All You Need Is Love

Roll up, roll up for the mystery tour! A night full of Beatles music awaited us last night as we went to hear the White Album Ensemble accompanied by the Santa Cruz County Symphony. I am a serious Beatles fan and have many of their CD's so this was definitely going to be fun!

But first...we went out for an al fresco dinner at a yummy crepe place in Santa Cruz.

Delicious honey wheat bread, crunchy salads, sliced fruit and crepes - you couldn't ask for more (well, maybe a little more, as you'll soon see).

We also celebrated Lys graduating with her AA degree.
How appropriate that this English bobby sign would be outside the restaurant door. We were definitely in the mood for Beatles music now!
We had one more stop before the concert -- Starz Cupcake Shop! (Yep, we could ask for a bit more!) These cupcakes are absolutely decadent! We were there toward the end of the day so some were sold out, but we managed to find something, of course. The owner explained to us that the recipes have been handed down for generations and there on the wall were lovely photographs of her mother and grandmothers.

At last we drove downtown, parked the car and walked to the Civic Auditorium. The weather was absolutely gorgeous yesterday!


This accordion player entertained the crowd until the doors opened.Waiting for the concert to begin....
Some people were so into the spirit of the Beatles that they wore their 60's garb -- tie dyed t-shirts, love beads, flowers in their hair, and in this guy's case -- a Sgt. Pepper's Band jacket.

Here's a list of the musical numbers in store for us. It was hard to pick out a favorite. All were excellent, but the symphony trumpet player did a splendid job on Penny Lane and the orchestra and vocalist did a fantastic rendition of I am the Walrus.

You realized how many of the Beatle's songs were accompanied by an orchestra. The vocalist for John Lennon's songs was especially spot on for sounding like John.

A few people danced in front of the stage.
Intermission revealed a beautiful evening sky.All you need is love -- and ain't that the truth!

Music In My Soul

Music is a big part of our lives. Ash plays piano and flute, and took violin lessons in her younger days. She was first chair flutist in three different youth orchestras. Lys plays piano and guitar (both electric and her dad's old acoustic), and played clarinet in youth orchestra. She was even in hand bells one semester. She also has a nice singing voice. As for me, I took a few guitar lessons when I was young, but mainly have stayed with piano over the years.

Music brings us together -- we appreciate all kinds of music. So last Sunday we went to hear the Santa Cruz County Symphony perform their Romantic Rhapsodies concert. It consisted of three beautiful selections:

Adagio for Strings by Barber
Violin Concerto by Tchaikovsky
Third Symphony "Scottish" by Mendelssohn

We were treated to the talent of Tessa Lark, a young concert violinist who played her solos to perfection! It amazes me when someone so young has such amazing talent. I liken her to an Olympic athlete -- many are good, some great, but a few select are beyond measure. The program noted:

2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the great American composer, Samuel Barber. We feature our string section in his moving “Adagio for Strings.” The emotionalism continues with Klein composition winner, Tessa Lark, in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. The concert concludes with Mendelssohn’s melodious Third Symphony, “Scottish.”

Scroll down and hit the pause button (it looks like double ll) on my auto playlist on the right menu of my blog. Then come back and hit the play arrow to enjoy the beautiful Adagio for Strings here:

Close your eyes, let the peace and beauty fill your soul. This is life.