THE VIEW FROM HERE | I didn't fall in love with the Symphony,I fell in love with someone who did.
09/04/26
I didn't fall in love with the Symphony. I fell in love with someone who did. More than twenty years later, the music has become part of home.
I didn't fall in love with the Symphony,I fell in love with someone who did. More than twenty years later, the music has become part of home.
Twenty plus years ago, before Michael, I had never sat through an orchestra performance. My ear ran from hip-hop to jazz, not classical strings. He'd held the same Boston Symphony Orchestra seats for years, so I too became a subscriber. The music didn't convert me overnight, but I loved listening to it.
When we moved to St. Petersburg, we did what we always do. Found our seats again, this time at The Mahaffey Theater and the Florida Orchestra.
This past spring gave us one of those evenings that reminds me why these nights are so wonderful. We started at Sonata, the restaurant overlooking Tampa Bay and the theater lobby below. A quiet dinner before the lights dim. A pianist playing soft music. The performance was close to sold out, as these usually are. People dress up. Families bring children of every age, and somehow they all know how to sit still and listen.
At intermission, everyone spills into the lobby with a glass of wine, and you find yourself catching up with old friends or striking up conversation with people you've never met. The love of music is the common denominator.
Afterward, we had the luxury of walking a few blocks home to our downtown condo, the night warm, the music still sitting with us.
I have lived in cities with symphonies that outrank this one on paper and in reputation. But there is something about these Saturday nights for me. Dinner with a Tampa Bay view, familiar faces at intermission, home on foot, that gives a sense of community I never anticipated finding in St. Pete.
It isn't really about the music, but rather the people you keep running into when you come to listen.
Jon Kelly | The Tenpenny Collection | St. Petersburg, Florida Real Estate Sales Associate | Exclusive Buyer Representation Guiding Clients to #BecomeStPete