Sometimes (unfortunately, not always) I fall in love with music that I play in band and orchestra. Music that is beautiful. Music that makes your soul feel different. Music that you can feel in your whole body. It is strange to play one piece of music every day. to love playing every note, to savor every chord. it is so good.
Then, performing it is such a fantastic experience. I don't know why. Being in a hall. To be in a room with a ton of people who all are feeling the same things at the same time because of the music.

There is this one song. It is called "O Magnum Mysterium", and it is about the birth of Jesus. We played it in the fall and performed it. Then we got to play it again at the Palmer Hose on Thursday. I felt so sad thinking about possibly never playing that piece again.

It made me think about how often I will get to play my flute with a band or orchestra again. What if I decided to play music as a career? What if I auditioned for major orchestras all over the world? What if I could play music everyday with other people who love it? haha. I have never seriously given that thought. hmmm.

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So now that I mentioned playing at the Palmer House, I feel like talking about it more. Feel free not to listen.

Frankly, the band I play in is very talented. We were invited to play at the Midwest Band Conference. This means nothing to most of you. It is an honor to be invited. Many great composers would be there as well as musicians and music instructors from all over the world.

I spent the day with friends listening to other amazing bands play, meeting composers of music that I have played, but after all that, the only thing I wanted to do was make music. We ate some lunch together, and then we went to the room we were supposed to perform in.

It was heavenly. It was a huge ballroom, with ornate decorations and beautiful lights and chandeliers , and it seated 2500 people. yikes! So we warmed up for an hour, then people started to come. I think a little over 1000 of the seats were filled. It was a clinic called "The Art of Expressive Conducting: Conducting from the Inside Out". It was stunning. While playing, I would look up at the faces of people listening and watching. Their expressions mirrored how I was feeling. People came up to us afterward and asked if we could just play it all again... and I truly wanted to.

It was one of those memories where I will remember just being truly happy.