5. The Adventures of Tom and Dom: Tom and Dom go to the Orchestra

If you are new to the adventures of Tom and Dom, here is a quick background. One day last year around Valentine’s Day, one of the activities staff hung red and white monkeys at each end of my keyboard while I was playing. Afterwards, he said I could keep them to use for decoration. I started hanging them each week on my mic stand. They are named after two of my favorite Veterans that come to my programs every week. Each week they became a bit of a silly talking point. Now they go on adventures with me sometimes. To learn more about them, visit 3. The Adventures of Tom and Dom: The First Adventure

The Adventures of Tom and Dom: Tom and Dom go to the Orchestra

On Thursday, February 2, 2017, Tom and Dom had another fun adventure. They got a ticket to see Andre Watts perform for his 60th anniversary of his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra. They got a ticket and couldn’t wait to go!

Dom wondered if they would take requests so he made sure to take all of his song request papers with him.

Before the concert, they had dinner at Jose Pistola’s. Tom was hoping for Italian food but Christine and her friend, Maria, ordered a pitcher of margaritas and he forgot all about that.

When they arrived at the Kimmel Center, they got the bad news that Andre Watts wouldn’t be performing.

They settled into their seats and read the program. They got quite a few compliments on their special black jackets.

Lise de la Salle did a spectacular job playing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4. Tom was smitten. After the piece was over, she came back out to do a solo piano encore. She said she couldn’t decide if she should do Debussy or Rachmaninoff. Most of audience shouted Rachmaninoff. Tom shouted Satin Doll! She played Rachmaninoff.

After the concert, Tom and Dom got to meet Bob Cafaro, a cellist who has played with the orchestra for over 30 years. Not only is he an incredibly talented musician, he wrote a book about his battle with MS and how he was able to overcome and recover from this incurable disease. They had a great time posing for the picture with him and being on the stage of Verizon Hall. The best part though was getting to be so close to that beautiful cello. It was made in Venice, Italy in 1816 by the instrument maker Giancinto Santaguiliana.

He was such a good sport!