The Stephen F. Austin Symphony Orchestra.
I wish I knew how to describe the experience of listening to music in a concert hall. When I close my eyes, the music becomes a physical thing that moves around the auditorium, whispering at my shoulder, nestling into my arms like a long-lost friend.
Watching music being played in front of you is so much different than listening to a recording. It’s like you can see the years of training and the countless hours of practicing that went into creating this singular event. You very literally get a front-row seat to the accumulation of the musicians’ hard work. They leave an impression of their souls on stage.
I interviewed a member of the band before going to the concert. Micheal Cumo is a Senior at Stephen F. Austin State University who plays both trumpet and piano. He spoke animatedly about his passion for music, saying that it was his “drive to play music” as the reason why he had joined the symphony orchestra. In college, a lot of the time when you ask people why they are doing something, you get the response that such-and-such parents had expectations of them. Or that it will look good on their resume. I personally find Cumo’s answer refreshing.
I also asked him why he would encourage others to come to the concerts and about the importance of going to these kinds of events: “..It’s important because you kind of get a sense of what music started out as and you know how it evolved over the years,” said Cumo. It is a strange idea for most of us to think of the popular music on the radio stemmed from the production of music in concert halls like the Cole center.
If you want to be filled with the powerful and passionate music that is produced by our very own school of music I would suggest checking them out. Come out relax and listen to some good music. And yes, this does count as self-care.