I'm happy to say that I just had a surprisingly pleasant evening.
Rewind to a few days ago. A client called me up in the office and asked me if I'm into music. Now, this is a 70-year old woman asking me if I like music so I wasn't really sure if that was a trick question or what. So I said yes (a bit hesitantly, I think). She then asked me if I wanted to go to a piano concert, because if so, she could get me free tickets. What do you answer to that???
OK, the last time I watched a piano concert was about 15 years ago. I was still in high school then, and you can just imagine the effort I put into trying to stay awake. Don't get me wrong, the artist was very good (it was Cecile Licad, for crying out loud!) and I also appreciate classical music. But I was still very young then and I have not yet developed that 'cultured' side of me (ehem!), so you could say that I found it too mature for my liking.
So armed with my iced Cafe Mocha and the determination not to fall asleep, I went to the event with my victim, Jude. We were actually a bit surprised that it was well-attended, and that the age-group wasn't as old as I initially feared. In fact, there were several young people there (read: people my age) and lots of personalities often seen in the society pages. Apparently, the concert was courtesy of the Ambassador of Israel and the Arts Council of Cebu, and it featured two young Israeli pianists: Yaron Kohlberg and Bishara Harouni.
Suffice it to say that I didn't fall asleep, and I even enjoyed the whole performance. The two guys were very talented (it also didn't hurt that they were both good-looking, hehe) and both played their solos and duets wonderfully. All emotions were beautifully conveyed with every stroke of the piano keys, and seeing them play was very mesmerizing. I thought to myself, if I had only finished my piano lessons and took them to heart, I'd probably be as good as they are now. Haha! Yeah, right.
Seriously though, what I admired most about them was their passion for music. It was very evident that they love what they do. I have always been jealous of people like that, and I've often wondered what that feels like. I'm thinking maybe, if you love what you're doing, you would gladly spend every bit of your time and energy on it until you think you have nothing left, and still find the heart to do it all over again the next day. You might experience all the disappointments, hurts and frustrations, but nothing else can also give you that much joy and peace. How I wish I could find my true passion! But I digress. That's too deep a realization for an hour of Chopin and Schubert.
All in all, I'm glad that I was asked to go that concert and I'm glad that I did. Aside from the wonderful music, it also brought back good memories and it gave me a much-needed kick to go after what I really want. As they say, things always happen for a reason and that we are where we were meant to be.
Rewind to a few days ago. A client called me up in the office and asked me if I'm into music. Now, this is a 70-year old woman asking me if I like music so I wasn't really sure if that was a trick question or what. So I said yes (a bit hesitantly, I think). She then asked me if I wanted to go to a piano concert, because if so, she could get me free tickets. What do you answer to that???
OK, the last time I watched a piano concert was about 15 years ago. I was still in high school then, and you can just imagine the effort I put into trying to stay awake. Don't get me wrong, the artist was very good (it was Cecile Licad, for crying out loud!) and I also appreciate classical music. But I was still very young then and I have not yet developed that 'cultured' side of me (ehem!), so you could say that I found it too mature for my liking.
So armed with my iced Cafe Mocha and the determination not to fall asleep, I went to the event with my victim, Jude. We were actually a bit surprised that it was well-attended, and that the age-group wasn't as old as I initially feared. In fact, there were several young people there (read: people my age) and lots of personalities often seen in the society pages. Apparently, the concert was courtesy of the Ambassador of Israel and the Arts Council of Cebu, and it featured two young Israeli pianists: Yaron Kohlberg and Bishara Harouni.
Suffice it to say that I didn't fall asleep, and I even enjoyed the whole performance. The two guys were very talented (it also didn't hurt that they were both good-looking, hehe) and both played their solos and duets wonderfully. All emotions were beautifully conveyed with every stroke of the piano keys, and seeing them play was very mesmerizing. I thought to myself, if I had only finished my piano lessons and took them to heart, I'd probably be as good as they are now. Haha! Yeah, right.
Seriously though, what I admired most about them was their passion for music. It was very evident that they love what they do. I have always been jealous of people like that, and I've often wondered what that feels like. I'm thinking maybe, if you love what you're doing, you would gladly spend every bit of your time and energy on it until you think you have nothing left, and still find the heart to do it all over again the next day. You might experience all the disappointments, hurts and frustrations, but nothing else can also give you that much joy and peace. How I wish I could find my true passion! But I digress. That's too deep a realization for an hour of Chopin and Schubert.
All in all, I'm glad that I was asked to go that concert and I'm glad that I did. Aside from the wonderful music, it also brought back good memories and it gave me a much-needed kick to go after what I really want. As they say, things always happen for a reason and that we are where we were meant to be.
