Well, that was really just remarkably cool. This whole singing at Carnegie Hall thing = COOL! And I'm really not sure if I can do it justice, but I will try my best.
Saturday morning was our dress rehearsal in Carnegie Hall. Our call time was 9 am. I took the subway from Aunt Grace's, and while I'm usually extremely good with getting around in NYC, when I came up from the subway I got all turned around, and couldn't figure out which direction to go. I stopped and actually asked some guys at an outdoor cafe "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" They managed to resist the standard "practice, practice, practice" response, and simply pointed across the street, where it was, albeit covered with scaffolding, the reason I didn't recognize it.
For some reason (possibly because I am a poor listener), I thought that I had been told that the Stage Door entrance was on 47th Street, when in fact it is on 46th Street, which caused me to wander aimlessly around Carnegie Hall for about 15 minutes, searching for the backstage area, until I finally opened a random door and stumbled upon this...
...where I stood for a bit, oogling, until one of the orchestra members tuning up on stage asked me "What are you looking for lady?" and politely showed me how to get backstage.
I found the backstage area at Carnegie Hall to be extremely thought-provoking. I kept touching the wood on the handrail in the stairwell, thinking about what great musicians had passed this very way, and touched this very piece of wood. When we took the stage for our rehearsal, the first thing that my friend Lynn and I noticed was that the wall behind us could use a good dusting - but the second thing I thought of was which great artists had been on that stage before me. There truly is a hallowed vibe about the place.
Here I am with my friend Gwen, after I finally located the Stage Door on the way out...
Oh, by the way, after rehearsal, Gwen and I went to Carnegie Deli and stuffed ourselves silly...
When we returned that night for the performance, I was a bit concerned about the behavior of the high school choirs which were singing with us. They were all completely hyped up and out of control and...well, high school students. But our fearless choral director, Joe, came in and gave us a truly inspired and inspiring talk, in which he reminded us of the profound nature of the fact that we were performing a requiem on Memorial Day weekend, and asked us each to think of someone we've lost, or of the people who have fought and died for our country, to make the performance of a requiem personal and profound. And damn, if it didn't work. Those kids focused like laser beams.
Since I was the third tallest woman in the chorus, I was the third choral member to step on the stage for our performance, and thus I had a very long time to stand there and take in the view. I remember standing there thinking that I should try to soak in as much about this moment as I could, but mostly I was worried that I looked fat and that my hair was too frumpy.
But once we began, all vain thoughts flew out the window and I just sang. And I really think we did well. Everyone on that stage was focused like a laser beam on their music and on Joe's conducting. And he was deeply emotional, I think he actually teared up during the "Lacrimosa", and he thoroughly expressed it through his body - he's a wonderful conductor.
The 45-minute piece felt like it lasted 10 minutes. I achieved goose bumps a few times, and only had one hot flash - during the "Kyrie", which is as good a place as any for a hot flash. It was thrilling, it was. But as with all thrilling and much anticipated events in life, it was over too quickly, and now I feel like I didn't savor it enough, though I'm not sure what I could have done to be more present and more conscious. I feel this way about most huge events in my life - I am so aware of how "important" it is and how much I need to fully experience the event, that I forget to fully experience the event. Sigh...
Tomorrow...24 Hours With the Inlaws.
So awesome! Congratulations and way to go!
Posted by: Alaina | 05/29/2013 at 05:57 AM
What an incredibly awesome experience! I am so happy for you, Gretchen! And by the way, you are definitely not fat or frumpy-haired...you are beautiful; you rock!
Here's my spin for this weeks Best and Worst. http://suzicate.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/everyone-wants-to-be-the-cool-kid/
Posted by: suzicate | 05/29/2013 at 06:39 AM
It sounds utterly wonderful, Gretchen. I only wish that I'd been there.
Posted by: Elizabeth Aquino | 05/29/2013 at 11:05 AM
Oh wow, yeah...that Lacrimosa! Stunning. So proud of you! What an experience...way to go!
Posted by: AimeeWrites | 05/29/2013 at 12:57 PM
What a thrilling experience!! It must have been amazing just to be there!
It was cold and wet in Chicago for Memorial Day weekend, too, and now we've switched to hot and humid.
Posted by: Ginny Marie | 05/30/2013 at 04:49 PM
That is so cool. What an awesome memory to have! Yay!
Posted by: Kendra | 06/06/2013 at 09:31 AM