Joyous circles

Scott played in the All-State Strings orchestra today. As always, I'm amazed at his musical talent and very proud of him; he's made All-State both years of upper school. (Sarah, as a senior, no longer has to try out and so did not do so, but she also made it all three years.) The weekend away did not, from Scott's description, sound like much fun, but the result was great and wonderful to hear. The program focused on classical interpretations of various other types of music, including a version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven." I know what some of you are thinking, but it worked, it really worked.

In one of those joyous circles life sometimes provides, the conductor of Scott's orchestra, Christopher Lees, was the second American conductor to win (in 2006) the Zander Fellowship with the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. In that role, he assisted and traveled with Ben Zander, about whom I've blogged before. Lees' energy and passion reminded me of Zander, and I had a good time listening to the performance.

As always, staring at the sea of parents around me, I also found myself happily in touch with the rest of humanity in a way I rarely manage to be. We all stress about our lives, and each of us must inhabit our interior landscape alone, but in the greater picture we're all just trying to live as best we can, and in that knowledge I often find great hope for humanity.