Siente la música

Friday, 30 Octubre, 2009
Music is one of those things that can always get you through life and carry a person through their lifetime. No matter where you go, who you’re with, what you’re doing, music is one of those things that is always around. I always feel so privileged to be a musician in that I am able to experience music as a performer, not only a listener.
Tonight we went to the Ecuadorian National Symphony and heard them perform the Elgar cello concerto with a soloist from France as well as Holst’s “The Planets” symphony. Both are awesome pieces of music and it felt so good to hear live classical music again.
As I was sitting in the concert hall, engulfed in sound I realized how much I miss playing in the orchestra. I never thought I’d miss the KCCO [Kalamazoo College-Community Orchestra] and Andrew Koehler (a conductor with whom I have a very mixed relationship), but here I was sitting in Quito missing it. I realized that I missed sitting in the middle of all that sound, with the winds and brass behind me, the violins to one side, cellos and violas to another, and hearing all the cacophony rise up into the ceiling and mix into beautiful music.
Even though I am in Quito, Ecuador, worlds away from my homes, I was still able to feel at home in the casa de música watching and listening to the melodies and harmonies all floating around my ears and thrusting into my heart.
The Elgar concerto, being one of the best for cellos, was amazing. It was exactly everything I love about the cello, with strength and power resonating from the chords and strings as the soloist pulled his bow across the strings. His fingers ran up and down the fingerboard, and I was so jealous, wanting nothing more than to do the same on my own cello. There were delicate parts and amazing difficult parts and it made me miss my cello so much! Afterwards he did an encore with Bach’s Sarabande in G Major, one of my favorite pieces to both listen to but mostly to play. To hear those familiar chords ringing through the hall and listen to the notes vibrate in my chest, oh man… It really got to me. I thought Lolo was going to cry, we were all so happy to hear it.
I didn’t think I’d miss music this much, but oh man I do. Hearing such great music and allowing myself to just be engulfed by it all, it was amazing. I can’t wait to get back in the spring and play again.
I remember something I said in an interview for Matty’s documentary about music last spring: I realize that yes, I am an ecologist and environmentalist and activist and all of those things, but no matter how many months I go without it, and no matter how much I focus on other interests, I never forget that I am a musician and that it makes up significant part of who I am and how I define myself. It felt so good to go back to that part of me tonight and remember how much I love music and what a big part of my life it is. I got to geek out with other cellists and music dorks and we absolutely loved it, each of us pining for our instruments and for that connection we have. Tonight it didn’t matter who you were, you were just there to enjoy the music and hear the beauty. Sure, there were some differences (i.e. everyone took home a rose from the lobby decorations and they gave us free chocolates as we were leaving; super awesome for a $5 concert) but in the end, music is one of those eternal things that crosses all boundaries and no matter who you are, you can always appreciate it and play it. Both the French soloist playing with the Quito symphony and the Hawaii girl from Kalamazoo can connect over the same pieces.
Sitting in the darkness of the auditorium, eyes closed, feeling the music run over me, I was at a state of complete happiness, feeling at home within chords and harmonies.