 players are out with injuries, including their star freshman, Cole Anthony. It's possible they will not be invited to the "big dance" in March. That has happened only once or twice in their entire history as a team. We'll see!

Thursday night, we had a Hallowell rehearsal - a particularly nice one, singing a lot of songs we don't usually sing. And Tuesday we went to Burdick's Restaurant in Walpole with Katie and Savanna. We were celebrating getting a gift card from Paul. That was great. I had steamed mussels, which is a real treat for me.

Burdick's Restaurant

Wednesday, Ellen went to Northampton to do things with Tamar, and I stayed home. As usual, Ellen prepared food for me to eat for lunch, and it was so good I took a picture of my plate.

Casserole (pasta, cheese, mushrooms, etc.),  beet salad and brussell sprouts

Tomorrow we have our second Osher lecture on art analysis and an MLK Day service in which we are singing in a community choir organized by Peter Amidon (who missed our BCC concerts because he was sick. Hope he is ok!).