Before we began, I recalled Natalie Babbit reflecting on this time of year, which "hangs at the very top of the summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning. The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but [this time of summer] is motionless, and hot. It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone. There is no thunder, no relieving rain. These are strange and breathless days..."
I was grateful for the ways in which this concert provided such beauty in the midst of our summer. Here's a sample of what we all so enjoyed:
