Handel's Messiah

I'm sure our kids can remember the many holiday concerts and events we made them get dressed up and go with us every Christmas season. From the Boar's Head Festival at Bethlehem Lutheran, to the Saginaw Choral Society concerts to productions of The Christmas Carol or Amahl and the Night Visitors at Pit and Balcony, each year we tried to make one evening something very special during this time. Tonight was that night for Daniel and I. We headed to the Cathedral on the main plaza for a Christmas concert featuring the Youth Symphony from Plan 3 Mil, one of the poorer areas of Santa Cruz, and combined choirs from both the Catholic and Evangelical universities. We were not disappointed. The full orchestra of young people aged 9 - 23 performed Dvorak and Saint Saens. With the choral of over 75 voices Vivaldi and Handel's Messiah were performed in the packed cathdral. The applause after the Hallelujah Chorus was so intense that they performed that piece again and then closed the program with a beautiful rendition of Silent Night, which in Spanish is titled, Noche de Paz (night of peace). Bolivia right now needs peace and hopefully that can be achieved. But in spite of all the political turmoil it was pure pleasure to hear young people perform such beautiful pieces of music. Young people that are making great sacrifices to learn music and others who believe enough in them to give them that opportunity. Of course, we had to top the evening off with a stop at Picolos for some speciality cake and empanadas accompanied with rich cafe con leche. And as a consequence , that caffeine is keeping me up and it's almost 2:00 in the morning. But hey, I can sleep in in the morning!