Well, the Criers can take a deep breath. One-third of Season 3 is in the books, and I think we are all looking forward to a couple days of recovery. Out biggest audiences yet seemed to really take to what was, musically, one of our "crunchiest" programs ever. Christopher Hossfeld's concerto GROSSO received a well-deserved standing ovation for its Jordan Hall world premiere. An incredibly diverse crowd very nearly filled the church at our first Saturday-afternoon Jamaica Plain family-and-community concert - and lept to its feet after the INTENSE Schnittke. I love Beethoven symphonies as much as anyone on Earth, and who knows - maybe some day A Far Cry will do the BSO thing and perform the cycle self-conducted. But the one thing that I became absolutely convinced of this weekend, is that there's more than one way to generate excitement and attendance at classical music concerts. Warhorses are great, but people also want to be moved, and be moved by new, previously-undreamed-of experiences. As artists, the highest compliment that A Far Cry can receive is that we moved our listeners, and I was humbled and ecstatic to receive that compliment a number of times this weekend.
But enough from me - A Far Cry wants to hear from YOU. Were you at the concert(s)? Were you moved? Not moved? Almost-moved-but-with-thoughts-as-to-what-really-would-have-made-it-better? Leave a comment to this post, good or bad. Happy Crying!
