Month: February 2026

The CSO Concert

The CSO Concert on Thursday was one of the best I ever attended! It started with the composition “To See the Sky: an exegesis for orchestra,” by Joel Thompson.

Composer Joel Thompson credits the inspiration for his orchestral work To See the Sky to a single line from the song “Thunderclouds,” written by jazz vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant: “Sometimes you have to look into a well to see the sky.” 

To See the Sky, which had its world premiere in March 2024 by the New York Philharmonic, under Jaap van Zweden, is Thompson’s longest orchestral work to date. “It gives an indication of his future music,” said Patrick Summers, artistic and music director of the Houston Grand Opera, where Thompson is composer-in-residence through 2027. “With no hyperbole, To See the Sky is music of extraordinary beauty and deep content. To hear an orchestra of such dazzling quality as the New York Philharmonic bring Joel’s imagination to full life was a very moving thrill.”

Commissioned by the American Composers Forum, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival and Bravo! Vail Music Festival, To See the Sky will be performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, under Jaap van Zweden, in concerts Feb. 12-15. 

Thompson has said of his work: “The movements outline a non-linear journey toward healing.” “He has achieved this in every possible way,” said Summers in a video interview posted by Houston Grand Opera. “The listener’s emotional journey of To See the Sky is more than simply satisfying; it is cathartic and self-realization. Quite an achievement. 

“Primary among his many gifts is an ability to juxtapose several musical styles simultaneously, forming a melodic and colorful musical narrative that anyone can understand, but which also challenges virtuoso musicians like these,” Summers said. “To See the Sky was 20 minutes in length, and the musical material could easily have been twice that. One wanted it to last longer. Large-scale structures like opera are clearly in his DNA, based on a work like this. 

The composer himself was in the audience and came up on stage!

And next was an absolutely stunning performance of Himari, a fourteen-year-old prodigy, and I don’t know what to say, because no words can describe her! Fortunately, I just found on YouTube the Max Bruch concert she was performing on Thursday, an

I completely agree with one of the comments on YouTube: There are violin prodigies then there is Himari.

I can’t believe I was there, in the first row, experiencing her magic!

The Outsiders

This week was full of amazing cultural discoveries, and each time I felt like everyone except for me knew about it!

On Wednesday, I saw the musical The Outsiders, and I went there not knowing anything about the book. Meanwhile, the story of this book is remarkable – Susan Hinton wrote it when she was only 19, and The Outsiders is considered to be the Number One in Young Adult literature. Well, I didn;t go to school in the US! There are movies and theatrical performances based on this book – and the musical. It’a one of these shows which make you think: how come people wrote this amazing literature many years ago, and the world is still violent?!

I added the book to my reading list!

***

Recently, I had two conversations that I keep thinking about. Folks with whom I talked were right: it is becoming increasingly difficult to express your opinion in public settings, especially at work. I understand why many people would rather avoid charged political conversations; in the days when just saying “DEI” sounds rebellious, those in good jobs want to keep their jobs and do not want to give their bosses any reason to reprimand them.

I get it. But here I am, in a privileged position of being able to retire any time, and pretty much fearless, and wanting to step up. I told those with whom I was talking that the change can only come through people. I saw it so many times canvassing, and I heard even more of those stories from Anna. If not now, then when? If we are not speaking up, then who will? And if nobody speaks up, how can the change happen?

In both conversations, the people I spoke with said that the only safe space these days is with family. Others said it takes time to build trust with people, and that one should speak only on neutral topics until that trust is established. And once again, it’s hard to disagree with that statement, but I can’t stop wondering why people with racist views do not hesitate to share them publicly, and do not care about making other people uncomfortable.

It’s very sad to see how fast fear can become dominant in people’s thoughts, and how we are always just one step away form succumbing to this fear. And I can also see it in Russia that when the whole country is afraid, a dictator can do whatever they want. I hope that we won’t let it happen!

I Will Never Stop Admiring…

Cosi fan Tutte

This is a very long opera! I was back home close to midnight, so even though I went straight to bed, I got just four hours of sleep. I do not regret – the voices and the acting – both were great, and I was not even against the idea of semi-modernizing the settings. I just think they should have been more consistent, and if they moved the action to Maryland, they should also have said 1900-something, not 1790. Especially since they had the old-fashion automobiles siluettes on the background :).

Three Morning Commutes

Since public transportation ridership is rapidly returning to pre-pandemic levels (I know many doubt this, but I experience it every day :)), I had to switch to the earliest commuting wave. When I started my current job, I used to take the 7:15 or 7:30 train, and occasionally the 7:00 AM train. However, these days, there is no chance to find an open seat on eitgher of them, so I switched to 6:30 AM, which was luckily added about a year and a half ago, When it was just added, there were barely five people waiting for it on the platform, but now there is a small crowd, and I have to rush in to find an open seat. And if, for whatever reason, I am not making this train, I am taking the L.

On Monday, I took a day off because I needed to do several conference-related and mom-related things, and I left the house at an uncharacteristic 7:45 AM. A CTA attendant at Jarvis station was visibly surprised to see me at the wrong time :). It was very interesting to observe the crowd on later trains, especially closer to the Loop. Early morning is for service workers, people working shifts and some occasional crazy IT like me, or contractors all all kinds, trying to start their billable hours as early as possible. Later, it’s a time for traders and the rest of the IT, especially working parents, who have no choice of commute time. And an hour later felt like students and freelancers commute. I was surprised to see that L-trains were even more crowded that an hour earlier, and I think it’s the Metra/CTA difference. Metra is officially out of the rush hour by 8:30, but the CTA rush hour continues. That’s the loudest and the friendlies crowd of all, with the least smarphone usage during commute, if you can believe it. They actually talk!

Mom’s Updates

Mom’s God-given case manager L. visited her on Friday. She texted me an apology that she might be 15 minutes delayed, ended up being on time, and texted me again that she would wait for me to come. Pure angel.

Gave both of us a million hugs, told me how to talk to the agency, and increased mom’s help hours to 83/month. Mom finally started to realize that this is going to be a huge assistance for her, so now, instead of blaming me for “I didn’t react properly” on her fainting episode, she tells me that “I didn’t explain to her” what I was planning to do.

On Monday, I took her to her doctor for the check-up. I was not surprised that he didn’t find anything wrong with her in general, but I was surprised that there was nothing visibly wrong with her left leg. All neurological reactions were fine. He said that, obviously, fainting is not normal, but three weeks later, it’s hard to tell what was wrong.

Mom was very happy with the results of this visit and immediately went on a long walk with her caregiver. The good part about her ordeal is that she came to turms we needing more help, and hopefully she won’t be getting out of the house on her own.

The CheckOut Piano Series

The Checkout is our new “local” venue. I’ve been there twice already (here is one of the posts), and when they announced the Sunday Matinee Piano series, I decided to take my mom there, hoping it would be less stressful for her than going to the CSO.

The concert was brilliant! Same as during my previous visit, I enjoy the unique opportunity to hear an exceptional performer in a very intimate setting. The performer, Feiyi Liao, is a doctoral student at Northwestern, and he performs not only with exceptional techniques but also with a heart and soul.

The program was “classic” (Mozart, Gershwin, and Franz Liszt), but each piece sounded like “for the first time”. I chose the seats so that my mom could see the performer’s fingers over the keyboard (if that’s not the case, the concert is lost for her). She liked it :).

This Yamaha concert grand was donated to the CheckOut by Piano Forte. Beautiful sound, and the primary reason for the Solo Piano Series

***

The upcoming Time Magazine issue will be all about Minneapolis, and I just received an article from that issues in the mailing list. It started like this:

The memorial for Alex Pretti, who was shot and killed by federal agents on Jan. 24, has grown to span several parking spots on Nicollet Avenue in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis. It’s now a mountain of carnations, prayer candles, poems, and notes. One message pleads: “America, do not let their deaths be in vain – We the People.”

When I read the last sentence, I was so close to crying that I couldn’t read any further. That’s how my thoughts are circling non-stop. The moment I am so proud of people rising up against the injustice, I immediately think: why did it have to be people losing their lives to make half of the country finally rise in protest? And the next thought is always the one from that article that made me cry: do not let their deaths be in vain!!!

***

And once again, I heard from one of my European friends that “they do not know what’s happening in the US.” The same story again: my French friend L. messaged me that her daughter saw a TV show about the ICE raids and asked whether I was safe and could I be arrested. I replied: no chance, there are too many of us! When we talked a couple of days later, and I described to her our situation, she said: Thank you! Here, we do not know anything, and do not see anything!

And once again, I am wondering why this silence. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Tulips from My CSA Delivery

My CSA offered tulips as add-ons, and I ordered a small bouquet of the Monarch Beauty. I love them! They are getting more and more beautiful every day!