The Kansas City Symphony performed an Italian-themed concert at the University of Kansas Lied Center Tuesday evening to benefit Music Works!, an organization formed to promote music in the Lawrence public schools. The concert was aimed at a very general audience, so the pieces were all fairly brief and very accessible, but the orchestra played beautifully. There are a few new members of the orchestra this year, including a few key wind players which I found particularly interesting. They all played very well and it was an enjoyable performance!

It reminded me of a very strong memory I have of the first (and only) time I’ve played in an orchestra. In 2006, I played tenor saxophone in the Kansas City symphony for their annual pops concert under the direction of Erich Kunzel. Since saxophonists rarely ever play in symphonies, I jumped at the chance and I was really glad that I did.

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I shot some new photos of the chamber music trio, Allégresse this past weekend. The morning of the shoot there was a wind advisory and the forecast called for rain. Somehow, as soon as everyone showed up, the wind calmed down and the sun came out. Go figure . . . They are the most fun people to shoot and I hope we can do it again soon.

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