orchestra concert

chanda and i and korrina were up early. chanda and i went to her repertory class, and orchestra rehearsal; korrina went to the theatre for her group piece tech.

chanda and i ate our sandwiches, afterwards, and had tea and coffee at venieros . .

and tre colori cookies . .

greg joined me at st mark's church for the orchestra concert. (morgana went to the theatre for rehearsal).

third street has three student orchestras (con spirito, sinfonia, philharmonia), and they all play at the end of year concert. chanda's teacher also sang rule britannia . . which was fun to hear!

a saturday that was too busy . .

why was it too busy? because we left chanda's violin at the ballet audition and we didn't realize it until we were on our way home after the duncan dance rehearsal at 7:30 pm!!!! actually, we're not even sure if it's at the gelsey kirkland school. they were closed when i called, and they won't reopen until 8 am monday morning. it's just too painful to think that we may have left it on the subway platform. we were just so starry eyed after meeting miss kirkland! chanda said the class she taught was "amazing!" in the photo above she has her violin strapped onto her back . . we're on our way to soho after group lessons at third street.

at the third street con spirito rehearsal. i like where i'm sitting here. it's a much better vantage point.



i think i need to sit here more regularly.

in the locker room at GKACB. the violin is outside this room, in a corner by a chair with all our bags. (exactly a week ago i left chanda's shoes in a bag on a chair in the church after the string stravaganza. i'm really battin' a thousand.)

we got on the train at canal street and took the Q to 57th street and 7th avenue . .

for the isadora duncan dance class and rehearsal. sam is on the left. he ended the class for lori, the teacher. the girls love when he leads class or rehearsal.

all the little girls from the dance class that came after sat down on the floor to watch the end of rehearsal.

they were adorable in their black tights and yellow leotards . . they looked like little bumblebees.

string stravaganza, orchestra concert and mark o'connor!

chanda had a string stravaganza today with her music school. it was a special concert in that the students presented violinist and fiddler mark o'connor's new music program, which has just been published. above, the cellists are rehearsing.

our friend zoe is the cellist i'm trying to film, just to the right of the little girl in the red and white striped dress. (morgana plays this on the guitar . . in my life . . it's one of my favorite songs.)

during the concert i was rather amused with the parents' and their cell phone cameras . . and me with my camera. i'm sure i looked much the same!

i could have taken ten more pictures like this, but i restrained myself.

chanda is in the white shirt and red headband, just to the left of little maya in her red sweater with a white headband.

this is a traditional piece they're playing, called el rancho grande.

fiddler mark o'connor . .



who is amazing!! you can view jim watkins' full piece that aired on channel 11 here.

chanda and i had two hours before she needed to be at the school for her orchestra concert. we ate our fried egg sandwiches, that greg had made for us before we left in the morning, upstairs on the third floor. then we walked a block to veniero's italian cafe.

chanda had a lobster tail (she always has a lobster tail) and i had a miniature cannoli.

(mom, will you please stop taking pictures . . )

preparing for the concert . .

the stands are so tall, you can hardly see the performers . . or the performers are so short . . .

i tend to sit in the back . . chanda is the short one in the center of the photo, with the red headband.

this piece is called noble dance, and was composed by sean o'loughlin.

saturday orchestra rehearsal

chanda and i were up early today to walk to third street music school for her repertory class and orchestra rehearsal.

i always enjoy sitting and knitting and listening to steve expound about his experiences as a teacher and violinist. he insists the children work hard, but with a gentle manner and a good sense of humor.

before i filmed this little quip, he had them do a "battle of the orchestras." he was trying to get the majority of them to play with more energy. the five "loudest" and most energetic students branched off and played on one side of the room. then, the others tried to match them, and surpass them. it wasn't easy! those five were quite strong!

getting ready to leave . . we move quickly since the next orchestra enters the auditorium to rehearse.

at home, before running up the block to her acting class, chanda worked in her fractions book.

saturday morning: hanging out with con spirito

since i sat outside at the fair booth last week, this is the first saturday i enjoyed sitting in the auditorium and listening to the con spirito orchestra rehearsal. chanda worked all week on the two songs they're doing. it was good she did, as her teacher often calls upon a student to demonstrate a note, a scale, or a measure.

con spirito concert

c had her con spirito orchestra concert today. two other third street orchestras played also, sinfonia and philharmonia. a young student, camellia hartman, soloed, and she was very inspiring to hear! con spirito did very well and c had a wonderful time.

con spirito

i really love my saturday mornings. i walk with c to third street music school (11th street between 2nd and 3rd avenues) and sit and knit while listening to her practice with third street's con spirito orchestra. steve rochen, their conductor, always keeps them happy and on their toes. he's very funny, a wonderful storyteller and never fails to make the waiting parents smile into their books or coffees or newspapers . . or their knitting.