Last night, Summer came to visit. Her cousin, a music composition major at University of the Pacific, was giving his senior recital--a couple of hours of his original compositions, performed by friends and fellow music majors. I had agreed to tag along and give her a fold-out sofa to sleep on for the night.
The recital was great--her cousin is a talented young man with wonderful imagination. He composed a short symphony, basing each movement on a different elephant from P.A.W.S.*, where he volunteers every summer. Each movement introduced a different elephant, each with its own unique personality. It was a moving and lovely piece of music.
What wasn't so lovely was the group of music majors sitting behind us.
UOP has a fairly prestigious music conservatory. These kids are talented, they are dedicated. They should be proud of the fact that they got into such a distinguished school. And they should know better than to talk through a performance, even if it is "just" their peers up there. Especially if it is their peers.
I am quick to get peeved at rudeness in a public place, whereas Summer is pretty laid-back most of the time. By the time intermission rolled around, however, even Summer was an unhappy camper. We muttered back and forth about the non-stop chatter in our ears. Finally, at the end of Intermission, Summer turned around and looked at the guys. In her usual, "I can be friends with anyone" voice (it's a talent she has), she said, "Hey, are you guys music majors?"
"Yeah." The guys sounded pleased to admit this.
"Then you know about concert etiquette."
She turned back around as the instrumentalists on stage finished tuning and we enjoyed the rest of the concert in blissful silence.
*If you haven't, take a look at the link--what a wonderful place these people are running!
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