Saturday

After an early morning walk with Gail, we attended the service for the local SDA church, which had sponsored our trip.  Helen and Basil were hosting a baptism afterwards, so there was a lot of hubbub at the house, getting the swimming pool ready, etc.  During the church service I started doodling on a pad and discovered that it's very fun to draw mazes.  All of this was a good distraction from the fact that it was concert day--generally a time that I spend waiting, waiting, waiting for the concert to begin. (If it were up to me, I would schedule all my performances at 10am!)

There was a huge convoy to Basil and Helen's for the baptism after church.  The choir was very picturesque out in the courtyard, singing during the ceremony.  Once that concluded, we all changed and went out to Hillside Dam for a picnic by the water.  I would say there were about 40 or 50 of us there.

As Gail, Lynn, and I were leaving to go rest and get ready for the concert, I had a conversation with Erwin in which he confided that he wasn't comfortable playing the Piazzolla Tango that evening.  Since it was only 3 hours until the concert and taking out the Tango left a good 12 minute hole in the program, I spent the next bit trying to rack my brain for what I could stick in.  I hadn't brought any solo music with me, and hadn't even thought about anything memorized since before the summer.  I fished around in my brain and dug up a few things that I thought were in there solid enough to play in two hours.  I ended up with a Chopin Nocturne, and my signature modern piece where I "crawl inside the piano."  I went into the house at Helen's and tried it out and discovered that there was a passage that I couldn't remember.  I was at a loss for awhile since I didn't have the music there.  Then I remembered that I had a bunch of my CDs there, and that piece was on the recording.  I went running out to our cottage, ripped open a CD, stuck it in Lynn's computer and listened to that section for awhile until I thought I had it.  Back at the piano, I finally sorted it out until I felt comfortable.  During all this time, Lynn and Gail were incredibly supportive and encouraging (which I really needed, as I was kind of freaking out!)

The concert went really well and when it was time for my solo pieces, I decided to play the modern piece first.  There were no printed programs so after I finished that piece I was waiting for the applause to die down so I could announce the Chopin Nocturne.  Well wouldn't you know it, they just would not stop clapping!  (And here I had been worried whether or not the piece would go over with that audience!)  I bowed.... waited.... bowed again.... waited..... I think I probably bowed three times and finally they subsided.  This just made my day that people liked it so much!

Gail and Lynn sang spectacularly on the concert and the trios with Nathan were awesome.  I did collaborate with Erwin on a Bach piece for 2 pianos and that went very well.  The choir also sang towards the end of the concert and so it was very festive back in the green room with all of us there during the second half.

After the concert it was hard to leave because we knew we wouldn't see anyone again.  We had to pack up and pull out in the car at 5am the next morning.  We just lingered and lingered, taking pictures with everyone, exchanging hugs, getting people's email addresses, etc.  Finally we managed to load up and head back to the house, after which we went up to the kitchen and hung out with Helen's family and the other musicians until after midnight.  Eventually we made it back to the cottage to crash for a few hours before our departure.