A healthy balance of art and reality

Yesterday, after working a full 9-5 shift on my feet all day, I hurried down to Trinity St. Paul's for the first of our Bach B-Minor Mass concerts. I wasn't as tired as I had been on Tuesday, and I think excitement and adrenalin were starting to kick in.

Sitting in my throne (I'm in the middle of the choir for once -teehee!), I couldn't help but marvel at the excellence of the orchestra, soloists and the choir. There were moments when I closed my eyes and felt like I was in the Beethovensaal in Stuttgart, or crammed like a sardine in the choir loft of the Thomaskirsche in Leipzig. It was an emotionally packed performance for me, and I couldn't help but feel a bittersweet longing for my amazing summer last year.

It is incredible how this music has the power to transport me like this. I don't quite know what I'll do with my summer if I don't go to Germany again this summer, and yet I doubt that anything could top last year.

Phil, do you remember that night in Berlin before the concert at the Philharmonie? We stood outside on that balcony and didn't say much, but said a million things. Oh dammit, I'm crying now.

It's going to be a good week.