A second to reflect

Many thanks to all of you who attended our "Inside the Classics" concerts last week. I didn't really have a chance to reflect on those performances until tonight (in a hotel room in Fargo, ND, no less!), but wanted a chance to express my thanks to all.

Peter was a wonderful soloist to work with; for those of you who attended, when we rehearsed the "blindfolded conductor" bit, I told him to be ridiculous and unmusical and try to throw me off. Of course he just can't play unmusically, which made blindfolded conducting much easier than it should have been! And Sam, as always is the best cohost (and cohort) one could ask for. The orchestra, at this point, doesn't even blink an eye when we put a list of 18 excerpts in front of them, which speaks to their willingness to think outside of the usual symphonic box and go along with us on this grand experiment.

It was thrilling to see our houses fuller on both nights (particularly Thursday) than they were in November, and to see the number of people who stayed for the post-concert Q and A sessions. We hope we are creating something unique in this new series and appreciate both your feedback and support.

We just had a meeting this morning about our last "ItC" concert, featuring "Appalachian Spring" and are making initial plans for next season - look forward to seeing everyone at the next show!