Day 55 To all my Concord band geek friends...

Wednesday evening we were treated to a concert at the Beijing National Centre for the Performing Arts, affectionately called "The Egg."  BNDS Symphonic orchestra (consisting of students in grades 7-12) and another International School from across town, had been rehearsing for this event.  The Egg is an interesting structure, that looks a bit out of place next to Tiananmen Square and across from the Great Hall of the People.

It's made of titanium and glass, and sits in the middle of the lake, giving the illusion of floating.  It kind of reminds me of The Bean in Chicago- only different :)

No matter where you enter The Egg, you go under a lake.  As you walk through the hall and foyer, you see the water passing overhead.  Because it was night time, my photos inside didn't turn out.  But, it was very cool, like being under a river.

The Egg is a huge venue, with three halls.  It has an auditorium, a theater, and the concert hall where the symphony performed.  The concert hall has the largest pipe organ in Asia, with 94 stops and over 6,500 pipes.  I would have loved to hear that.  You cannot take pictures inside the halls themselves, otherwise you get your phone or camera 'laser tagged' by the ushers.  If they tag you a second time, your device is confiscated until after the show.

Of course I had to snap a picture of the orchestra- then I immediately got tagged, lol.  One of my psychology students was the first harp player on the left.  Like many of these kids, she has been playing her instrument since she was three years old.  Though half of these kids were still in junior high, they played Brahms like they were pros.  I was smiling, and literally on the edge of my seat all evening long.

My inner band geek was in heaven :)

For the next two hours, I was transported 13,000 miles away, back to Concord High School.  Joe Beickman was at the podium, and I was on stage of the Performing Arts Center with my best friends, making music that I deeply loved.  I was flooded with high school band memories all during the concert; seeing Shelly in the strings, Mark on his bari-sax, Kim and Ursula on flute, Connie and Jenny on clarinet, Jill on French Horn, Cindy and Kristin, Gordon and Gibby (who has since left us to play trumpet in the heavens) in the trumpet section with me, Scott and Tim were in percussion, and so many, many others whose faces I could see on the faces of these Chinese kids playing on stage.  It was so real in my mind...

I marched the Macy's parade with my trumpet one more time, I turned seventeen again in the King Kamehameha parade in Hawaii, I played trumpet in the symphony band, the herald trumpet in marching band, and guitar in the jazz band.  I sang and danced and performed on stage in my mind's eye, flooded with rich memories...

Though my teenage years were a difficult time in my life, my saving grace was discovering music. My best high school memories were in the music wing, and on the stage of the Performing Arts Center.  Tonight, for a couple of hours, I was watching the conductor intently, counting out my measures of rest with the trumpet section, and sweltering under the stage lights in my black gown, nearly identical to what the girls wore this evening.

It was glorious, y'all....and to all my high school friends, the majority who were far more talented than I ever was, thank you for including me into the fold.  I didn't feel like a geek back then; I felt a part of something extraordinary.  I experienced a tremendous sense of pride and accomplishment in our achievements with the band and choral programs.  I would not have felt that kind of success anywhere else by my merit alone.  For that, I sincerely thank you.

And thank you, Richard Dick, Gerald Bordner, Perry McCarty, and especially Joe Beickman, for the many life lessons you taught me- particularly good discipline and a love and appreciation for music. All music.  Music has served me well all of my adult life.

G-nite, y'all!