Day 337 - A musical evening

I know, it's a very blurry photo, but the others weren't much better. This is what you get with my camera at dusk. At least I recorded Mr 16 playing for the last time in his school's string orchestra. In fact, this is his second last day at his current school before he goes to VCASS next year. This little outdoor concert precedes the annual end-of-year middle years chapel service.

Nothing else to report. I took some photos from this position of the school surrounds, including this tree from far away, a little closer and closer still. One of the ovals is being excavated; I'm not sure what for. All the tractors and such have gone to bed. And so should I.

Day 298 - Open for business

Open Day at school today. No photos.
Moving on...
Mr 16's end of year Melbourne Youth Music concert was a joy. Firstly, we enjoyed the choirs. The human voice is a powerful instrument and even moreso in a choir. We could see the rapport between the singers and conductors. So much passion in the delivery.

Percy Grainger Orchestra farewelled their conductor (going overseas) with a selection of Dvorak Symphony No. 8, Concerto for trumpet by Arutjunian, Wein, Weib und Gesang (wine, women and song) by Johann Strauss II (the conductor, Malcolm Yuen, spent some time in Vienna and always included waltzes), and Sibelius' Finlandia.


Finally, dinner at The Den in Northcote. Very nice.

Day 210 - School Gala

Well, we survived the school Gala performance. Thank goodness it's a biennial event. This year was particularly disappointing. Lots more marketing for the school, and less entertainment. Yes, there were some good moments, but if I hear the words 'leadership', 'mentor' or 'humbling' again, I think I'll scream. The word 'humble' has become misinterpreted and overused. Somehow, sports commentators are humbled when watching a game, and many other people are humbled daily. How can we all be so humble?

At least the drive into the city was enjoyable.

Day 200 - Ripponlea at night

Last night I enjoyed an evening concert at the historic Ripponlea. A beautiful setting for music that transported me to another zone. The program included Bortniansky, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Festival Overture on piano! Borodin's Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor to name some. Rohan Murray on piano (brilliant) and my dear friend, Nicholas Cowall, conducting. Melbourne Cappella very talented

Day 144 - Concert

My son (2) and I attended a friend's last concert as conductor of the Monash University Choral at St George's Uniting Church in St Kilda. The program included Haydn's Trumpet Concerto in E-flat major, Mozart's Great Mass in C Minor, and a couple of sacred works by the Russian composer, Bortnyansky. The conductor, Nicholas Cowall, is a promoter and advocator of Russian and Soviet composers, in particular, Schnittke, Chesnokov and Bortniansky. It's amazing hearing non-Russians sing in Old Slavonic, not an easy thing to do.

Day 87 - Concert at the Opera House

I know this photo is blurry but it's the only one I have, and I wanted to give a sense of the size of this concert hall at the Sydney Opera House. I heard Beethoven, Haydn and Bartok - all good, but the Bartok was brilliant. We passed Earth Hour here.

Day 24 - Summer School concert

Tonight we went to the concert which is the culmination of 5 days of rehearsal attended my younger son, Maxim, at the annual Summer School. Tonight's program for the symphonic orchestra was Sibelius and Tchaikovsky.