We talked about Vivaldi, why opera was different to a concert where people sing, why the acting looked different to what you might see in a play, why an opera performance can look either traditional or contemporary. He was really so enthusiastic about something he had slowly been learning by himself. I really wanted to cry with joy for him.

Just as the call was finished he asked a question, which I thought was great.

“What time does the support act finish?”

(RTWT)

I frequently forget that there are things a novice simply doesn’t know about opera or symphony. I remember one new attendee asking me why the conductor kept coming back to take more bows out after we had finished the concert. She had never seen that done before, having never attended a concert in her life. One woman was furious that the trumpet player left the stage during a Mahler symphony (I had to explain that he was just going back stage to play the off stage part, and that no, he didn’t just “go home because he had no more notes”.

New concert goers are always exciting to see, and they also remind us that what we do isn’t exactly just common knowledge sort of stuff all the time.