Music in the Trees

This Sunday we had the pleasure of playing a concert at the beautiful Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. This gorgeous habitat is also home to a very interesting series with music ranging from early music to celtic fiddles and every type of classical music imaginable. Especially after the first big snowfall of the season, the arboretum was stunningly peaceful. As we looked out from our venue, we could see majestic trees weighed down by the snow and ice, creating the perfect setting for our program.

As usual, we had an interesting mix of sounds for our audience, including the Piston Divertimento (from Black Violet Act I), the complete David Maslanka Wind Quintet No. 2 (heard in The Weaver's Tales), as well as pieces by Mark Fish, and Mason Bates.

Something I absolutely never tire of is hearing things like "I could totally picture this beautiful scene while you played." I love our audiences because they are so willing to go on a journey with us. It was a risk to program unfamiliar music in this venue, but we were bombarded by new fans at the end. Such a privilege! It is an honor to serve as ambassadors of the music we believe in, and to see audiences make connections with it is what we're all about.

No rest for us here at Fifth House, though. We are deep in rehearsals for our upcoming WFMT broadcast from the Mayne Stage on Sunday Dec. 19th (quintets by Kevin Puts and Ralph Vaughan Williams), and believe it or not, the next Weaver's Tale. No time to lose!

Adam is the pianist and Director of Artistic Programming for Fifth House Ensemble. Fifth House Ensemble