Kelly Hall-Tompkins: 'hundreds of listeners at the Holy Apostles roared with exuberance and affirmation'

[45th Music Kitchen (Concert photos by Gregory Routt)]

Kelly Hall-Tompkins continues her performances with violinist Mark O'Connor on Sept. 29, Granville, Ohio; Oct. 1, El Paso, Texas; Oct. 3 & Oct. 24, New York City; Oct. 25, Walland, Tennessee. Today Kelly describes the 45th Music Kitchen:

45th Music Kitchen

Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen

May 26, 2010

Kelly Hall-Tompkins, violin

Helena Baillie, violin

Alexis Gerlach, cello

Amy Barston, cello

Gillian Gallagher, viola

Orlando Wells, viola

“Dear Friends of Music Kitchen,

This afternoon's performance, the 45th, since inception, was a glorious example of why I do this. Not only did we have an extraordinary ensemble of some of the finest classical musicians in the world, performing one of the greatest and my favorite works of chamber music ever created- the Brahms G major sextet, but our hundreds of listeners at the Holy Apostles roared with exuberance and affirmation - There's not a Baptist church anywhere in America that has ever had a bigger 'amen corner' than we had today!

“Today is Wednesday, so our little section of the Holy Apostles Church was shared by a Reiki massage therapist who was there for her weekly contribution to the soup kitchen clients. So our ensemble was pushed closer to a table of guests than usual. That was just perfect, because that table of clients led the entire room with their cheers and excitement. Once again, we all sprang to life even more than usual in response to so many clients that were happy to have us there. In the few minutes before we played, I went around from table to table as I always do at this location to introduce myself and invite them to listen to our performance.

“Today, unlike other times when there appear to be many skeptics to start, the tables were filled with friendly eager faces right from the beginning, with one very familiar Music Kitchen fan among them. At the table closest to us, before we played, a gentleman asked if we were going to play music of the Kronos Quartet. Another very savvy music afficionado at Holy Apostles! As we played the first movement of the Brahms, everyone at our nearest table turned to focus on us. Many listeners from other parts of the room came to stand around for a closer view. And the men lined up for a therapeutic Reiki treatment quickly became focused on the musicians as well. It's fun to watch listeners identify with different musical voices and personalities within the group.

“Before long, I saw many people swaying with the music, some even calling out their exclamations at various cadences. At the end of the first movement, the room erupted in cheers! I got up to tell everyone that they are hearing some of the world’s finest musicians and that there is more to come. A gentleman at our close by table said, 'Its not quite sonata form and I can’t catch the theme...' Again I was impressed, 'Yes you’re absolutely right, Brahms doesn't use a strict sonata form, but rather more of a “developing variation.”' 'Ah Yes!' he exclaimed, 'a developing variation; that sounds like what I heard.' It took me a semester of a music analysis class focused on Brahms chamber music to arrive at that understanding. I wondered what his musical background was and was very pleased to have a listener so in tune with and enthusiastic about the subtleties of the work. But as this exchange occurred only between movements, there was no time for an in depth discussion.

“We went on to the second movement, not slow, but not fast either- another typical Brahmsian character. We had their attention from the beginning and enjoyed illustrating the various pairings of instruments and tonal colors. Still, it is not quite the level of quiet to support a performance of the slow 3rd movement, so we skipped it and went on the last movement. The listeners were just incredibly enthusiastic from the start, such that when we ended the fast flitting of the coda with the robust final chords, the room once again erupted in the kind of applause, whoops and cheers that one might expect if some beloved sports team had scored a major point in the final moments of a game.

“It was a terrific feeling - We all beamed and laughed along with their high energy response! Naturally we couldn’t just walk away, so we quickly sat down to perform the Coda to the end again as a reprise encore, about 1 minute and a half of music repeated. This time our listeners knew what they were listening for, and quickly honed on their favorite musical lines. One man to my right half stood, pointed to the cellists and said, 'Look, look! Look at her go for it!! Go get it!'…or something of the sort. Who ever said a classical music experience is sedate and boring?? Furthermore, it is another example of the fact that classical music, performed at a high level and with passion and character, can appeal to everyone.

“After we finished, we were swarmed by lots of listeners who wanted to chat with us. Yet another of the experienced listeners came over and introduced himself as a composer. He asked that I stay in touch and gave me his email address. However, I love knowing that for the vast majority of the listeners who cheered so loudly, this was the first classical music performance they had ever heard.” “New! Music Kitchen is Now on Twitter. New! Listen to Music Kitchen Listeners talk about the concerts in their own voices: http://www.MusicKitchenNYC.org”

Sincerely,

Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Violinist/Founder/Director

45th Music Kitchen
Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen
May 26, 2010
Brahms G Major Sextet
Listeners Roared With Exuberance And Affirmation
Kelly Hall-Tompkins