Stew and symphonies

Sunday was a fun and interesting contrast. I fashioned a pot of homemade stew and then Kerry and I went to the symphony downtown. The stew was damn good, too. It started out like this

but ended up looking like this

Now that is some comfort food — stew, biscuits and lemonade. Fuck yes.

We headed downtown after dinner. Kerry bought tickets to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Civic Ensemble, which is an orchestra composed mainly of exceptionally talented students working directly with members of the DSO. I’d never before been to Orchestra Hall. And while we were confined to the part that did not include the new, multimillion-dollar expansion called The Max, it was still quite a sight.

The show itself was pretty cool. I’m not a big symphonicophile (but I AM keen on making up words; like that one) by any means, but I’ve enjoyed such music when it’s playing. Under the guidance of conductor Charles Burke (no relation to Kerry), the first ensemble plowed through Dvorak’s “Carnival Overture,” before kicking down Mozart’s “Sinfonia Concetante in E-flat Major,” accompanied by two phenomenal musicians from the DSO, Hai-Xin Wu on the violin, and James VanValkenburg on the viola. And no, I don’t know the difference between the two instruments. It was a divine performance.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.