The UT Orchestra Rocks

I've been to some loud rock and roll concerts in my life, but nothing beats a symphony orchestra at full bore. Sure, three guys can plug themselves into a wall of Marshall amps and crank it up until blood runs out your ears, but frankly, I think that's cheating. Give me a hundred musicians playing acoustic instruments pumping out 80db any day. Robin and I drove to Knoxville (and back) on Sunday to hear Perrin play with the University of Tennessee Symphony Orchestra. Thirteen hours in the car for an hour-and-a-half concert may sound extreme, (man my butt's sore) but it was worth it. The orchestra is very good, with a smooth, rich sound. The program was a nice mix of rousing brass-infused energy and tug-on-your-heart strings. Playing with an orchestra is something Perrin's been looking forward to for some time, and it was wonderful getting to share her first orchestra concert with her. The feature piece was Respighi's Pines of Rome. What a great piece of music. Very rich. The clarinet solo is beautiful (and the flute parts are exquisite, of course). I'm looking forward to more of these. Shame on me for saying it, but this just might be better than watching the marching band.