Personal Narrative: My First Carnegie Hall

My first Carnegie Hall experience wasn’t what I expected it to be. As I entered the balcony of the Stern auditorium, I was amazed by the beautiful design of the white and gold walls and the beautiful red seats. Upon looking at my Concert Quick Guide I noticed the first symphony Leon Botstein was conducting was Arnold Schoenberg! When I flipped the guide to observe what else was in store for me, my eyes opened wide as I saw Mozart! I felt as if I wasn’t completely ignorant towards the classical music world, here I am in Carnegie Hall for the first time and I have a general background of the two original composers of Chamber Symphony No. 2 and Great Mass in C Minor.

As Botstein started to conduct The Orchestra Now with Schoenberg, I was amazed at the beautiful sight of the orchestra in compliment to the beautiful environment. The sound of the four violas won me over as I glared at them and remembered the days in elementary school where I used to

I listened carefully to what Andrea Bayer, Elaine Sisman, Sheena Wagstaff and Leon Botstein had to say about Schoenberg and I understood exactly what they meant. I recall an Andy Warhol joke was made with Schoenberg and I laughed along with those in the audience that laughed because I had the knowledge of Schoenberg and Warhol to understand the reference. When the discussion moved onto Mozart and his Great Mass in C Minor, I vividly understood the breakdown of the mass; Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus and Benedictus. As the panel discussed the Agnus Dei was missing in Mozart’s piece, I was able to follow the conversation rather than ignorantly watch musical professionals’ converse about music. The panel discussion was also a great learning experience as I learned this mass was written as Mozart’s declaration of love to his soon to be wife Constanze and to improve his relationship with his father, who opposed the