Concertgoing - an open letter to Mom.

Dear Mom -   You would be be so proud of the choir if you saw them now.  I mean, I know that you were probably there watching anyways, but I really want you to know how amazing they were last night.  First of all, the concert was at Pease.  The acoustics there are great - MUCH better than Emmanuel!  But, that aside, the choir gave a fantastic performance.  The soloists were beautiful, there was one woman that I didn't recognize who had a solo...she started out very quiet and shy, but she had the sweetest tone to her voice when she really came in singing.  So pretty. They did all the favorite christmas songs, a few new ones that I hadn't heard before...but overall, it was wonderful.   I brought Little Joe with me, you know how I want him to be exposed to music as much as possible.  He thought that the auditorium was really cool - but mostly because we sat way up in the balcony.  The view was great up there.    After intermission, the band came out and performed...they only did 3 pieces, but...WOW!  The first piece was an amazing organ piece that shook the entire auditorium.  Little Joe thought that it was too loud.  They finished with the Russian Christmas piece by Reed.  I remember when I played this - the horn was is AWESOME!!  The band sounded great - the brass section really played well...such a big sounding piece...but they didn't overdo it at all.  (Little Joe still covered his ears though...I think he is sensitive to loud music).    But the best of all, was the finale...with both the choir and the band performing Handel's Messiah 'Hallelujah Chorus'.  Holy. Crow.  Of course, everyone stood...(as we had learned that on March 23, 1743, The Messiah was performed for the 1st time in London, England. Present was the King of England. The king was so moved by the singing of the "Hallelujah Chorus," he spontaneously stood to his feet and remained standing until the end of Handel's masterpiece. (And when the king stands up, EVERYBODY stands up.) Ever since that day, it has been customary for the audience to stand whenever the "Hallelujah Chorus" is sung.)   Anyways - so, everyone is standing, the choir is singing their hearts out, the band was playing, the organ pulled out all the stops...and....   Wow.   Tears.   Little Joe turned around at one point and said to me "Mom - are you crying AGAIN?" Hee!  He knows me too well.    I hope that you had a chance to listen to the concert - I'm sure that you would be so proud of the choir - they have done a fantastic job.  I didn't get a chance to talk to many of the members - it was late, so we didn't go to the afterglow at Tower Inn - maybe next concert.    Love you, jen