Beitlers in NYC

Many of you know that Girts and I live a half block from Lincoln Center. At night we can hear the free outdoor concert series from our apartment. I don’t know how many times we’ve said we need to check out what’s playing and get tickets, but then we just don’t get it done. So far, as you may have read in this blog, most of our adventures have been food related. We do love to eat!

Anyway, Girts’s cousin Sandis plays with Kremerata Baltica, an orchestra out of Latvia that is led by Gidon Kremer, a world-renowned violinist. Sandis plays first chair violin in the orchestra and travels all over the world. His next stops will be Austria, Brazil, and Argentina! This last weekend he played at Lincoln Center. Sandis reserved tickets for us in the 4th row. The concert was fantastic. We really enjoyed the music and being that close meant we were able to see how the orchestra interacts and hear sounds the instruments make that aren’t necessarily audible from farther away. The bows occasionally hitting wood for example.

I also really enjoyed the people watching. New Yorkers are fabulous audience members. They aren’t shy about showing emotion. Their standing ovations meant two encores and I loved hearing people say things like, “I’ll stand for that one!”, “Bravo!”, and “I need to order that CD!”

There were also some examples of bad audience behavior…the cell phone going off, of course. For all of you teachers against cell phones in schools…I think cell phones should be allowed because kids need to be taught how to use cell phones appropriately. You know, one of those life skills that aren’t necessarily tied to our curriculum. Cell phones aren’t going away. I would rather have students learning the hard way in middle school so that by the time they show up to Lincoln Center it’s habit to turn the cell phone off. Not to mention, if I was a parent, I would want my adolescent or teenager to have a phone. It’s a good tracking device.

There was also the little kid who started giggling after someone’s stomach growled during a solo. Ok it was kind of funny, but the kid wouldn’t stop giggling. The mom eventually took the kid away, but it was an annoying distraction. Who thinks it’s a good idea to bring a three year old to a concert? During intermission I overheard the ladies behind me saying they wouldn’t let the mom sit down if she came back with her kid. That would have been some people watching!

Girts and I are definitely inspired to book some more events. As for Sandis… he will be back in New York in April and will perform with Kremerata Baltica at Carnegie Hall. We can’t wait!