Doubled Air

Saturday, March 29, at three o’clock, I took my 7 year old cousin to a performance at the Birmingham Civic Center that she was required to attend as a school assignment. I was not really looking forward to it, but didn’t really know what I was getting into. We walked into the huge auditorium and were seated ten rows away for the orchestra pit directly in the center. The stage was decorated with bright fabrics, and the orchestra was warming up. I could tell that there were many different instruments that were used to create the wonderful music. The flute, piccolo, piano, and soprano singer, helped to create the mood of the pieces. All of the different instruments and the singers were all very different sounding and we found it very fascinating that these strange noises could make such beautiful music.
There were many different sections of this concert, but the second was my favorite. As it fell upon a Day by Aaron Copland seemed to stay in my mind through out the entire concert. In this piece there was a flute, clarinet and soprano singer. The voice was very high and was amazing. It was unbelievable to hear the pitches that were sung. This kept my attention through the entire piece and I found it very enjoyable.
All of the songs were very different and my cousin even enjoyed them. It is amazing to me that even though she is so young she still can enjoy that type of music and at times think some of it is boring, but it is opening her eyes to a different type of music. Most people her age are listening to what people my age are the typical hip music that is on TV and radio 24/7. She was very impressed with all the different songs and thought it was so funny when some of the instruments would make strange noises on purpose. For someone of her age to enjoy a show like this it is very impressive. I was actually shocked that at there age teachers were asking them to write reports on performances of this level.
Being able to attend this concert keeps me open to listening to more of this type of music. I have never really enjoyed these pieces but when I would hear them live and see how intense the musicians are, all I could think about was how much they appreciate what they are able to do. I highly enjoyed this experience and am so happy that I was able to take my cousin to something that would let me experience this with her. I didn’t think that I was going to enjoy it at first but once we got in the auditorium and saw all the musicians and singers warming up and preparing for us to see, I became very interested. I think my favorite part was when the soprano singer hit the really high notes and could hold them for minutes at a time. I am so happy to have had this experience and am glad that it opened my eyes to this style of music.