We didn’t get to do a Christmas concert last year. So tonight felt even more special.
I missed it. I’ve played the clarinet in wind bands for fifteen years. I’ve always done a Christmas concert. So last year felt strange without one. We couldn’t do one, still locked down. Ww recorded something, but it wssnt the same.
There wasn’t that indescribable feeling. Of being together, one heart in a hundred bodies. Playing some incredible tunes, and having fun, enjoying every note. And feeling the music seep through my soul, spreading magic and joy. Being cocooned by the band, sound embracing me from all sides. It makes me smile, my soul serenaded by song, each note rich and beautiful, particularly from the saxophones behind me. The pure joy, euphoria that bubbles within me, as I put my heart and soul into every note, breathing chords as if they will be my last. Feeling alive, as if nothing can stop me, as the applause repeats and reverberates.
Here, we create our own little universe. A small pocket, away from the busy world outside. We can just be, for an hour or two. We don’t even have to be festive. There is plenty of music to enjoy, without it being another dreaded Christmas Carol. For a while, we gather friends and families together, tell a thousand stories, revealing hidden worlds the audience never knew existed. Of love, loss, adventure, kingdoms far and near, and joy.
Afterwards, the world seems a bit better. Christmas doesn’t seem so daunting, when I’ve done a concert. I can take whatever it throws at me, reminded of the music we played.
I’m glad we got to do it this year. We almost didn’t. New restrictions loomed over our concert date, and confined a trumpet soloist in Spain. With new rules coming into force tomorrow, I’m glad we did it tonight. I just hope we can do it again next year.
