Go ahead- make my day
As I was walking through the 59th street station today, I heard some music.
And I walked towards it, and I found a cellist playing the G major suite (fuck yeah Bach). I stood around for a while and listened (he was quite good, actually). I let a couple of trains (which I had originally intended on taking) pass by. We eventually got to talking; it turns out that he’s working on a masters’ at MSM and cello-busking to make money in the meantime. And as people came and went through the station, a few stopped to listen, all who listened gave money, but most kept going on to their trains. An interesting trend emerged, though- only adults with kids stopped to listen. All the adults with kids stopped because their kids all turned around and stared or pulled or pointed or otherwise demonstrated fascination with this guy and his cello. Every. Little. Kid that came by wanted to stop and listen, and a few danced around or clapped or pointed at him. The adults who stopped with them seemed pleased with the performance, too, but my favorite bit was this: one particular kid (4 or 5 maybe, a black girl with her hair in four ponytails) walked up to a few feet from the cellist (with her dad behind her, of course) and mock-conducted.
Best. Thing. Ever.
Her dad gets some sort of parenting award, seriously. She looked so happy, and it made cello-guy happy, and four-year-olds who know what conductors are or do just make me squee.
I love these kinds of performances. It’s usually great music, it’s free (but always good to drop a few bucks in the case), and they really can brighten up a person’s day.
This reminds me of an article in the WashPo two years ago about Joshua Bell going incognito as a subway musician in the DC Metro. Interesting piece. Probably one of the only times Chaconne will ever be played by a master in a subway.
Reblogged from cream-and-stars July 3rd, 2009 at 4:28 pm 13 notes #music