And let a hundred voices join together
The day is over, and I have been well entertained. Today was “the day”, when son #3 and a host of other musicians gathered on the stage of the new Salle Raoul-Jobin, in the renovated Palais Montcalm theatre in Quebec City. A concert hall that still has the “new car” smell. And, from my point of view, excellent acoustics. I was there, and the concert was memorable.
Enough praise for the location; on to the show. Pardon if my report seems a little biased, but blood is thicker than water. My three sons have all been part of an excellent school music program, and the combination of band, strings and chorale is rare in this region. I’m the only fiddler in the family (so far) but the young rebel was on stage with his euphonium and with his vocal cords (inherited from me, if I may be so modest). Hey, modesty is highly over-rated.
The choirs were good, if you like that sort of thing, but the string ensemble and the young symphony were great. And then we moved on to the heart of the evening’s performances. The young band did quite well, with decent tuning and dynamic range. I won’t share my sound samples just yet, because I have some compression to do with the audio (recorded on my new MP3 gadget thingy).
The senior band did justice to one of the Holst Suites for Military Band. This is one piece that I “know intimately” from years of practice and performance, so I was filled with musical bliss. Then a large group of band alumni took over. Sons #1 and #2 were not available for the big show, but I can only imagine the level of emotion running through the assembled performers. Very satisfying.
All in all, a great baptism for the “new hall on the block”. I hope we’re back there next year.
