Seattle Symphony Opening Night!

Opening Night Concert & Gala

Saturday, September 19

7PM

Overture to Wonderful Town - Leonard Bernstein

Piano Concerto, Op. 30 - Samuel Barber

Allegro Molto

Kevin Ahfat, Piano

Winner, Seattle Symphony Piano Competition

Suite from Appalachian Spring - Aaron Copland

-Intermission-

Danse Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila - Camille Saint-Saëns

Piano Concerto No. 5 in F Major, Op. 103 "Egyptian" - Camille Saint-Saëns

Allegro animato

Andante

Molto allegro

Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Piano

After several long months, it is now time to usher in the 2015-2016 season of the Seattle Symphony, with a good number of guests dressed to the nines for the gala preceding the concert. The concert itself was the typical Seattle Symphony affair, with the orchestra being a little rough around the edges. I was very impressed with Kevin's performance as he mastered the Barber concerto and had great stage presence. Since I couldn't see his hands, I could only watch his face and feet, and you could really tell that he was having fun with the peace (though maybe a little too much, as his mouth rarely stayed closed during his performance. Thibaudet was even more impressive, with pinpoint technique to go along with a flowing melody. We were also treated to an encore of Saint-Saën's Carnaval des Animaux featuring our two soloists. The "Pianists" was nice and lighthearted, especially intentionally playing the scales out of time, and the performance concluded with the "Finale" movement. So far a great start to the season!

The Everlasting Struggle Bus

In most cases patrons of public transportation are not memorable and do nothing out of the ordinary to create anything worth remembering. However, here in Seattle, there is a sizably larger minority of travelers compared to most other places who decide that there should be some drama getting off the bus. These individuals tend to fall into two groups.

The first group of individuals don't cause problems, but it's always interesting to watch. These group of people seem completely oblivious to the fact that there's a big red light and a bell sound that go off when someone has already requested the bus to stop at the next stop. This usually means they'll pull the cord about 10 times wondering why there is no bell sound going off, usually while they're sitting there looking at their phones while trying to shove themselves out of the window seat by basically stepping through the passenger in the aisle seat while carrying 2 bags.

The second group of passengers is where problems have previously arisen. These passengers are the ones who under almost no circumstance will pull the cord. I've even overheard riders brag to their friends about how long they have gone without having to pull the cord (as if that's some kind of achievement). These people are generally alright as long as someone else who actually pulls the cord gets off at the same stop. However if they're the only one who wants to get off the bus, then we start having problems. Some of them will pull the cord at the last second possible, which usually results in a swift stop and a strong lurch, and some will even get off at the next stop someone else requests. However, what peeves me the most is when passengers will call to the driver for a stop. There is already a mechanism in place for you to request a stop that's used by almost all the other passengers, and apparently some passengers feel that it's so below them that they will verbally request a stop like it is their private chauffeur. Public transportation is not there to serve you at your whim, but is there to serve the community as a whole. Last week I even saw a passenger scream at the driver to stop at a stop that wasn't requested and kept shouting at the driver as he got off the bus as if the driver should have known that he wanted the bus to stop there. Unfortunately this is a regular occurrence in traveling with King County Metro, and each trip always leaves open the opportunity for another unwanted adventure.

Looking Back

Recently I received a small note in the mail from my high school, which is the first contact I had had with my high school since a year or so after graduating. They are in the process of trying to compile an alumni directory of sorts, which you would expect a high school of that size and (some) stature to already have been doing before 2015. Unfortunately this unwanted contact brought be back to those days, and also served as a stern reminder that no matter how hard to you try to distance yourself from something, you can always be found. (I mean, no one I went to high school with or grew up with should know my address.) Overall high school was pretty forgettable for me. I never really fit in, though that was more of my own choice and doing. Obviously I didn't need any reminders from that period of time-a time I no longer associate myself with.