I was in the presence of Clair Huxtable, and all I got was this lousy blurry picture

Yes, indeed... that blurry picture is, indeed, Phylicia Rashad at a podium. How on Earth did I manage to get in her presence, you may ask? A few weeks back, a friend passed me the Kennedy Center magazine with a free concert circled. She asked me to pass it on to the Maestro thinking that he'd either like it or know people who would be interested. The concert was entitled the 105 Voices of History, and it was comprised of singers from all of the nation's HBCUs. It was like kismet because a day later, the Maestro got an e-mail from a friend who was intimately involved with the event inviting us to the VIP reception ahead of time. Yes, yes, my boyfriend is a big deal!

I generally hate driving into the Kennedy Center. They charge you $17 for concert parking, so I generally Metro in. The Maestro figured that we didn't want to Metro in our black-tie-optional fabulousness, so he sprung for parking. I'm so grateful that we went to the VIP reception. Since we did, we didn't have to wait in line for the free tickets. By the time we arrived at 4:15 pm, the line was seriously around the entire Center for people trying to get into the 6 pm concert. We went upstairs to the Terrace Restaurant and sipped wine and munched on really tiny appetizers while we rubbed elbows with choral directors. We were simultaneously subjected to a bunch speeches from people (mostly corporate sponsors) who helped the night happen.

With 20 minutes to spare, we were kind of famished and wound up running to the KC Cafe to grab a more substantial meal. I ate chicken fingers in my ball gown. This is a fact for which I am very proud. It's something I can cross off of my bucket list.



The concert was actually sung very well. Those 105 singers, I'm guessing, are mostly music majors. They sang music composed by dead white guys (Handel, Haydn, et al), music composed by black guys writing in the classical Western style, and spirituals and gospel songs. It would've been the perfect length if there wasn't so much talking in between. I'm not talking about the banter in between sets from Ms. Rashad. That was heavenly. I'm talking about all of the pomp and circumstance from all of the other people. I understand that it's necessary. Corporations donate money to the arts and they want to be recognized for it so that people go out and buy their stuff. It still made for a lengthy evening with no intermission.

We still left with smiles on our faces, as you can see.



Especially towards the end, the 105 Voices of History Choir sang some of my favorites. Especially this one with the composer at the harp:



I was really honored to be invited (even if it was at the Maestro's arm candy... that's practically my third job), and hope to go again next year. I'm sure by then, they will have ironed some of the kinks out. I look forward to hopefully going again next year. It sounds like they're going to make it an annual kind of thing.