Saturday night brought us our Symphony Orchestra concert with harmonica virtuoso, Robert Bonfiglio. He not only performed a harmonica concerto; he delighted us with five or six encores. (I lost track after the fourth.) Excuse my ignorance; I had no idea harmonica virtuosos even existednor did I have any clue that concertos were written for this lovely little instrument. (The harmonica is an instrument?!?) The guy was incredible. Ive never seennor heardanything like it. Pleasecheck out www.robertbonfiglio.com to become enlightened yourself. I got home around midnight last night, only to wake up and head back to the auditorium this morning to rehearse with one of our local dance troupes, our full symphony orchestra, narrator, lighting crew, and director for our annual Family Concert, the working committee for which I chaired. We interpreted the award-winning 1963 childrens classic Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak, by setting it to classical music and to classical ballet. Starting with The Creaky Door Overture, a little-known work by Kozinski, to an excerpt from Rimsky-Korsakovs Scheherazade, to Mussorgskys Night on Bald Mountain, the dancers performed to Stravinskys Firebird Suite, one of my personal favorites (with a climax that leaves me choked up each and every time I listen to it.) Actor Keir Dullea, best known for his performance in 2001: A Space Odyssey, narrated the prose as set forth in the book by Mr. Sendak. This is not meant in any way to showcase our local, fully professional symphony orchestra, nor the dance company which performed so brilliantly today. Rather, it is used to illustrate a lesson that hit me like a ton of bricks this weekend. I had learned this lessonalbeit less intenselyyears ago when my daughter performed in ballets with her troupe. But too many years had passed and the lesson had been forgotten. I learned this lesson more palpably today by witnessing it firsthand. I observed the level of commitment requiredand cheerfully givenby many different people of many, varied talentsin order to achieve a highly desired result for a common cause, for the welfare of many. The conductor needed prepared musicians; the musicians needed the conductor. The choreographer needed attentive, energetic dancersand they needed her direction. The set designer needed the choreographers vision, and we all needed his set! The make-up artist needed the dancers who needed the make-up artist. The stage crew needed the lighting contractor, who relied on the stage crew, choreographer, director, and conductor for direction. We all needed concert-goersand they needed this concert. This interdependence, lovingly given and enthusiastically accepted, mingled with emotionally charged music to produce a concert of significant aesthetic fuel. It will doubtless keep my tank filled for weeks. So it is with all relationships. Husband needs wife and wife needs husband. Children need parents and parents need children. And political leaders need the electorate as the electorate needs leadership. This is not an earth-shattering concept. But keep in mind, as you go through these next fifteen days before our Presidential election, of the interdependence of our citizens. Of how your vote will impact your neighbor, your brother, your employer, and your kids. Study the interdependence of the issues, how they fall like dominoes once stacked upon each other. And how we are, each and every one of us, in this life struggle together, like tiny separate dotsjust waiting to be connected. |
