carnegie hall

April 30th, 2024

This week, Emma and I went to go see a choral music performance at Carnegie Hall. I had never been before, despite the fact that Carnegie Hall is one of the most prestigious concert venues in the world and it’s only a nine minute walk from my office. A couple that lives in Emma’s building are part of a choir (as a hobby, I believe they have day-jobs), and they invited her. Tickets were $20, so we figured: why not? It’ll be a fun Monday night activity.

Side note: I always imagined that performing in Carnegie Hall was an impossible achievement reserved only for the very best musicians, but I was surprised to learn that almost anyone can book out a performance hall. It didn’t really diminish the grandeur for me, but I found this bit of info interesting (I also understood why we were able to get $20 dollar tickets).

I went in without any expectations, as Emma bought the tickets and planned the evening, so I didn’t even know what we were going to be hearing! It ended up being the music of Ola Gjeilo, a Norwegian composer, and it was mostly choral music accompanied by the orchestra. I really liked the performance — the music resembled a fantasy soundtrack from something like The Lord Of The Rings or The Elder Scrolls, and I love that kind of nerdy stuff. I was in a weird dream-like state the entire time, but I attribute that to some slight sleep deprivation from a busy weekend combined with the historic ambiance of the venue. The performance was short: only an hour and a half or so.

The point of all this is that I sometimes forget I have a ton of world-class arts and culture within my reach, just by virtue of living in New York City. It’s easy for me to get caught up in routines: trying to excel at work, maintaining meaningful friendships, staying active, sleeping well. This week’s performance was a gentle reminder to make sure I experience these wonderful things while I still can.