Last Youth Orchestra Performance

Thursday night was my last ever performance with the Chippewa Valley Youth Symphony in Eau Claire. We had our end of the year concert a few weeks ago but we ended up adding a wine and cheese fundraiser to the end of the season. It was me and a reduced orchestra nestled into the hillside of the 18th green at the Eau Claire Golf and Country Club. Between the gnats, the encroaching thunderstorm, and the perilous hillside perch it was a memorable performance. You can see our setup in the photo below. The hill slopes off right behind the brass section to the 18th green.

All in all the event went pretty well. The country club liked us, I think, and the highlight of the evening for the students was to eat the leftover food from the $100 per plate dinner once the concert was over. I have to admit this was a highlight for me too. The food was delicious and it was a nice treat after our performance. I really like the bacon wrapped meat personally.

Yesterday evening Kaia and I went to Ron Keezer's 70th birthday party. The event was held at the Keezer household just a few blocks away from our home. It was quite a shindig. There was tons of food, lots of people, and as an added bonus Ron's son Geoffrey was tending the grill. If you don't know Geoffrey Keezer let's just say he's one of the most amazing jazz pianists on the face of the earth today and, as it turns out, he's not bad at grilling out. The event was a veritable who's who of musicians and music educators in Eau Claire. There were so many people Ron managed to get the street in front of his house blocked off by the police.

This weekend is going to be nice and relaxing. I am going to a graduation party at some point this afternoon and Chris Hahn will be coming over from St. Paul later in the day. Last time Chris was in town we had a roaring bonfire and ended up walking all over town taking pictures until 4 AM. I'll let you know if anything like that occurs this time.