This past Sunday was a gift. ‘Rona Quartet met in person for the first time since mid-November!
We chose to set up under a group of trees in Portage Park. It is the same spot where we played our first public outdoor-rehearsal. We stood in our regular safe-distance formation, with our music stands approximately 6 feet apart and our cases tucked in at the base to keep them steady in the wind. Our little sign “‘Rona Quartet, rehearsal in progress” was staked in the grass beside us.
I think we were all eager for our first few notes together. It felt like that moment just before you sit after being on your feet all day. Then you finally sit. Your body relaxes, your mind calms and for us, all our tensions released into a sigh of beautiful sound…except..we could barely hear each other! We had a good laugh. Over the past 4 months we have been rehearsing and recording solely through the app Acapella. We had become used to hearing only through headphones and earbuds. Thankfully, it only took a few moments for us to adjust.
We spent a little over 2 hours together, working through the repertoire for our next concert. And, like usual, ideas for events beyond Hello Spring! on April 16th are already proving in the oven. During those couple of hours we saw people out running, walking their dogs, and riding bikes. A few people stopped to say hi, some asked if they could take videos or pictures. One person even wanted to join us with some makeshift drumsticks. Then we all went home feeling a little better than we did a few hours before.
It will be written here often, how music-making has been therapeutic for each of us. Bringing happiness to others as well is something we didn’t plan but for which we are grateful.
‘Rona Quartet 