An afternoon of festive concert music

It must be Christmas soon, the weather is now grey, wet and windy!  I know some places further north may well see a bit of snow over the holidays, but it seems that 'damp and overcast' is the norm for here.  I'll keep fingers crossed for snow in the new year - the shiny new snow-ploughs we saw back in September need to be put to proper work!

N and I enjoyed a wonderful festive concert on Sunday, performed by the Isle of Wight Youth Concert Band, a very talented and accomplished group of young musicians who have a huge following locally.  I have attended several of their concerts in the past, but this was N's first, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it.  The programme was seasonal, with lots of opportunities for the audience to singalong with carols and Christmassy favourites.  

The senior band performed some wonderful pieces - the selection of music from 'The Nutcracker Suite' was particularly impressive, and I also really enjoyed the theme from the film 'The Polar Express'.  

In addition to the seniors (those at high school and of grade 5 proficiency and above), the concert band also has a junior section, and they took to the stage to do a couple of numbers by themselves.  They looked so tiny compared to the older teenagers; a little trombonist was actually shorter than his trombone; a tuba player who put a lot of puff into his playing; and a very talented percussionist who  was barely visible over the drum kit - the conductor couldn't see the lad over the music stand so that had to be rectified before the show could continue!  They all played with lots of enthusiasm, in fact it was obvious that everyone on stage was having a good time, as well as the audience.  The encore (a bit of a tradition, by all accounts) was 'Sleigh Ride', with seniors and juniors all together, and it was a fitting and rousing finale to a great afternoon of musical entertainment.  

On the sewing front, I am pleased to report that all reindeer have been made and are on their way to their new homes (and trees), and I have started machine quilting the borders to the quilt.  Progress is being made at last.