Music, Arts, Love, and a Time to Remember

One of those very good times happened that was so much like late last fall when I hung out with Aidan while he recorded pieces for his music auditions. That was on Fridays at Church of the Holy Spirit when its offices and the church itself are usually closed. This time, last Friday morning, it was Keoni recording pieces there with Seth accompanying on piano. All a blissful way to spend some time. How interesting the setup was, too; every time it gets more sophisticated...

Seth and Keoni prepping for the recording...

When finished, Keoni immediately set out in his mom's truck for the Philadelphia 30th Street Station to pick up other Juilliard members of the quintet arriving from NYC. They had an inspiration to play together this past year. Their collaboration has had exciting results and they came to play in "real-time" at Church of the Holy Spirit on Saturday which resumed the church's pandemic-delayed concert series. JYARD Quintet's collaboration is inspired. They love making music together and it shows.

Here's from the quintet's practice on Friday after Keoni picked them up. This video is from Peter Lockman. You may remember him from earlier blog postings of church concerts--the Escher Trio--Peter, Keoni, and Seth. Peter's family helped house the quintet, too, and so did Wendy, John, Aidan, and Keoni.

Saturday's program...

Keoni edited and sent these two pieces from the concert. He loved the arranging, the collaborating, and infusion of ideas and dynamics of the group. When they play, it's clear there's freedom, happiness, and enjoyment in making music.

(To go full screen click on the play arrow then the word "YouTube". The little square button for full screen is not available until YouTube opens.)

More of the concert will appear here as Keoni gets time to edit and pull the concert video and recordings together. I'll let you know in future postings. 

Aidan captured a couple of quintet moments post-concert...

Taking a bow.

It was the first time I've been in a crowd for 14 months. Every attendee masked, most all vaxxed. The performers shed masks while playing and were a goodly distance from our fairly spread-out audience. Whew! Thank you! I could relax and fully immerse myself in the beautiful music.

On Sunday, Peter played cello during the music at church. Yes, that's Seth playing piano behind Peter...

It was great to hear Peter's music again after a time away.
There's a story there, I'm sure. We're all glad he's back.

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Paula has continued her desert colors series and shared April with us...

April showed her many more shades of yellow. Each month's renderings have brought back the desert lands that activate all my senses once more.

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I think the awareness that takes place in our hearts and minds from music, arts, love, builds limitless joy that humankind will always search for words and ways to express. They take us to the tops of mountains, their fullness promises a beautiful presence in our passages through valleys and rugged terrain.

Tomorrow would have been Dimetrios' 17th birthday. Music, arts, love put their arms around us and help us in our grieving times. Sonja shared an idea, made a request, not long ago. This drawing resulted. Below is a photo I made of it before I sent the drawing to her...

In Memory of Dimetrios, May 26, 2004--June 22, 2020.

In his memory, there is a new page with more about him published in the Electric Attic column on the right, at the top.