in Concert

Three months after the Schermerhorn Symphony Center opened in 2006 we enjoyed Handel's Messiah. I knew little about the score but I was determined to hear music in this amazing concert hall. I really enjoy classical music and the new hall didn't disappoint - it was beautiful.

Ever since Roland was born I've been reviewing the concert schedule searching for an appropriate show to introduce the kids to symphony music in a real concert hall, and not just through CDs or NPR. By some dumb luck one of my subscriber-only-discount-emails was featuring a great deal on tickets to see the Saturday matinee of Disney in Concert. Perfect! Click and done.

So after a sweet three-year-old-princess birthday party for a friend, an unplanned trip to Target and a quick stop for lunch, we hastily hoofed the handful of blocks from my building to the Schermerhorn, which was engulfed with people. Actually, all of downtown was, which just made it all that more exciting. (80 degrees in November does that to a town, as well as a marathon and auto show.)

Trust me, turn this block and a sea of people await on Broadway. Aria got a ride both to and from the hall!

The hall was beautiful.

We lucked out with a perfectly positioned table, and of course, I brought snacks.

And the performance was wonderful. With four amazing vocalist and a projection screen displaying silent montages from the movies, the music was enchanting. Aria clapped, danced and sang. She lasted almost the entire 2 hours, before falling asleep in my arms just two scores short of the end. Roland thoroughly enjoyed it.

When I was just a bit older than Roland my parents took us, dressed in our finest coordinating Land's End, to hear the National Symphonic Orchestra at the Kennedy Center to see our first symphony. The memories and impressions of that experience have always helped me appreciate classical music. I hope simple excursions like this and future ones can do the same for Roland and Aria.