World of Talent

Last night, after having walked all of Rome on foot to find a pair of Birkenstocks (Which I did finally buy a pair, very comfortable. Those babies are NOT cheap...) I went to a church very close to where I am staying, Basilica Maria sopra Minerva, where St. Catherine of Siena's remains are (Very good!) to see a Great Britain's National Children's Orchestra concert. (It's actually kind of funny the way it happened because I had been wanting to go see a performance, and while I had been in the church earlier in the day, I saw a sign that advertised this children's orchestra free of charge. So I was like, 'Hey! That's awesome!' and went of course. )Now, I don't ever expect things of that nature to be that great, considering can never really be too sure how good things will be anymore, especially in the music world, especially with programs, ESPECIALLY when they are free. Boy did I eat my words...

I went into the church, which was pretty much full, and waited for the concert to start. It started late (In other words, it started in Italian time...) and began with a few speaches given by the director, etc. etc. When it began, I was literally BLOWN away. Those kids were so good, I couldn't even believe it. And it wasn't as if they were playing easy repertoire, either. So out of curiousity, I looked in the program to see what this program was all about. Guess how old these children were? Just guess...7-14 years old. 7-14 YEARS OLD! That did it for me. Kudos to those children who played last night, who should have been paid, ESP the soloists. Incredible talent. I felt so good afterwards that I had gelato for dinner, just because :)

And thus I continue to learn: Rule 45 (I figure I must be nearing 45 by now)- Don't make pre-judgements. Sometimes you will be SO surprised. Rule 46- Do NOT wave your arms frantically like a crazy person from the audience, in a church, to your child because a. ...they know you are there. A simple wave is sufficient if you would like to second that notion. b...it's totally embaressing.

Very positive night for me which was much, much needed. More than anything because that music was full of such JOY, and joy is such an addicting feeling when it is real and it is pure, which was definitely evident last night.

God is good.