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The Claflin Hill Symphony Orchestra
Next concert:
Symphony Season Finale-- Sat. May 3rd 508-478-5924 Mail: 54 Claflin Street, Milford, MA 01757 Office: 208 Main Street, Suite 109, Milford, MA
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January, 2004-- The Accidental Concert: From Susan Surapine, wife of Claflin Hill's Executive & Artistic Director. The Memorial Hall Chamber Series kicked off Saturday night with an unexpected bang! Who knew that so many people would brave the cold and come out to hear the CHSO String Quartet and Paul Surapine on clarinet? Mozart and Brahms were on the program. Who knew that so many would be interested? We had to get ready for this… Paul arranged to use Memorial Hall for a rehearsal Thursday night. I had just plopped myself into a chair in front of the television at about 7:00 when the phone rang. It was Paul. “Can you please call Lenny and tell him we’re freezing in here? The thermostat is reading 52.” “Okay,” I said… I hung up, made the call and got the answering machine. Not good! I rang Paul back and told him what happened… “Well, the heat seems to be coming up a bit. We’ll stick it out for as long as we can.” Not good, I thought. Strings don’t do well in the cold. They are very temperamental! Problems, problems… Paul came home at 11:00. They got their rehearsal in and everything went well despite the cold. “It’s going to be a great program,” he told me. I hope we get an audience! “Yes,” I said… “Me too.” I was skeptical. I kept that to myself. “Oh, and by the way,” Paul said, as he interrupted my thoughts of an empty hall… “We are going to rehearse again on Saturday afternoon. I invited Jen, Dimitar, Johann and Nicola over for dinner. We’ll keep it simple. No big deal. I’ve got an eggplant in the freezer – I’ll take that out.” That was my cue to get ready to feed these guys… Another job! Hmm, what to make? Keep it simple… We’ve already got the eggplant, and I made a batch of gravy, meatballs and sausage… I’ll just cook up some pasta, make a salad, and we’ll be all set. “Oh, and by the way…” Paul interjected again… “One of the musicians has food allergies and can’t eat pasta or bread… Maybe you could make a chicken?” Sure, no problem… We’ll do the pasta, meatballs, sausage AND a chicken!!! What the heck? Saturday came… It was a beautiful day, but it was cold. Paul and I began immediately to worry about temperature at Memorial Hall. “It is what it is! Nothing we can do about it now.” We both agreed… Paul began to fuss about the dinner. He was worried I’d forget something… He made me a list as though I was an incompetent… Put the chicken in the oven at 2:00. Put the eggplant in at 3:30. Take the chicken out at 4:00. Put the cheese on the eggplant. “Keep it simple,” he said. “We can do a buffet – don’t set the table.” “Okay,” I said out loud. In my mind I was thinking, “Yeah right! We can all stand around with plates in our hands eating pasta and chicken. I don’t think so! As soon as Paul left the house, I set the table. I told the kids we were having guests, and that they would be joining us. They let me know that they would be fine eating in the kitchen… “We don’t HAVE to sit with you guys,” said Zachary… “It’s really not necessary,” Joshua chimed in. “I would like you to join us.” “Okay.” So that was that. I got everything going according to my schedule! The house smelled wonderful… The aroma coming out of the pots on the stove made the kids mouths water. The chicken was sizzling inside the oven. As I stood at the sink feeling accomplished at my precision meal plan my thoughts quickly returned to the event of the evening… The Chamber Music Series… Again, “Who is going to come out tonight? Did we advertise enough? Does anyone remember? Oh, how I dread the anticipation… The not knowing… the potential disappointment. I heard footsteps outside! All those nasty thoughts leave me. It’s Bernadette and Aaron! Surprise! Guess who’s coming to dinner!!! Fine… Two more. Plenty of food and enough places set at the table! “Zachary and Joshua,” I called! “I am sorry, but you won’t be joining us in the dining room for dinner…” They both jumped with glee! Right behind Bernadette and Aaron came the next five of our dinner party. Paul walks in… Our eyes meet. We smile at one another. It’s all right. Everything is good. The rehearsal