Music Major's Paradise

Just after I arrived, I discovered the most wonderful thing: the BBC Proms were happening just a few blocks away at Royal Albert Hall. This would have been exciting enough in and of itself, but it got even better: there were £5 rush tickets available before each show. If you waited in line, you could get a standing room only ticket for the arena floor (they took out the seats on the floor in the center of the auditiorium) and see great musical performances for a fraction of the normal cost.

It was a fortunate thing that the Proms, which is an approximately 9-week series of 70-odd concerts featuring world class musicians and repertoire, was in its final week when I arrived, or--£5 tickets or not--I would have been completely broke and my flatmates wouldn't have seen me for weeks. As it was, I went to four concerts in the first week I was here!

I saw Handel's Messiah, which I already love, but it was thrilling to have the opportunity to see it live in the country where it originated. I also got to see a performance of Mendelssohn's concert overture The Hebrides (Fingal's Cave), Sibelius' Symphony No. 5, and a few decidedly 20th century works by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who was conducting the orchestra that night in honor of his 75th birthday. In fact, the musicians and the audience actually sang "Happy Birthday" to him at the end of the concerts (there were two concerts back-to-back that I went to that night). The fourth and final Proms concert I have the privilege of attending was Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. Yes, Yo-Yo Ma, live, for only £5! I was so excited! I really like music that combines different cultural traits, and that is exactly what the Silk Road Ensemble does. They bring together both the instruments and the musical traditions of the East and the West and blend them into an exciting and interesting new style. Complex polyrhythms were regularly present, and some of the melodies used Eastern scales. However, there were also passages that featured traditional Western scales and instruments. I absolutely loved it. And I think the musicians performing were having as much, if not more, fun than I was having. It was contagious--they clearly enjoyed working together and sharing such fun and different music with their audience. That's the kind of ensemble atmosphere that I'd love participating in professionally someday. Anyone want to start an ensemble with me?