Someone in the Audience

My stage view at sound check

I had a concert this afternoon.  The orchestra I play with is called Festival City Symphony, and we perform in the beautiful Pabst concert hall.  The weather wasn't great so attendance was a bit lower than usual.

But my husband and son were there.

It can't be overstated how nice it is to have people you know in the audience when you are onstage.  I'm just a section viola player, but when there is someone specific to play for it almost feels like getting to play a solo.  I become self-conscious in a good way.  I'm proud of what I get to do, and I love knowing I'm sharing that with someone who matters to me.



Some concerts I'm more excited about than others.  Sometimes I'm not as attached to the music and it's just a job, and in those cases I usually give my family permission to miss the show if they don't feel like going.  My husband rarely misses a performance, however.  He knows how much it means to me to have him there, up in the balcony so I can spot him before the lights go down.  When he's there it makes a difference.  It makes it more than a job.  It's music like music should be.

Today I didn't know if I would have anyone in the audience.  When the weather is bad it's hard to want to leave a cozy home.  My girls both opted to stay behind when my husband said he was heading out to hear my orchestra play.  But my son went along.

My sweet, seven-year-old boy with the hole in his smile where he recently lost one of his two front teeth, sat through a Rossini overture and a concerto for four horns, then came down to hug me at the front of the stage during intermission.  I could see him up in the balcony as the lights went down before we began Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony.  As I played I wondered how he was hearing it.  It's a complex piece, but certainly exciting in parts, and I hoped he was enjoying it.

I asked on the drive home which piece he liked best, and Quinn said he didn't know.  He liked them all.  He was glad he went.  But not half as glad as I was to have him there.  Because there's nothing so wonderful has having my own someone in the audience.

Pabst chandelier