Grass Band

We enjoyed nice weather all day yesterday though it is thundering and raining again right now.  Ms. Nicolette, Prema and Maya were occupied with some music events and rehearsals for a couple of hours in the morning.  My day started with a quick trip to the bakery then I assisted with the process of packing.  We should be pulling out for the trip back to Rapid City in just one week.  Since Prema can take extra suitcases at no charge when she flies we filled up three bags with stuff we don't need for the final week.  This will help lighten the load on our drive home and give us a bit more room in the van.  It is always sad to take Prema to the airport, but she should be back in a few days for the final AMFS events.

After Prema departed we walked down to the tent to listen to two beautiful pieces by Brahms and Sibelius.  We intended to try sitting outside since it was such a nice day. That was lucky planning because it looked like the program was sold out.  We could hear the music fairly well but not being able to see the pianist nor the orchestra did diminish the experience a bit.  That said, sitting outside was fantastic in its own way.  Abe and Maya sat quietly at times and were able to get up and move around when moved to do so.  I love to watch people and families enjoying themselves, and there was plenty of that to do.  Here are a few photos of the afternoon.

Here is a shot of the general area to give a sense of the crowd. If you look carefully you can see Abe speaking with Dr. Carl under the trees on the right side of the image.

I had to leave a bit early to go pick up Jamuna at our secret meeting spot in Basalt.  It was nice to see Mary and Freddie even for a brief moment.  We then rushed back to the condo to get a quick bite then Ms. Nicolette, Jamuna, Maya and I went up to the music campus to sit in on a Sylvia Rosenberg master class.  These MCs are great experiences for observers but may not seem so great for the performers.  We only stayed to hear two performances and accompanying comments but they were both fantastic.  First up was our friend Serina and then our friend Stephanie.  Serina played a beautiful piece then received constructive comments by Ms. Rosenberg, guest master David Halen, and the other students.  Then Stephanie (Jeong) played a lovely piece then endured the standard grilling.

A note about Stephanie - I may have mentioned before.  We met Stephanie and her friend Eric (percussion student) the very first day of the music school when we were sitting at the bus stop waiting for a ride up to the registration office.  They were so nice to us that we never forgot them. We have bumped into them several times and seen them on stage too.  Stephanie is assistant concert master of the Aspen Chamber Symphony, a quite impressive accomplishment.  So....one day we saw them by the ice cream shop and we offered to treat them to a scoop but they had just had some.  After they left it occurred to me that I could get a gift card and give it to them the next time we met.  I had been carrying that card with me everywhere for over three weeks and finally was able to sneak it to Eric with a note last night. (I think I may have told this back story previously but I'm too lazy to look back; I apologize for the repetition, if so.)