Lucca and performance

Today was a day of exploring the small town of Lucca.  The walled city was full of quaint shops, lovely cathedrals, and a lively join performance with the Corpo Musicale "Giacomo Puccini" band.  Travelers were in small groups most of the day prior to the performance, so many of the photos I have now are of the my group, however, I'll add more as the chaperones share them with me.

The performance was in the beautiful Auditorium San Romano, a repurposed cathedral.  The North Central ensemble performed a full concert for a large audience, including the members of the other band.  Following the NC performance, the Corpo Musicale "Giacomo Puccini" band performed a complete concert which we had the pleasure of attending.  At the conclusion of the concert, the two ensembles joined together for performances of both national anthems. 

It was really a special performance as our American musicians united with the Italian musicians to perform together.  When we were gathering with the musicians right before the performance, one of the Italian gentlemen tried to converse with me, asking if I spoke Italian.  "No," I said, and he replied back that his English was not good either.  It occurred to me at that moment what a special language music is because although we could not converse with one another, we were able to join together with no rehearsal and create music.  I replied back to him, "No, we speak music!"  A large smile crept across his face and said "Yes, yes, we speak music!" 

Another fun event today was the joining together of family who are normally separated by an ocean.  Some of Grace's Italian family members who live in the surrounding area were able to attend the performance.  Thanks to them for making the trip to attend the concert.  It was a special moment to be able to perform for them.

As I was surrounded by musicians from both countries, taking selfies together, laughing and trying to find space to stand to perform with room for the shared music stands I was reminded of how lucky we are to be here.  To those who made great sacrifices of time and money to make the trip possible, thank you.  To the chaperones who have traveled with us to make the trip possible, thank you.  Tomorrow we will say "ciao" to Florence and head south to Siena and to our final destination, Rome.