a recital uptown

i took the bus uptown today to a homeschooling family's recital for violin and voice. it was a beautiful concert with anika sounding like an angel singing and nikolas playing the violin with incredible warmth and feeling. it felt wonderful to be there and especially wonderful seeing such good friends again (how special to be together for a concert in person).

 

there was a delicious selection of indonesian foods for the reception. i tried everything, but don't know the name of what i ate . . i'll have to find out and post later.

sacha and charlotte were there for the concert also . . charlotte just found out she was accepted into peridance's core youth dance program, so i'm excited about attending future dance performances . . !

another food delicacy i have to check the name of . . a special green drink! (it was very sweet.)

i walked home along ninth avenue and met greg in chelsea for dinner as he was very hungry (it was 8:00 by this time). greg had enchiladas but i just ordered a side of grilled butternut squash and brussel sprouts which we share.

it was very grey and windy and felt like it would rain, but we made it home without a downpour.

violin recital

it was a steamy day, though not as hot as over the weekend.

this is a picture of ina who has been studying with jose for eight years. she's eighteen now and is graduating high school. she performed bach's double violin concerto with him.

chanda performed romanian folk dances by bela bartok.

this is the sixth and last movement.

it was an early recital and it was nice to be walking home with the sun still up.

but first . . a stop at amorino's for gelato . . here greg is happy to have his coffee.

lemon and chocolate sorbetto.

it was nice to have deychen come and watch . . and to have gelato afterwards with us. it's a yearly tradition.

violin recital (or "practice makes perfect")

chanda had her end of year violin recital this evening.

she played variations on corelli's la foglia. she loves this piece and has diligently practiced it for months now.

the practicing paid off because even though she made a mistake at the beginning, you couldn't tell and she played the rest of it with good technique and much feeling (i decided to watch and listen rather than film . . some people set up stands for the camera . . but i've never bothered!). she was even able to work on relaxing her knees as she played (she's been too stiff lately in her violin stance . . probably from so much ballet), and she received a few bravos from other parents when she finished. i think we all felt a bit proud of her, just like at morgana's recital. i'm happy to see them do so well. we have had recitals/music hours when there were tears afterwards, so it's nice to see how they've improved over the years, and how their latest hard work and practicing has helped them. also, they both played last on their recital nights: an indication of their age and the number of years they've been at the school and of the quality of their playing. the rush of time passing, of the years that have gone by, feels a bit overwhelming to me.

at the reception afterwards . . 

it was nice to see all of jose's students together, and to see parents we haven't spoken with in awhile. it's fun to catch up and see how everyone has grown.

it poured during the concert . . here everyone is waiting for it to stop so they could go home.

chanda with her violin teacher and his family. as i was taking the picture, jose remarked how he's been teaching her for ten years. chanda was surprised and didn't agree, but jose was emphatic. he just had his ten year anniversary at the school and she was his first student, he said. i didn't realize she was so young when she started . . but i guess she was!

jose's little girl, clara, played also.

it's fun watching her play each year . . it seems like just yesterday that she was born . .

walking home in the rain . . 

but stopping first at amorino's for ice cream.

flowers, xena, and a violin recital

a friend gave chanda and morgana lilies over the weekend. each day a new one opens.

i think marlene gave them baby roses.

the sunflowers are from francesca and isabella.

morgana helped me take xena to fifth avenue vets on 15th street. they take their pets upstate to hartsdale cemetory/crematory, rather than out to long island, and are able to charge $75 less than the other places i spoke with. before leaving, morgana worked on her cards for her ballet teachers. she used water colors and created flowers and leaves on heavy cream paper. i wish i had thought to take a pic, but i've been a little distracted. i've had a mix of allergy problems and a bad sinus infection. and then i've been so sad at losing xena. i miss her terribly. it's so odd to feed only two cats in the morning . . it's so odd not to constantly be mixing up a little salmon or steak or canned cat food in a bowl for her.

it started raining as i sat outside of the chocolate bar, waiting for morgana to purchase chocolates for her teachers. then we walked to fifth avenue vets, where the receptionist thought xena was still alive! she kept saying that the emergency doctor would come out to talk with me. and i asked, "but why does the doctor need to speak with me?" then she answered, "oh, they like to talk with you first." finally, i said . . my cat is already gone! she was apologetic, but morgana and i were in stitches, laughing. it was just very funny. she was new on the job, poor dear. she was very embarrassed. "i'm so sorry," she kept saying. "it's okay," we said!

after saying good-bye to dearest xena, i went downtown to pick up chanda from her dance intensive. then we went to her violin recital. she was in florida during her teacher's recital time, so she played at her chamber teacher's recital. she played cavatina again, and i thought it sounded very beautiful.

she played with a lot of feeling and confidence.

on the way home we passed these beautiful roses on the stairwell of liv tyler's home. she has such a lovely garden.

a solo concert and a chamber concert

yes!!! it's may 11th and time for deychen's solo concert!!! it was supposed to be for an hour, from noon to 1 pm, which i would have not minded since deychen plays so beautifully. however, chanda had a ballet rehearsal at 1 pm, and then a chamber concert at 3:30 pm. so, i was glad deychen's concert turned out to be only thirty minutes!!

i cannot tell you how she swept us all away . . she plays with such passion that you don't want her to stop. and of course she chooses the most intense and exciting songs! (she is sixteen, afterall, a time in one's life when one's skin is very fragile and life is very big).

deychen played:

j. s. bach, suite no. 1 in g major 

prelude (which morgana plays on the guitar, she was very excited about this)

allemande

courante

hindesmith, sonata for viola and piano, op. 25 no.4

bruch, romanze in f major, op. 85

 

good friends . .

and on to chanda's chamber concert . . i have a movie of this!! i'll have to upload it.

getting ready to say good-bye to daddy who couldn't wait to get to his cheap taco place on 13th street for a bite to eat before joining his friend to watch a knicks game in williamsburg!

west 10th street has houses with beautiful gardens.

i think . .  a japanese maple in spring.

i don't know!! please tell me if you do . . 

boxwood . . i've come to love boxwood . . so simple, sturdy and reliable.

more peonies! an entire forest of them!

adam comes to town

my nephew came into town today. he's visiting his friend who lives in williamsburg.

we waited for him at the 20th street high line entrance. i wanted to see him coming up the street . .

eh, voila!

we had a picnic . . blood oranges, salami sandwiches on sour dough bread (i actually baked a loaf two days ago), and hard boiled eggs. afterwards, we went down to ronnybrook dairy in chelsea market and got ice cream cones. several of us got the ginger ice cream (so good) along with chocolate or vanilla or coffee.

it was really fun to see him and enjoy a beautiful spring day together.

i just sent a picture to the 'high line gardener" asking what this plant is.

adam walked east with us to third street after seeing our courtyard garden. then we parted ways and he went to meet his friend and chanda went to her recital (first morgana had a guitar lesson, and we had soup at veselka). korrina helped build a set at HB and then went uptown to a MCC rehearsal where she's helping out backstage. we came home to three very hungry cats (and a sleepy bulldog).