Della unplugged from the world for a little while on Saturday.  Later that day, I came across this new display on her bedroom wall.  It says, "When Words Fail, Music Speaks."  This is a quote of her friend who arranged music her school band performed in the spring to honor the memories of the 26 innocents who lost their lives to a sick young man last December 14.  Her recalling these words from so many months ago stopped me in my tracks, but I knew better than to say anything.  She had closed her door to have her own thoughts, and I was glad to be a witness to the outcome.

Anyway, she was practicing her music for state's and was busy playing her clarinet and then listening to a recorded version to evaluate her work.  Last week, her music teacher asked her to be junior conductor next year, and her already respectable commitment to her music intensified.  

I have a tin ear, and I am illiterate when it comes to music (beyond knowing what I like).  Still, I knew enough when she was in middle school to put my foot down with a solid "no" when she said she wanted to give up the clarinet in favor of basketball.  I told her she was a musician and she wasn't quitting.  I was the bad guy for a while, but a new day came.
Today, we went to hear the Waterbury Symphony at Naugatuck Valley Community College.  From the lobby, we say this Victor Hugo quote:  "Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.”  Aha, I thought.  Her friend did his homework, and she took note.

 What the band can do:

 Wind Ensemble

 Carol for Another Christmas- http://youtu.be/eXnjSyD6Ab8

 Jingle Bell Fantasy - http://youtu.be/azQwgx6Wmek
Concert Band

 Jekyll & Hyde - http://youtu.be/yFWgDt8OgOA 

 Cancion de Navidad - http://youtu.be/np6BkBQXVYc

 The Light Eternal - http://youtu.be/K-Mesndg-QQ
Special Performance
Carol of the Bells (Pentatonix) - http://youtu.be/ZqZKvQQjE0A
Treble Choir

 Mary, Did You Know? - http://youtu.be/lziweOF414s

 And the Angels Sang - http://youtu.be/V4UNClnMtvw

 Merry Madrigal - http://youtu.be/3e01Dq29ZHU

 Our World Tuesday