Friday night I had the opportunity to attend the Emanuel Ax concert at Bailey hall. I just want to say that this performance was stunning. Everyone in the audience seemed captivated by each note Emanuel played. And I can definitely understand why! When he plays you can see just how much he truly enjoys playing piano. He is incredibly focused on the music and if you watch his facial expressions you can see when he starts playing one of his favorite parts… everything just seems to flow, and the audience senses this! It was incredibly quiet during the performance, and still! I think everyone was afraid to move or they’d cause too much noise and wouldn’t hear the piece the way it was meant to be heard.

This was my first time attending a live piano concert and I had no idea how riveting a piano performance could be. Many of the pieces he played I have heard before, but it was an entirely different experience to hear them in person. I now know why concerts like this one draw so many people. Speaking of which, the audience was definitely skewed in the direction of the elderly. I think more people from our generation need to experience performances like this one rather than always popping in headphones. It is definitely worth the few hours and price.

Additionally, this performance was very calming, each one of the pieces took me farther away from schoolwork and all the stresses of the world. I would definitely recommend attending similar performances as a form of stress relief. Regardless though, I feel a performance such as this one by the renowned Emanuel Ax, is an invaluable experience and everyone should make an effort to attend one at some point in their lives!