Sunday, Krakow

Sunday was a "singer day" for me...unfortunately I missed a few great things--a lecture with Dr. Berk on Weitzman and Ben Gurion, and a tour of the Old City, cathedral and Wawel Castle (so you will have to inquire from the others). The joy of my day was a rehearsal and concert called "American Songbook" in Philharmonic Hall. The hall seats about 800 and is just beautiful, yet another European treasure of a house. The Krakow Philharmonic plays there (as the name suggests). The violinist in the band explained to me that the hall had suffered a fire about 5 years ago, and the renovations are still in progress. Unfortunately, the organ was lost in the fire and has had to be rebuilt.
I got to sing "Over the Rainbow" and "Somewhere" from West Side Story. It was my first time performing Over the Rainbow, and frankly, I was very nervous! Probably the most popular American song, and I thought, watch me forget words...or not live up to peoples' favorite interpretation (my personal favorite is that Hawaiian guy's recording-the guy with the crazy long name you cannot pronounce). We had a really nice band--piano, bass, keyboards, electric violin and drums. The violinist is a composer and apparently really famous in Poland. one person likened him to Joh Williams and anotehr to Mick Jagger...hmmm.
The concert was basically "greatest hits" and was a blast, both to sing and to listen to. I was in heaven. Then mom and I ate in the main square, which was stunning, and had a really nice meal. The sun didn't set until maybe 9:30.