First of all, speaking of "series", congrats to the Braves winning the 2021 World Series. They wanted it more. I'm happy for Freddiee Freeman finally getting his ring after his undying loyalty to the Braves.
Anyways! Back to thee matter at hand...
So yeah, this weekend was quite an experience. I had our Halloween with my brass ensembles, the 3rd annual Halloween concert, to be precise. It went pretty well, although there were some...adjustments I needed to make. You see, we had two members of my high school ensemble that were sick on the concert day, so I ended up bringing in another student not normally in my group to play with us to cover one of the parts. I covered the other part, which left the ensemble without a conductor, something my students had never done before for this program. And it wasn't an easy program, either! I had them doing Beethoven 5, Mvt. 1, as well as Bach's "Come, Sweet Death"! I'm insane to give them this music, aren't I!? And yes, even more insane to trust them to be able to play it without a conductor. Or, so it would seem...
...That's right, they pulled it out. They held it together quite well, actually. It was a perfect performance, but still, they played great, and put on a show. Here's the Beethoven...
...and here's the Bach:
Pretty great, huh? I'm so proud of these guys. And I made sure I emphasize how impressive it was for them to perform this well under the circumstances. That's why I always tell them, "be ready for anything".
Take care and value music.