Steller's Jays and Symphonies

And not in that order...

I got up very early to be able to catch a bus down to Seattle. I went to hear the Seattle Symphony along with a big group of Friends of the WWU Music Library. Today I was a sub. But I signed up for next year for real.

We took off at 8:30 and arrived in Seattle at 10:30. We went to a restaurant called the Brooklyn which opened early for us so we could have lunch before the concert which began at noon. I had a delicious crab cake and light salad. 

The concert was at Benaroya Hall. When we entered I remembered the awards ceremony Arvin and I attended many years ago put on by Goodwill Seattle. We were there so Arvin could receive the first ever Volunteer of the Year award from them. He taught computer literacy at Goodwill in Bellingham, part of the Seattle Goodwill group. After 11 years they created the award and called Arvin's boss to let her know she was going to nominate Arvin. They put us up at a hotel, gave us dinner the night before, and gave Arvin he award at an awards breakfast held in the lobby of Benaroya Hall. When we walked in I immediately was filled with happy memories of the occasion.
 
The performance was thrilling. A young Finish violinist, Pekka Kuusisto, played the Mendelssohn violin concerto. He was great and for an encore he played a Finish folk tune and sang! We heard the US premiere of a piece called Snow by a young British composer Helen Grimes. They played a symphony by Karl Nielsen after the intermission. I had not heard it before and enjoyed its sweeping style. A soprano and a baritone sang along in the second movement. The who concert was lovely.

When we got back to Bellingham I went home and enjoyed some quiet time on the deck where I enticed the jays to come with peanuts. I got some good jumping jay photos. It has been awhile so it made me happy to get some good shots.

You can see some photos of Benaroya Hall at Chaikins of Bellingham.