Emperor Concerto

We started class by discussing an article about Thomas Jefferson's decision to purchase Louisiana and compared it to the other articles that we've read. At the time, federalists were calling Thomas Jefferson a hypocrite because the purchase was more of a federalist move while Jefferson believed in strict construction. They complained about how it was a waste of money and used it to make Jefferson look bad, but at the same time, the federalists were being hypocritical. Professor Porwancher revealed that we would be having a debate too! I'm super excited and I don't know a lot about the topic, but I'm interested in finding out more about it. Our names were slowly called to pick a team and side. My partners are Caroline and Reed. I chose Caroline's group because we are in the same dorm so it would be easy to work on our cases after class, and I think we would work well together. Reed picked to be in our group later on, making our groups the only group of three. The topic is about whether or not a child should be recognized as born in Jerusalem or Jerusaem, Israel. Since we're pretending to be a supreme court though, the issue is a lot larger and we expand it into whether the U.S. is recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's and we're potentially overturning President Obama's signing of the Foreign Relations Act. Our debate is going to take place in exactly one week!

After my daily routine of getting lunch and researching for my paper, I went back to my dorm to get ready for dinner and the orchestral concert. Lisa, Mariana, other students and I are going to watch the New York Philharmonic perform tonight. They're supposed to be one of the best orchestras in the world! We all got dressed up and ate dinner before heading to Avery Fisher Hall. 

Our escalator selfie

Avery Fisher Hall

Our group was composed of seven girls and one male RA. The RA is a student at Brown. I'm not sure if he's a music major, but he's had a class about Beethoven and plays the trumpet at Brown. Finally arriving at the concert hall was astounding. So many people came to watch the show. Most of them were older people, and even the person we asked to help us take a picture didn't know how to use the smart phone, but he was still nice about it. When the concert finally started, I was in awe. I'm in band at Pinole Valley, but this was different on so many levels. Besides the fact that this is an orchestra and not a band, it was extremely apparent that this is one of the best orchestras in the world. Their dynamics are perfect and their song choices were beautiful. The New York Philharmonic orchestra played the Triple Concerto and Emperor by Beethoven. We were asking each other which piece was the best, but I honestly liked all of them. 

A gif that I didn't know existed 

The conductor had so much passion. All of his movements were so exaggerated, however, they perfectly matched the crescendos and decrescendos. There was about sixty or seventy members in the orchestra and there was one intermission. As the music became quieter, I could feel myself leaning closer so that I could pay more attention. All of the string instrument players would make movements at the same time and position. I was enveloped in a room full of beautiful music. It sounded way better than any recording or other live orchestra. During and after the concert, I couldn't stop beaming about the performance. They were so good that the first thing I thought about was going back to another concert right afterwards. 

Lastly, we all tried taking pictures, but our pictures became more like silhouettes. We  continued to walk around and even stumbled upon an outdoor concert! People were singing and dancing everywhere. Most of the people dancing were couples, so someone started a conga line. Mariana, Mariana's friend, Lisa, and I joined in and giggled the whole way through. Today has been an unforgettable day. The orchestra made we want to try even harder in band. I really enjoyed myself and I was glad to be so immersed in the music. 

Excuse my demon eyes!

The outdoor concert