2008 Oregon Symphony Gospel Christmas

Remember this post? Once again this year, we went to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall for the Oregon Symphony Gospel Christmas. This year, however, I took better pictures. Full symphony with a 100-voice gospel choir. I'm totally unqualified to describe this, but I hope the pictures will show a little of it.

We sat on the second row right by the bass part of the string section. During intermission, I went upstairs and found Jen (Anne-Marie's cousin) and Ben Fackler who had seats at the front of the balcony. They had already seen a friend of theirs a few rows back and were talking to him and his wife. That's when something bizarrly funny happened.

"Do you like your seats?" I asked.
"We love them! Where are you sitting?"
"In the second row. But it's really the first row that they sell tickets for, since the front row is reserved for VIP's."

At this point the aforementioned friend looked at me with a very strange expression.

"What did you say?"
"I said the front row is reserved for executives and donors. You know: VIP's."
"Oh. I thought you said the front row was reserved for the Vietnamese!"

Then he started laughing and couldn't stop. All I could do was walk away from that dead-end conversation.

T-B: Strings, The Brown Sisters, Ashley Minnieweather, Snowflakes over the beautiful detail work of the Schnitz, Charles Floyed directing the orchestra and choir