Today is #ArtsMatterDay.
Here's a gorgeous shot (taken by Eric Antoniou) of A Far Cry's last Jordan Hall concert. We were lucky enough to share the stage with former US Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky who lit up the stage on both halves of the concert - here reading a hilarious translation of Rabelais' satirical giant story, and in the first half, reading the poem "Verklarte Nacht" before A Far Cry set out to play the Schoenberg work that referenced it. Arts matter in more ways than can ever be counted, but there were two moments of silence in that performance that brought home one of the million ways in which they can hit.
The first was right after Pinsky read "Verklarte Nacht" - with gravity and grace, lingering on words and unpacking meaning. This was a moment for everyone, but especially the musicians, who had just been given a new window into the piece we were about to play. The space around us literally grew. Each note became more real. Every phrase had more direction, more weight, more narrative substance.
The second pause was at the end of the piece, about half an hour later. As we finished playing, Jordan Hall fell into silence; a beautiful and utterly still shared silence that lasted. This silence felt different from the first; it was a gift that we were giving each other, and in some ways it was a gift directly from our listeners, who were the ones who decided, in the end, when the piece was finally over.
We are all in this process together. We influence and inspire each other in so many ways, known and unknown.
Art makes it possible.
#ArtsMatter
