On a lovely late summer Saturday evening in September, we did something I've been wanting to do for awhile since moving to Iowa: Brucemorchestra! What is that, you ask? It's an outdoor concert that Orchestra Iowa gives every year as their season-opener on the sweeping grounds of Brucemore Mansion in Cedar Rapids. It was such fun!
When you get there you stake out your spot on the lawn and set up your picnic blanket and chairs and eat your own picnic dinner before the concert begins. We brought rotisserie chicken salad, rolls, and chocolate-chip cookies. Yum!
Our view looking towards the stage.
And this was the view looking behind us towards the mansion.
We toured it last December when my mom was visiting. It's beautiful!
The members of the orchestra tuning up.
The program for that night was excellent.
Not only is the conductor a really fun guy, but the pieces they played are some of my longtime favorite pieces of classical music (like Dvorak's New World Symphony, Smetana's The Moldau, and Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture). There were choirs that joined in for some of the pieces as well, including the 1812 Overture, which was awesome.
John paid attention really well the whole time. Surprisingly well!
Sam, on the other hand, bundled himself up in the picnic blanket and rolled around on the ground and was whiny and tired. But I think even he enjoyed the music of the night.
It was a great experience and we'd like to go again next year. In the meantime, we're going to go to their Christmas concert and to a Disney one they're doing in February. It's time to get more culture like this into our lives again! We hadn't been to any concerts in too long and it's something we really used to like doing back in our days in the Northeast. I also have a secret ambition to take up the violin again (I played it for one year in 7th grade) and to maybe even get good enough to be able to play in an orchestra someday. But in the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy the beautiful playing that others can do!
