I Played My Violin in Carnegie Hall!

I Played My Violin in Carnegie Hall!

• 7.18.2019

Someone pinch me.  I got to check off a once in a lifetime bucket list item by performing in Carnegie Hall Friday night!!!   And with my mom nonetheless.  It still feels surreal.

I also got to fan girl over the violinist Jenny Oaks Baker in person too.  She was there just four feet from me during both rehearsal and during the concert.  The rehearsal in the cultural hall below the LDS Temple in Manhattan was probably one of my favorite parts of the whole trip, honestly.  All the orchestra members from all five MCO locales gathered in one place.  It was huge.  It was loud.  It was fun.  After the concert at Carnegie, we celebrated by going out for gelato at Grom.  And guess who was there in line with her girlfriends in front of us?  Jenny Oaks Baker!  So I can pretty much claim we got dessert together, right?  Haha.

I was also awed by the sopranist, Erin Morley.  After performing the Doll Aria, she stayed in character, hanging her head and arms as if she was a tired mechanical doll on stage.  The conductor didn't know what to do!  It was hilarious.  Erin is definitely a performer.

Take me back to do it all over again.  I love making music.

But that's not the end of the story...

Unfortunately, while I got to perform in Carnegie Hall on Friday night with the Idaho and Texas groups, the concert on Saturday night for the Utah and California groups was cancelled.  Break my heart!  The concert was cancelled due to a blackout in Manhattan that lasted hours.  All that sacrifice of time and money for a dream crushed.  What are the chances of that happening?  New York City hasn't seen a blackout like that in fifteen years!  It was also the first time in the history of Carnegie Hall that a concert was cancelled due to a blackout.

However, I'd like to believe it wasn't a coincidence at all.  I'd like to believe God had his divine hand in it.  After delivering the sad news of the cancelled concert, Brandon Stewart stood up and said, "We're going to leave this city with 'I Believe in Christ'... and we're going to let it rip."  The videos show just how powerful that moment was!  Thousands of people getting off dark subway routes, walking through the city, or peeking their heads through the windows of adjacent buildings stopped to watch and hear the message of hope and faith in Jesus Christ.  The message has been shared a million times over now.  Wow.

This is exactly why I feel the Millennial Choirs and Orchestra are worth my time and effort.  I get to be a part of something bigger than myself.          

^^My mom and me outside Carnegie Hall in New York City!^^

^^Sitting with my super cute stand partner, Haylie.^^