Saxin'

I am in the middle of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. This year, because of my membership in the FC Band, I was granted free membership to the festival wind ensemble. It has been a lot for my left arm to take, but it's amazing to see how my playing has changed in just one week of daily playing after a two-month hiatus.

We played in the Golden Days parade yesterday, which was fun. For the first time EVER, we had a full sax section : 2 altos, a tenor, and a bari up on the flatbed truck. It was AWESOME :)

Now rewind. Our tuba player, Glen, is one of those jolly grandpa types. Sweet mixed with a kick. He and his wife, Nancy, are active parts of the music community, particularly this summer festival. While Glen was practicing with the band on Monday, Nancy passed away. Because of their several decade involvement with the music festival, Nancy had become a dear member of their group. When we were asked to play at her memorial service, I have to admit I wasn't thrilled. I am one of those "sympathy" criers. Even if I don't know the person, I see people I know feeling sad and makes me sad. I didn't want to fall apart on stage. But now I'm glad I did it. Following a slide show, we played Frank Ticheli's version of Amazing Grace. Maybe it was the better acoustics of the concert hall, but I've never heard something this beautiful come from our group. Most of the band has been playing together for awhile and they all knew Glen and Nancy well. They poured all their sadness and love into the piece and it truly sang. I hope Nancy was listening from heaven, because love and admiration filled to the hall to the rafters. I was honored to participate in celebrating your life. Farewell.