The last time I wrote about Project Inclusion’s concert in the park was July, 2018. Things have changed, and stayed the same. That time there was a musician from Havana, this time from Venezuela. Both times there were string players from a place much less interesting, Texas.
One of them, violinist Audrey Lee, told us that she had never been to Chicago before, and, though she loved it, would soon be returning to her current home in Durant, Oklahoma, where she teaches music. I’ve never heard of Durant, and I’m sure there are several good reasons for that.
I thought I also had never heard of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, where she teaches, but it turns out that Dennis Rodman went to school there, as the Savage Storm (still known as the Savages when Rodman was there) participate in half a dozen men’s and women’s varsity sports, including, for both, rodeo (one of the 73 schools that do!), which makes me wish that the quartet had played some Copeland, rather than the so-so selections they chose.
The program listed one of the songs as The Walzing Cat. I’m pretty sure they meant The Waltzing Cat, unless the song was about a German feline that went on a road trip.
During another piece, they told us it was okay to get up and dance. No one did. During the encore pop mash-up, they said it was okay to sing along. No one did. But the weather was nice.