March 22 - 11:45am MT
After a much needed sleep in, the crew here is much better rested and already deep into our day's excursion to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science where we explored exhibits about dinosaurs, wildlife, and space. One of the special exhibits features dozens of lego builds of nature and wildlife, with some creations featuring well over 100,000 legos!
As exciting as the exhibits were, though, and in a very Crowden sort of way, all four of our groups gravitated (and all at the same time!) to a building space where they worked together to build different structures. We'll enjoy lunch here before heading to Boulder for our first performances of the trip.
March 22 - 3:45pm MT
Three intrepid groups wowed crowds this afternoon as the opening act for the Boulder Philharmonic. Crowden students performed Smyth, Casadesus, Shubert, and Corelli to hundreds of captivated audience members. As they played folks work in the school of music running events apologized for underestimating our students. One said, "We've had middle school students perform before and it was... cute, but kind of sad. We didn't realize that your students deserve the main stage." Even though our students may have grumbled about the space or the rented instruments, the audience surely didn't notice.
It's worth noting, too, that there was a bit of unexpected and difficult that not all of our planned performances would work in the space as fire codes prevented more than 5 instruments in the performance space. Jules was the hero of the day and opted out of the piece so the others could perform rather than having to scratch the piece all together.
March 22 - 7:15pm
This update is brought to you by the free wifi at Bartaco, a restaurant near the University that was able to accommodate a late request for dinner for nearly 30 at 6:30pm on a Sunday. Enough with the unpaid promotion...
Following the pre-show performances we were treated to a wonderful Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra Concert. This afternoon's program featured Copeland's Quiet City, Barber's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, and Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony. The Barber featured the dynamic Jennifer Koh as the violin soloist. Proof of this being a small-world, Jennifer would be visiting Crowden next week if not for our Spring Break. The first movement of the Barber ended with such gusto that the crowd all gasped with the final bow stroke.
As we packed up and departed Macky Auditorium students were approached by a number of audience members who shared their appreciation for their performance.
Soon we'll board the bus and head back to Denver. When we arrive we'll gather as a group so students can share reflections on the day as a way of unpacking and memorializing some of the things that they want to hang onto from the day. Tomorrow is an early start (out of the hotel at 7:20am!). More tomorrow!