Wow. Just wow. I don’t know if there is a way to recreate the feeling of taking bow after a world premiere. There’s an electricity in the room that I can only describe as magical. Not only did the audience applaud, and then give a standing ovation, but the choir in front of me cheered. It is so rewarding to know that my peers, my friends want me to succeed. I would be lying if I said I didn’t watch that performance almost every day. I can still feel the goosebumps take over my entire body after playing the final chord and standing up away from the piano bench. I hope that feeling is there after every world premiere. It’s a feeling that’s worth chasing.
There is such a beauty in live music. Listening to it over the radio is fine, and streaming apps have given us access to styles and genres that would be unknown without them, but there is just something about live music. There’s a sense of connection. There’s a connection between audience and performer(s). There’s a connection between the performers. However, I feel there becomes a closer connection between the performer and the music.
I find myself finding new meaning or a new line to the music that I perform when I am in front of an audience. This remains true for even my music. The line that kept jumping out to me was “I will forever call you home”. At that moment in time, I felt truly at home. Not at a piano, performing for hundreds of people, with many viewing online as well. Not under bright lights. I was making music with some of the people that were closest to me. That was home. Who would have thought that putting on fancy suits and big robes would bring a group of people so close together. But that’s the beauty of music. Music can become a home to so many people, and that’s why it is so important to spread it to every corner of the universe.