Who doesn’t love a truly great dream?
As Denis Waitley says that like a fire, you can taste it, smell it, and see it from a mile away. I don’t know about you, but for me a truly great dream, actually realized, can feel impossible. Even more, a truly great dream so big you’d never dream it is far beyond our ability to even imagine. But that is what is about to come true!
How can it get better?
When I conceived the music for Oh, my son…, I knew it was for some of the most outstanding musicians I could ever hope to work with. A huge dream realized! How could that get any better, but it just did but not how you’d expect. A few days ago, I got a look at Cleveland’s Mixon Hall, where Oh, my son… will be performed this summer. It is beyond stunning, and the thought of music that came out of my heart, through the fingers and mouth of some of the most prestigious performers, into the extraordinary acoustics and evening atmosphere of this hall—well, let’s just say…well, I can’t say. Because I feel pretty speechless.
Why is this great concert hall so important?
As one observer said of a new hall, “Now, I get it! In our old hall I was an observer of the orchestra’s performance. In a hall like this I feel like I am a ‘participant’ in the performance!” But there is more.
Ever sat in Lincoln Center’s iconic Appel Room?
I have been privileged to perform in some great concert halls in my life. But I remember the evening when I walked into Lincoln Center’s iconic Appel Room for the first time and gasped. My gaze met a towering 50’ x 80’ wall of glass overlooking Central Park (near one of my favorite Indian restaurants) and the Manhattan skyline. Sitting in that nighttime splendor, staring out over David Krakauer’s amazing band into the twinkling lights of Manhattan, my ears filling with such exceptional creativity, well…it was one of the most memorable concerts of my life. I had never realized how much the environment enhanced an already rare soundscape, nor have I experienced anything near that since. However…
Guess what?!
Mixon Hall looks like a mini portrait of Appel Hall. It is one of the finest halls (in the U.S.), a 235-seat white oak-and-glass gem at the Cleveland Institute of Music with near-perfect acoustics. It sports a 47’h x 36’w glass wall behind and one to the side. Its wood walls are constructed of 294 panels of white oak dowels spaced 1/32” apart for optimal acoustic quality. Can you imagine? The reverb alone in Mixon Hall can even be adjusted by a set of special curtains, changing it from 1.0 to 1.6 at will. (A blessing for a clarinetist on a bad reed day, if you ask me!)
Have you given up on your big dream?
Dear readers, we all wait for great dreams to come true. Some visit us early on, and some unexpectedly in our twilight years, but believe me, they do come. May this post encourage all of you to keep believing beyond what you could possibly ask for or imagine because dreams too big to imagine do come true.
