Lenten Series #25: Music Provides a Glimmer of Hope

This weekend, I got the chance to go to part of a campus concert featuring our college Orchestra.  At first, I did not know the concert was happening (so much happens on campus that you some times forget about other aspects of campus life). I decided to go because I was invited javascript:void(0)by a student I met randomly while eating dinner at the dining hall last week. He and a friend were sitting down and I recognized their faces from being around campus but did not know them until that day. They both had already known my name and that I was one of the RLCs. The friend also had heard me speak earlier that week at the Intervarsity student community worship. 

During dinner we got to talking about religion and what it means to be Christian on this campus.  It was a great discussion and very theologically stimulating (something I have been missing since leaving seminary). Following this discussion I asked about his major, he told me he wanted to do music, but the music department here is very much  theory-based and not experimental-based. In other words, they want him to follow all the music rules, but he wants to improvise and create new masterpieces by making new laws/rules. So he decided that he will continue music as a passion but not as a major. That is when he invited me to the concert where he was the featured pianist. He would be accompanied by the orchestra. in the bulletin it mentioned that "He really enjoyed playing piano when he began improvising on it, because it allows his imagination to run free once again."

Because I was on-call all weekend, there were a few things I had to take care of on Saturday afternoon before getting to the concert. But I got to the recital hall just in time to hear him. I had never been to any music recital and at first I was lost as to where in our performing arts building the recital was being held.  When I found it and I was relieved and sat on the back row, right next to our College President, Russell. The student who invited me was next on the program, so as we waited I had small-chat with Russell and some of the students in front of me.  The stage was being reset,  they brought the grand piano to the front of the stage, the orchestra got tuned up, and we waited for a second, the door open, and the audience begun to applaud because here comes the featured student pianist, followed the professor/conductor.  he took his seat, and after getting comfortable, he nodded to the conductor and the selection began, Beethoven's "Concerto for Piano No 1 in C, Op. 15".

I immediately had a flashback of the many concerts I  enjoyed  as a child at Baltimore Symphony Orchestra because of my mother’s connection with Morgan State University. The contrast was, the Baltimore Orchestra were adults, professionals. But then I begun to think that these students, the celloists, the violinists, the featured pianist, would some day be those professionals and I was in awe!  They were amazing and he did an outstanding job! To think that in ten or so they may be playing for the world’s best orchestras and leading symphonies, and some of them are going to be doctors, lawyers, scientist,  who have a love and passion for music and  will continue that passion while saving the world in their different and unique ways.  How exciting is this! A glimmer of hope for me as I have had along weekend, dealing with crazy students who don’t know how to control their alcohol usage! (Ughhhh!)

Peace, Love, and Prosperity, 

RevMAH