Performance bliss

[kenjari]

pantsie and I had our recital yesterday. It went very, very well. Logistically, everything went extremely smoothly. Everyone involved got to St. John's on time. The church staff was terrific - we felt really welcome and well taken care of. Pantsie's mother took care of most of the reception preparations for us. developer came and recorded the performance for us, and was great to work with - calm and organized. epilimnion was the best page turner ever, and even did the pre-concert announcements for us. When I'm performing, I like to have things so that I really have only one job to do that day: play the piano. And everyone who helped us out made that happen, for which I am very grateful.
Damn, we were good. We made no major mistakes, nothing fell apart, and we sounded wonderful. The piano was a lovely instrument, and the acoustics were good, too. The reverberation of the space actually helped me to not speed up during the performance. I was really happy with the Bach, because I did a very good job with it despite screwing it up something awful during the pre-concert rehearsal. I was feeling worried about it, but it just fell into place. Both my own and Dr. Bell's piece were gorgeous - pantsie has just the right voice for the Bell, and I think I did a good job of writing something tailored to her voice. And I enjoyed the performance, too. I was nervous, of course, but I was also having a good time. My focus and concentration were at the perfect levels, and I was always happy with what I was hearing as I played. While I do feel a certain amount of anxiety when I perform, there's also nothing else like it. It's one of the things that make me feel most alive, most present, most awake (in Thoreau's sense of the word). I love music, and when I'm performing or composing, I really feel that it loves me back.
We had a good audience, and I'm so glad that so many people were able to make it. And best of all, everyone seemed to really enjoy the music. It was so good to be able to see and talk to folks at the reception, too. And to get so many wonderful compliments, from people I love and respect, means so very much.

Comments

[hca.livejournal.com]

And it was gorgeous! Go you! :)

[kenjari.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I was glad that you and R. could be there.