Today we got the privilege to hear (and sing with) the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Bramwell Tovey. The Orpheum Theatre itself was breathtaking with the ornate gold trim, chandeliers, and "bathrooms covered in marble". Here we are posing for a brief class shot.
As you can see Jonah and Silas took time for some "chillaxing" in all the grandeur. Don't they look right at home!
Inside the Theatre, it was even more beautiful!! Once we found our seats, there was an infinite amount of things to see and food for the imagination.
Here we have our relaxed gentlemen again. This was directly before they broke into an ear wrenching rendition of "Oh, Canada" full of enthusiasm and patriotic verve......not a hockey game, fellas!
Yes, we waited long enough to get a bevy of pictures, but when the concert started, all was quiet, and we listened to the amazing compositions of Beethoven, Mozart, Gershwin, and even a segment from the Opera "Carmen". It was hard to pick a favorite, but among the ones I heard talked about were "The William Tell Overture" and Beethoven's 5th.
In addition to the beautiful sounds, talented musicians, and riveting conductor, another great thing about the music today was that the students recognized almost every piece. There were lots of over the shoulder smiles to Miss Leonard and whispers of "We know this!" or "The Five Browns play this!" It made me very proud of them!
After the 1 hour concert, which we all decided was not that long at all, we hustled out of the theatre to beat the hordes of "bus students". Unfortunately, we didn't get to look at the wall of composers on the way out--this discovered by the bathroom frequenting crowd just before the concert began. It would have been a great place to explore, but not with a full house of 500 other students!!
On the way home, we stopped at McDonald's for a quick lunch....generally these lunches consisted of a lot of ice cream and french fries....delightful treats before they hit the playland area. "Yes, Miss Leonard! We are allowed in here! It says 3 to 12! We are 12!"
And so they played.....
I think a good time was had by one and all. It was a wonderful day away from our normal learning environment with some wonderful music and new experiences. After all....how many kids can say they sang with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra!!
Thanks to our volunteer drivers and Miss D for their help. You all were great!!
--Miss Leonard
