DEEP as opera: heard!

What a grand view I had for this third, and last, evening in the rotunda of Telfair Academy!

(Thanks, Katie and Olivia, for D-13!)

I was very excited about "Song", as I knew several works from the youth at DEEP were to be featured... and I do so love their insights!

Of the fifteen pieces performed, five were from four of those middle-school students!!!

The poetry from Lincoln Davidson and Madeline Pelli was transformed into a musical triptych, painting a poignant picture of hope for better days and easier nights.

"I Lay Myself To Rest", "A Voice", and "I Dream Of A World" had been set to music with the help of Patrick Vu (who had helped do the same for an artist in svf-8.)

The middle piece, paraphrasing a classic riddle as "if a man shouts in an empty house, does anyone hear him?", nearly brought me to tears.

In its entirety, that trio of songs reminded me of classic works from Elvis Presley ("If I Can Dream") and others, speaking to a human need for unity and connection to others.

That trio was performed by Chad Sonka (with his lovely baritone), Sara Zoe Budnik, and Melanie Spector (both sopranos). 

Heather Jones performed "Worthless", another that wrenched at my heart, written by middle-school student Ella Zipperer and set to music by Dave Ragland.

Why did it affect me so?

The child was being regarded as nothing, absolutely nothing, for only being "100 pennies" instead of a dollar bill.

Wow.

The fourth student appeared on video, having not only composed "Blessed By The Best" but also set it to music and performed it - quite enthusiastically, too!

I just have to believe Louis Armstrong would have loved that one as much as I did!

Positive perspective and faith in God - oh, yes!

Maybe living in a pandemic, still, has made me even more sensitive to such issues.

I just know it's been like a dream to be attending concerts again!

Maria Zouves even performed two pieces, "Sinevi Stin Athina" and "Floghera", plus there was Jonathan Walker-VanKuren with "I Found A Woman" and the fabulous "Landscape 1: From A Train", in which the piano captured the sound of wheels on a rail very well!!!

Even so, with all this wealth of poetry in the air, the performances I was most drawn to were the two solos from Mariano Gladić for "Cancion al arbol del olvido" and "Los pajaros perdidos".

And just what would be my reason for that?

He sang them to me!

He looked straight at me - practically dancing in my seat, feet tapping, hands at work with my invisible piano - and sang to me that he would not think of me at the tree of forgetfulness, and that he realized I had been his only love among all the lost birds.

He did, he most assuredly did!

How blessed am I by the Best?

i thank You, God!

And now the blessing that is this day continues - the Chicago White Sox are playing the New York Yankees at the Field of Dreams, a place etched into my heart... and I get to see it for free on tv!

i thank You, God!