Such a special evening!!

I had such a special evening last Saturday at the Polyhymnia concert.

The concert went so well and I was feeling like being in a heaven all the time.
What made the evening special is not only the music, I had a lot more!!

Many of my friends were there:
Marge, Rita, Cricket, Bruce, Sig and Dorry, Hsin, and Ann from Friday Night Group.
Ieva and Togu, Lisa, Jonathan from my neighborhood, Park Slope, Brooklyn.
And Pastor Eugenia and Dinah from the nursing home I was volunteering.
Also, I met several friends from The Western Wind workshops.

I felt especially overjoyed to have Dinah there. She is my piano student, we had several lessons together. Also, I feel like she is my mother at the nursing home. Whenever I cried or was discouraged for some reason, she gave me snack, such as cookies, chewing gums, crackers, chocolates, and it soothed me so much.... I'd been very much hoping to invite her to my concert. Actually, we had tried it once. I invited her to the Columbia Collegium Musicum last November. She made a reservation for the Access-A-Ride, however, somehow, she couldn't get the car. I heard from the pastor that she cried a lot when she knew she couldn't make it. The next time we saw each other, we hugged each other and cried and cried together for a long time. I felt so sad and thought I wanted to invite her again.

This time, by the great help of Pastor Eugenia, Ieva and Togu, she finally made it!

I was so delighted when I saw her at the pre-concert lecture hall. I was sitting down one of the chairs but I couldn't help myself standing up and came over to her as soon as I found her there. We hugged each other. She kept saying "I'm so happy" and I felt the same thing. We handed in hand so tight for a while as if we were confirming our happiness together. It was the first time we saw each other since I stopped going there in the beginning of January.

She enjoyed the concert so much. After the concert, I introduced her to all of my friends being there. She enjoyed chatting with everybody, saying, "Please take care of my daughter, Naoko." I was so glad to be able to introduce her to everyone.

She couldn't go downstairs to join the reception, so they went to a cafe afterward. I joined the reception to say thank everyone for a half hour or so and headed to the cafe. She said it was her first time to have joyful time at a cafe in over the past many many years. Attending at a classic music concert itself was also very special for her. We enjoyed sandwich together happily.

Although we had to wait the car coming to pick her up for another 45 minutes or so in front of the church building in a cold air at midnight, I didn't feel any cold at all because I was filled with happiness. I believe everybody there felt the same way that night. The car came 11:30 and she left with a big smile. Still now, I feel so happy as I remember this, writing....



Another thing made that evening special was..... I had my best friend, Lisa, there! She told me that she was attending her relative's birthday party in Connecticut, so might not able to make it. I didn't expect she was there, so I didn't know she was there until I saw her after the concert. I was so overjoyed to see her there and couldn't stop myself crying and crying... They drove and drove after the party. I was so impressed with their doing it for me. We hugged each other so tight and I was so happy. And she loved the music, that made me happy, too! We shared the joy together next morning and reminisced the happy time...




I feel like the Friday Night Group people as my family now. They appreciate my every accomplishment with music with me. Whenever I get lost with my music, they are always there to help me out with open arms. I would join the singing session with them on Friday night and get back my confidence again. I have only several more Fridays with them. I cannot believe we have to say good-bye so soon......


The concert evening became such a memorable time for me. I will not forget that evening in my life.

I cannot wait to get the recording and let my husband listen to it!!!



Now, I have to move on.....
I'll be appearing a small concert this weekend at my friend's apartment.

I'll be singing a solo piece with Togu's accompaniment , a quartet piece with Hsin, Rita and Sig, a duet piece with Richard, and accompanying a Dowland piece with viola da gamba by Virginia for Caroly singing. I have a lot of separate rehearsals this week also I have practice by myself. I have to work hard so that I would not regret the precious time with all of them!