Culture redux

   Uncle Jack and Mrs. U. J. returned to Charm City from a respite in Nags Head ten days ago and  immediately resumed their spring round of cultural activities.  (The calendar says it's spring but apparently nobody has told Mother Nature who continues to torture Baltimoreans with freezing temperatures and the occasional snow flurry even after the forsythias and dogwoods have bloomed).
    The first of two Baltimore Symphony concerts they attended last week featured a 29 year old pianist named Orion Weiss who was unknown to Uncle Jack but not to regular BSO patrons who were present twelve years ago when Weiss, who was then a 17-year-old high school student in Cleveland, was called in on 24 hours notice to substitute for the world-renowned pianist Andre Watts who cancelled out of a performance of Shostakovitch's second piano concerto.  Orion aced it and the event gave his career a huge boost and since his graduation from Juilliard  four years later he has been in great demand as a soloist with orchestras all over the world.
    The second BSO concert last Thursday evening was even more heartwarming.  It featured several dozen Baltimore public school kids who participate in the BSO's "OrchKids" program.  They joined the orchestra on stage for a performance of a specially commissioned composition based on the Pied Piper story.  They did a wonderful job and it must have been the thrill of their young lifetimes for these budding musicians.  No doubt the BSO management hopes they will all grow up to be season ticket holders.
    Sandwiched between the two BSO concerts they enjoyed a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony by a local group called the Concert Artists of Baltimore.  Somebody once made a list  of ten things every person should be lucky enough to do before dying and one of them is to hear Beethoven's Ninth performed by first-rate musicians and now Uncle Jack and Mrs. U.J. have had that inspiring pleasure.  (He is not ready to die yet, though----not until he has achieved his lifetime goal of making 50 free throws in a row).
     They almost missed a third concert on Friday when the Vinca Quartet got caught in a horrendous traffic jam while driving down I-95 from New York City.  They arrived a few minutes late and breathless but they regained their composure and played quartets by Bartok and Beethoven beautifully.  Three of the four members of the group are young ladies of such surpassing beauty that one wonders how they ever found time to practice back in their high school and college days.
    Two not-very-good plays rounded out their cultural activities for the week unless one is broadminded enough to include watching the Orioles play baseball as a form of high culture.  Uncle Jack is happy to report that the Birds are off to a splendid start under their new manager, Buck Showalter, winning their first three games against the Tampa Bay Lizards in convincing fashion.  Reality will probably set in soon enough. The home opener is tomorrow against the Detroit Tigers.

    They are counting the days until their departure for New Orleans to attend the French Quarter Festival for the umpteenth time next Thursday.  Uncle Jack is going to enjoy this one like it could be his last because when you get to his age it might very well be.  That folding chair he hauls all over the Quarter for three days gets heavier every year.

We took a stroll through the neighborhood this afternoon and found this tree abloom in the park across the street. Soon there will be hundreds more.

These are a few of the 80,000 tulips that have been planted in nearby Sherwood Gardens, waiting to burst into bloom sometime toward the end of the month.  Google Sherwood Gardens for the full story on this incredible free park maintained by residents who live in the Guilford neighborhood of Baltimore.

                          This forsythia decided not to wait for the tulips before showing off.

Tremendous progress has been made on the Johns Hopkins library addition since ground was broken back in September of last year.  We think this latest batch of columns may support the roof but that remains to be seen.

    The facade at this level will be all glass. Installing it should be an interesting process to watch.