Music is a Gift

I was at the symphony on a very special night. The theme was "From Russia with Love" and I was drawn there to hear Glinka's Overture to Russlan and Ludmilla. The excitement came, however, when Alla Borzova, composer of the cantata "Songs for Lada," came on stage with Detroit Symphony Orchestra music director, Leonard Slatkin. She announced that this was the first complete performance of her cantata "Songs for Lada" (including a children's choir, soloists, symphony orchestra, poetry and Belarusian folk instruments) and that her daughter, for whom it was written, had flown in to be in the audience that night. She spoke of the themes, instruments and language of the piece before rushing up to the balcony to sit beside her daughter and listen.

Can you imagine? What an incredible moment that must have been for both of them. To begin composing music in Minsk, Belarus just after your daughter is born and then, years later, to sit and hear it performed in its entirety for the first time with your grown daughter at your side. What a gift.