A Choral Concert and a Bit of Fasnacht Magic

On Thursday I played the violin in my school's orchestra (supplemented with several hired professionals) in a concert combined with the school's choir. It's the orchestra's first year of existence, so we only have about ten members. The concert consisted of Mozart's piano concerto No. 12 in A Major (K 414) and Vivaldi's Gloria. I always enjoy playing an orchestra part in choral works; it's such a rich sound. And the soloist, a music teacher at my school who also directs the orchestra when he's not playing the solo in a piano concerto, was superb. And with the extra people we hired to play in the orchestra, it was an international event. There were two Hungarians, a Costa Rican (either that or a Puerto Rican, I can't remember which one he said), an American (me), plus quite a few Swiss. The Hungarians and the Costa / Puerto Rican couldn't speak German or French so they went with English, which I am assuming is a second language for them as well as for the Swiss members of the orchestra. I particularly enjoyed the conductor's attempts at giving measure numbers in English during rehearsals. So that was a really fun event. The only downside, really, was that the church we performed in was freezing. Apparently all European Catholic churches are cold in the winter, though, because they have such high ceilings and are basically just built with stone. So it's a really large space to heat and the two radiators at the front didn't quite cover it. As much as I enjoyed playing the concert, I was glad to get home at the end and warm myself up by putting on a few more layers of clothing and sitting on the floor in front of the radiator with a cat on my lap.

Then on Friday I had a rehearsal in Murten. And on the way to my rehearsal, I kept seeing strangely out-of-the-ordinary things. While I was waiting for the bus, a girl came down the sidewalk walking a horse and a smaller pony (Shetland?) and then turned with them down the steep icy hill I usually go down to get home after I get off the bus. Then when I got on the bus, I saw the biggest backpack I have ever seen in my life. I tried to estimate how many fully-inflated soccer balls would fit in it and I think I decided more than 20. I think I could fit in that backpack, probably along with a couple of little kids. Then I got to Fribourg and went to wait for my train, and when the train arrived and the people were coming out, I saw a man dressed in a feathery neon pink full-body costume. I thought that was weird, but then I realized it was actually normal for this particular time of year; it must have been a Fasnacht costume. (Fasnacht is German for Mardi Gras.) My suspicions were confirmed when I got back later at night and the floor of the train station was covered in blue confetti. So I have decided that these crazy things I saw were probably the results of a little Fasnacht magic.

Oh, sorry I have no pictures, but my memory card was full because of some viola audition videos I had to record to send to Italy. I'm applying for a chamber music camp in Cremona this summer and I have to send the DVD this week. Wish me luck!