Post-Concert Glow

I've now checked "sing the Brahms Requiem in German with an excellent large choral ensemble" on my bucket list, and will have to come up with some new goals!

The high school theater was 90% full on a sunny Sunday afternoon, the audience was warmly appreciative, and all of us on stage were warm as well, between the theater lights and the effort each singer and musician put forth. It was a challenging, fulfilling experience for me, well worth the time I invested in learning both the alto and tenor parts, and made all the richer being able to connect with a friend I hadn't seen a while.

When I was about 12, living in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, and playing my flute in the junior high school band, I met Tom, the fellow in the striped shirt here, who was a fine saxophone player. We both wore glasses then, as we still do at age 70, and were "bookish" -- and still are. We've been friends over all those decades, although we haven't seen each other very often, as his family moved to another town a few years after we met and we lost touch for quite a while. 

Rob, his older brother (yellow shirt), was the principal trombonist in the orchestra for the Whatcom Chorale's concert today. Rob and I both worked at the same major medical center in Seattle for a while, and have stayed in touch over the years as well. He and his wife live in Bellingham, and there's a story to tell about that here someday too, perhaps.

Tom  and his wife live in Germany, and as luck would have it, his work brought him to California earlier this week, so before returning home, he spent a few days visiting his brother's family, and also their sister and her family, who live in the Seattle area. Phil and I were delighted that Tom, Rob, and Cindi, Rob's wife, were able to have supper with us after the Brahms concert. We all wished that Annette, Tom's wife, whom we met when they visited just about a year ago, could have been here too.

Making music together is a bond that transcends time. May it always be so.

(Many thanks to Phil for this photograph.)

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