Music Night at Our House

Edgar Degas, "The Orchestra of the Opera"

My husband has always showed an interest in my pursuits.  He's forever enjoyed taking me to the symphony and attending my recitals and performances.  In fact, he's so clever in realizing that music is an excellent way to bring people together, not to mention a wonderful means of personal expression, that he put together a Music Night in our home during medical school. It was such a popular idea that even the two deans of the med school attended, one of them as a performer too!

When I think about it, it was a huge undertaking, although it didn't seem like it at the time.  We simply spread the word about the event and invited all our instrumentalist friends to come and perform. It was surprising how many musicians emerged out of the woodwork! Seriously, I had no idea that most of them played an instrument.  In the end, we had two guitarists, two pianists, an upright bass (played by the dean himself), a bassoonist, a flautist, and a few others.  Some of us practiced together ahead of time to perform concertos and the like, and of course there were plenty of solos.  We pulled out the pastries and coffee, and sat back for a night of music...a night to remember.

To this day it continues to be one of my favorite memories.  I was thrilled to have all of those talented people in my home, sharing music together.  For once, it was like they were speaking my language; I could understand them!  This time it was my "shop talk" they were using! And I appreciated the way my husband blended his life with mine.  Beautiful.