Second Annual Masterworks Concert

I cannot emphasize enough how much I love the music programs in the Klein Independent School District, but I am sure it will come out again and again. After last year’s Masterworks Concert, I was just in awe that even the District Officials were aware of what they had created with their support of the programs. This is just awesome and they know it. These kids are awesome and their parents know it. These kids are awesome and these kids know it and they are not afraid to share it.

So I was excited when they announced the Second Annual Masterworks Concert and marked the calendar and everything. It was going to happen. There was lots of discussion about it. I was a little disappointed by the selection of the venue but ultimately it has to come down to costs and the venue was affordable and it would have to be sufficient for their needs again this year. The venue seats 750. Last year it was standing room only.

Then there was the decision on how to do crowd control. It was not that they did not want the crowd. They did. They wanted to justify the crowd. They also wanted to be able to afford the crowd so to speak. Fortunately, there was a nice trade off. The venue is a lovely facility and it had a wonderful charity in place. The decision was made. They would sell tickets to the concert and the proceeds of the tickets would go to support the charity.

The charity? The Cypress Creek Community Center’s Pipe Dreams Program. The little church at the community center had an aging pipe organ that was in much need of replacing. The project was very costly. They set up a fundraiser through the Pipe Dreams Program to help raise the funds to pay for the new organ. They have purchased an organ already but to put it in the facility and other costs, it is still very expensive. The organ they have obtained is an organ that was made by the same organ designer as the original Mormon Tabernacle. Very interesting in my opinion. The organ needs to be modified slightly to fit their existing facility, but it will be easier to do this than many others that they looked at. I was getting very good feelings reading about efforts and the organ itself. I cannot wait to see the organ once it is installed. I am even more excited that these wonderful music students helped participate in making it happen (even if it was just a little piece of the whole).

Anyway, this year’s Masterworks Concert was a sold out show. They managed to sell all 750 of those seats. How awesome is that? I am positive that they could have sold more than one night of tickets if they had done multiple performances. They are just that awesome.

The only thing that kind of bummed me out was that they did the same performance as the year before due to several logistical problems they ran into for obtaining music for this year’s performance. Fortunately, they were good with the music for Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and were able to pull together another stunning performance. I was glad that my mother was able to attend this year. Last year it was just myself and my father in attendance. Ben was out of town. My mother was sick. This year we also had all the kids, my sister and my niece. Andrew even had some of his piano students in attendance with their family.

Anyway, this is a big deal…this concert is the ultimate in concerts for the Klein Oak High School Full Orchestra. They do an amazing job. It was a stunning performance – even better than the first time.

Here are some of the pictures from the evening. Be kind as they were taken with my iPhone from the very last row up in the balcony. Just an over view and general idea of how big this thing is.

I cannot wait until next Spring when they do it again. I cannot wait to see what they will perform then.