The Kimmel Center is the home of the Philadelphia Orchestra. And guess who played here today?!? Yep . . . I did! Well, I and the 79 other people who play in the community band.

It was the Summer Solstice concert, and it was crazy. (You know us craaaaaazy music people!) It was like a three-ring circus, with multiple acts going on simultaneously from 11:00 this morning straight through until 6:00 tomorrow morning.



We played on the main stage, and it was awesome. (Yes, I am in the picture, but most of my face is obstructed by a stand.) First of all, the place is beautiful. And the acoustics? Unbelievable. Trust me—it was a far cry from our last concert, where we played outside at a retirement home. Yep, today our audience was awake and attentive, and we didn't have to worry about wind gusts blowing our music into the next county while we were trying to play.

After our part was finished, we hung out to see some of the other performances. I really wanted to see Pop G, which is the Philadelphia Orchestra's percussion ensemble. We took our seats and watched the setup on stage. Just as the performance was about to start, the fire alarm went off. And you know, a fire alarm in a huge public building isn't like an alarm at the office—you actually have to leave.

We left to get some dinner, and then decided that someone would appreciate it if we headed home.



I took one final pic on the way back to the car. It was a total spur-of-the-moment thing, and I didn't even take any time to compose the shot. In fact, I was taking a sip of my soda as I snapped it. But I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. Now you can't say I've never posted a picture of myself . . .

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 24, 2006 at 11:44 PM.