Ben Folds
The perfect response to a day with some hard news was to go out with friends and and see Ben Folds with the Minnesota Orchestra (and dinner at Monello beforehand was perfect, thanks for the tip, Kate Baxter-Kauf!)
My friend Katharine had a New Years Resolution a few years back to see more concerts. Though that has not been one of my stated resolutions (which tend to deal with dinner parties and cocktails), it has been on my mind, and over the past year Patrick and I have seen some fantastic concerts — including Billy Bragg, Amanda Palmer, and Mary Chapin Carpenter with Shawn Colvin. So when Elaine asked if we wanted to see Ben Fold we jumped at the chance!
We don't get to Orchestra Hall often enough; I was ruminating on this during the opening Brahms piece. I used to go more when I worked for arts organizations that get comps, but truth be told I'm not all that well-versed in classical music and don't prioritize it it enough when it's not made easy for me. In fact I thought Beatrix had only been once (when we went to see and meet Wynton Marsalis a couple of years ago), but she informs me that she also went with an SPA field trip earlier this year (I don't always track the field trips there; they go on great ones fairly frequently and don't ask for extra money for it so I can easily forget about them).
Ben Folds is known as a strong advocate for the arts, so when he stepped out to do his speech about why it's important to go to the symphony, and what a fantastic orchestra we had, and how an orchestra was basically like a mini-civilization, that speech along with the thoughts in my head made me all the more receptive to going back soon.
But if you REALLY need a reason to understand why the arts are important, I challenge you to see a better example than this:
Ben Folds has a conceit that when someone from the audience yells out "Rock this Bitch!" he has to make up a piece about it on the spot. As you might imagine, this is a little more complicated when you have an entire orchestra that you are playing with. It was amazing to see him orchestrate, staring with the cellos and moving through the instruments — and maybe even more amazing to see the musicians respond. I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it.
All in all, a great night that still leaves me thinking a lot — which is exactly what art is supposed to do.
(MNOrc musicians playing Tom Petty covers in the lobby afterwards, as you do...)
My friend Katharine had a New Years Resolution a few years back to see more concerts. Though that has not been one of my stated resolutions (which tend to deal with dinner parties and cocktails), it has been on my mind, and over the past year Patrick and I have seen some fantastic concerts — including Billy Bragg, Amanda Palmer, and Mary Chapin Carpenter with Shawn Colvin. So when Elaine asked if we wanted to see Ben Fold we jumped at the chance!
We don't get to Orchestra Hall often enough; I was ruminating on this during the opening Brahms piece. I used to go more when I worked for arts organizations that get comps, but truth be told I'm not all that well-versed in classical music and don't prioritize it it enough when it's not made easy for me. In fact I thought Beatrix had only been once (when we went to see and meet Wynton Marsalis a couple of years ago), but she informs me that she also went with an SPA field trip earlier this year (I don't always track the field trips there; they go on great ones fairly frequently and don't ask for extra money for it so I can easily forget about them).
Ben Folds is known as a strong advocate for the arts, so when he stepped out to do his speech about why it's important to go to the symphony, and what a fantastic orchestra we had, and how an orchestra was basically like a mini-civilization, that speech along with the thoughts in my head made me all the more receptive to going back soon.
But if you REALLY need a reason to understand why the arts are important, I challenge you to see a better example than this:
Ben Folds has a conceit that when someone from the audience yells out "Rock this Bitch!" he has to make up a piece about it on the spot. As you might imagine, this is a little more complicated when you have an entire orchestra that you are playing with. It was amazing to see him orchestrate, staring with the cellos and moving through the instruments — and maybe even more amazing to see the musicians respond. I can honestly say I've never seen anything like it.
All in all, a great night that still leaves me thinking a lot — which is exactly what art is supposed to do.
(MNOrc musicians playing Tom Petty covers in the lobby afterwards, as you do...)
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