Being Thankful

Mental health professionals and spiritual mentors agree – making a list of things for which we are thankful and grateful is a good habit to develop. Even better, read this list to yourself everyday. . .before the day gets underway! From a musical standpoint, I personally don’t have to work too hard on this list. I love it all! From playing and singing to listening – these are the great joys of my life.

As you might expect from the perspective of things here at The Discovery Orchestra, being able to listen to a vast array of music at the push of a button is something to indeed be grateful about. When I look at my smartphone and see that I can listen to anything from a really eclectic mix encompassing classical, jazz, folk, rock, pop, traditional, secular, sacred, orchestral, chamber. . .all on this small device I can hold in my hand, I am humbled and very thankful.

Of course, listening to a great orchestra in a live performance, such as the one I attended by the Mariinsky Theater Orchestra under their music director Valery Gergiev one month ago – what a privilege that is! But most of all, I guess I am incredibly thankful for and to the creators of music, the composers.

So here we are again at Thanksgiving. How on earth do you say ‘thank you’ to a person, long deceased, who wrote a piece of music more than one-hundred years ago that absolutely moves you to the soles of your feet – causes you to weep, have chills? How can we ever thank them?

The only way we’ve come up with at The Discovery Orchestra is. . .to help other people to discover that they, too, can be so deeply moved by this music! Beethoven Symphony No. 7, Movement IV. . .now there’s one to be thankful for.