On Friday Jessi, Henry, and Vika came over for a lovely play date.
I then called Abe and asked if there was any way we could go to the Sasha Boldachev concert at Temple Square. Anamae, Lydia’s harp teacher, has had the concert info posted for a while, and even though I didn’t know anything about Sasha, I wanted to go.
I believe this desire was divinely planted. Anamae often has upcoming concert info posted, and I usually just take a wistful glance at it and figure it doesn’t work with bedtime. For whatever reason, this time around I felt an almost visceral urge to attend.
Anyway, of course, Abe said we’d make it happen. He took Clarissa, Mary, and Ammon to his parents’ home in the Avenues while Lydia and I went to the Assembly Hall, my favorite building on Temple Square.
Once the concert started, I knew that God had planted the desire in my heart to attend. The whole concert, from start to finish, was a gift. It brought me to tears to see such an abundance of talent poured out onto one beautiful soul. I felt like I was looking at the Pieta for the first time. I know for a fact it’s the first time I’ve heard the harp played like that in person. In the two short years Lydia has been playing the harp, we have been to a fair number of harp concerts, and I have amassed and listened to an even fairer amount of harp music, but never, never have I heard anything like what I heard on Friday.
My favorite piece was the Sheherazade. This YouTube video doesn’t capture the exhilaration of seeing and hearing this in person, but it’s an approximation, I guess:
After the Shererazade, Sasha Boldachev played us a piece he had composed for President Monson when he heard that our prophet had passed away. Sasha is not LDS, and I was so touched that he would do something so heartfelt and kind for our people. I actually cried during that piece.
It was such a spectacular concert. I am going to stop writing about it because I just can’t do it justice.
While Lydia and I were at the concert, Abe and the kids had a great time with Tom and Suzanne. The kids were so happy to see their Baps and Bapa!
