Nashville Ballet Ball, 2013

Being somewhat new to the whole Nashville arts scene, when the girls were given the chance to sing again at the Schermerhorn at the Nashville Ballet Ball, I wasn't quite sure what it was all about.  Here is what I nabbed from local press releases:

Ballet Ball is Nashville Ballet’s most elegant annual fundraiser, bringing together over 400 of the city’s most prominent philanthropists and patrons of the arts for an elaborate black-tie affair. At $500 per ticket, the evening includes a glamorous cocktail hour, a gourmet seated dinner and an exclusive gala performance by Nashville Ballet accompanied by special guest music artists Holly Williams and Matthew Perryman Jones. Ball guests then take the floor and dance the night away to music from The Pat Patrick Band.

After recent collaborations with Ben Folds and The Civil Wars, Nashville Ballet will partner with Williams and Jones to create original performances that combine music and dance from Nashville Ballet company dancers. Williams’ performance will be an exclusive, one-time-only opportunity at Ballet Ball, while Jones’ performance will be a preview of his larger collaboration with Nashville Ballet to debut February 15, 2013, at TPAC as part of its winter contemporary series, Attitude. 

It was a very long day and late night, but it was amazing!  

We left the house at about 3:00 to arrive at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center by 3:30pm.  We left the venue at 10:45pm.

Dress rehearsal at 6pm.  Performance time? 10:00 pm. 

Waiting in place to rehearse.

The chorister's view from the stage.

During the many hours of waiting, there was lots of opportunity for rehearsal.  This is Dr. Bridges working with the honor choristers for a special spring ensemble. 

The man in the tuxedo is Kyle Hankins, NCC's accompanist, brilliant pianist and resident clown.  Love him.

Just hanging out.

I took this picture to playfully illustrate two concerns we have with our younger daughter: her fascination with technology, and, well...let the reader discern the other concern.  :)

Mr. Josh working with the kids on the O Fortuna! words.  The NCC was given 4 days notice to receive, learn and polish this part of the piece, which like the rest of Carmina Burana, is in Latin.  Not surprisingly, with the help of the directors, they were up to the task.

Time for the performance.  The choristers wait to enter the venue as Holly Williams performs.

 While not a fan of ballet, bawdy medieval Latin poetry set to music nor even the mixture of the two...even I still thought it was really cool.  :)

Here is a compilation video which is about 11 minutes of rehearsal, dress rehearsal and final performance: