Prior to the “real” concert, there was a Young Artists Showcase Suzuki event, which I didn’t listen to and mention only on the off chance that the Cubs right fielder, who, as far as I know, does not play the violin, reads my blog and is related to Dr. Shinichi Suzuki, who invented the teaching method.

As is customary, conductor Giancarlo Guerrero received a standing ovation upon entering the stage. I think he’s great and a really nice guy, but nobody ever stood for me when I came to the office (or applauded for that matter), so I remained seated.

The Festival brings in one great pianist after another, this time Canadian Stewart Goodyear playing Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at a tempo I can only fantasize about, once I finish with all the other fantasies in line in front of it, like my lifelong quest to get on Jeopardy, even though my information retention abilities are fading faster than his hands were moving.

Goodyear gave us a fabulous encore from his own Callaloo Suite composition, the sound of which would have fit wonderfully with the West Side Story music from last week.

After intermission, the orchestra finished with Copland’s Symphony No. 3, which made me wonder about the coincidence of two number 3’s appearing on the same program (and another, by Rachmaninov coming up in July). I loved it except, not being familiar with it, I was faked out several times in the final movement, which kept seeming like it was about to end, only to rise from the dead. Fortunately, as noted earlier, my hands don’t move all that fast, so I didn’t prematurely start clapping before the actual coda.