went well, and the food is ready! “Smells good!” “Wow! So much food!” “This is wonderful! Thank you!” Everyone was visibly excited that there was hot food and better yet, it was ready! “Bernadette! Help me, please! Let’s get the glasses on the table!” We scurried to the pantry and got out the glasses. “Nicola!” I called… “Please open the wine!” With his Bulgarian accent and big smile he said, “I’d love to!” Jen and Dimitar were sitting already… Aaron too! Dimitar put his hand on his heart, looked me in the eyes and said, “Thank you.” I felt like I was on some sort of mission. Good thing we’ve got lots of food! There will be plenty. And, I made a BIG salad. I’m sure we’ll have leftovers. We raised our glasses! “To good food, good friends, and a great concert tonight!” Klink, klink, klink. Laughter. Stories. “Ummm, this is SOOOOOO good.” “Pass the chicken,” “More eggplant?” “Pass the pasta, please!” “I’ll have more salad!” In front of me were happy people and empty plates and platters… Wow! It made me feel good. I had done my part. These guys were ready. Happy, ready, relaxed and well fed musicians… 5:30… Oops! I had to run. Someone had to be at the hall by 6:00pm! Run upstairs, quick change… Run back down and ready to go! I was heading for the back door with my coat on. “Hello!” said my in-laws, who had just arrived. Bernadette was at the sink cleaning up from dinner. “Did you have dinner?” asked Carol, my mother-in-law. “Yes… We’re just finishing. Why? Are you hungry?” “Starving,” she said… “Okay, Paul… Please get your parents some dinner! I’ve got to run!” I found my mother sitting at the kitchen table! She, too, had just arrived. I thought, “What a nuthouse!” I grabbed my coat, the kids and my mother, and ran out the door. Bernadette and Aaron followed me. I was lucky. As I pulled up to Memorial Hall there was a parking space right on the corner! Nice. We bustled in. As I approached the second floor landing I noticed a gentlemen standing there. “Hello! Can I buy a ticket from you?” “Sure, I said… Give me a minute to get set-up…” I quickly opened my ticket box. We made the exchange. He said, “I’ll be back! Just wanted to make sure I had my ticket before you sold out!” Sure, I thought… I’m not worried about selling out. I looked inside the hall. There were at least 100 chairs set up. Why, I thought, did Paul set up all those chairs! It’s going to look empty in there with only 30 or 40 people!!! I heard the door slam downstairs… We scurried -- quickly getting our tables arranged. Throw on a tablecloth! Get out the cash box. How many tickets do we have? Plenty – don’t worry. Stuff the programs. Get out the newsletters. “Zach, you hand out programs with Sarah at the door.” It was 6:20… There were people coming up the stairs. I heard footsteps. I heard voices. There were lots of them! There were people I know. There were people I didn’t know! There were parents with their children. There were students of Paul’s. They all came. It was 7:05 and they were still coming! Judge and Mrs. Larkin came up the stairs, breathless. “Sorry we’re late! Can we go in?” I opened the door and looked inside. My cheeks flushed. There was not one empty chair left! Aaron ran downstairs and came up with three more chairs, which he quickly set up. The Larkins went in and were seated. Zachary ran downstairs to get the musicians. We were ready. I was exhilarated. This was exciting. This was a smashing success! Paul was going to be so happy when he sees that they all came. The five musicians came up the stairs and onto the landing. The men looked so handsome in their tails. I opened the door for them. They all saw for the first time that they had a full house. What a day! Need I say more? Of course, the program was wonderful. Where else can you see a five- year-old child sit motionless for two hours, entranced in the beauty and warmth of the music that filled the room? Where else can an elderly woman who has arthritic hips sit in a metal chair for two hours and not complain because she is filled inside with the clarinet and the violins? Where else can people work so hard to build something and feel so satisfied that it has all come together so perfectly in a moment? There is only one place. Claflin Hill. We ask ourselves daily, “Why are we doing this?” This is why… Because people love it! |
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