Winter performance

Gosh, I hope this happens every year. Our community held a dramatic reading of Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" on Saturday. Local actors and literati (both defined in typically broad, earthy Slocan way) read the various stages. Some of the readings were truly excellent.

The performance was a fund-raiser for a decrepit community hall that is gradually being renovated and is now somewhat functional. The local Suzuki string ensemble was asked to contribute a little music to open the program. We chose to do an arrangement of two movements of "Winter" from Vivaldi's "The Seasons." We arranged it for soloist, 1st, 2nd & 3rd violin sections, and viola sections, not having any celli or bass players amongst us. The two senior violinists, Erin and her also-unschooled friend J., played the solos for the two movements. In the above photo they're coming forward for a bow. Left to right: Erin, her grandmother, D., Sophie, J., W., Noah and myself. Noah and Sophie are naturally mostly hidden behind their music stands, being the most vertically-challenged of the group.

There was a wild and wooly devolution into a few strange harmonies just before the recapitulation of the Allegro movement due to the 3rd violins skipping a few repeated quarter notes, but I was proud at how everyone, especially my own kids, responded and recovered the required togetherness with total professionalism. We finished with a four-part chorale arrangement of "Lo How a Rose E'er Blooming."

I have a video of a rehearsal which, if I can download the right software, I'll be able to capture, edit, compress and post here.

"A Christmas Carol" was very much enjoyed by my kids. Oddly, though they've seen the Alistair Sim movie version several times, I've never read the story aloud to my kids. They all suggested that it would be nice if the community reading was an annual thing. Here's hoping!