Tosa Tonight: Concord Chamber Orchestra

Classical music en pleine air

All summer long, Tosa Tonight hosts musical acts at the Rotary Performance Pavilion in Hart Park near the Wauwatosa Village. Last week, Adam and I parked on a picnic blanket and enjoyed the Concord Chamber Orchestra's spirited renditions of Hungarian marches and John Williams classics.

The opening act started at 6:00 — a barber shop quartet, which I'm sorry to say we missed seeing. We parked along Honey Creek Parkway at about 6:45 without a hitch; as someone who dreads parking at busy events and crowded locations, trust me when I say this was an absolute breeze. Adam and I walked over to the pavilion and immediately started scoping out the dinner and drink options: Gilles, Leff's, Maxie's, Ruby Tap, and BelAir Cantina. We decided on Maxie's: a pulled pork sandwich topped with creamy slaw, gooey spirals of mac n' cheese, and a stack of bourbon chocolate chip cookies — great decisions, all.

We settled ourselves on the lawn and watched the interim act: a dance school from Delafield. With each new dance number, Adam asked "Are these the stars?" I finally had to break it to him: Sometimes, there aren't any stars, especially at a non-competing dance school. I should know — I went to one for 11 years. I explained how there are three camps: the "meh" camp which is probably 85% of the girls in the company, the pom squad camp which is maybe 10%, and the Star camp which is only 5% if you're lucky. "Which one were you?" Adam asked. Meh. So I clapped all the louder.

Finally the orchestra started up — and the jumpy little kids came out. They bopped around in front of the raised stage, the girls spinning, the boys chasing. There was a curly-haired girl dressed
in full Minnie Mouse costume, ears and all, and a boy bouncing a basketball painted with Spiderman's face. This isn't an unusual scene at a summer concert, but with lively classical music as a soundtrack it was absolutely hilarious — an epic juxtaposition. 

Fancy shoes and bunny ears keeping warm in the middle of July.

Eventually the conductor interrupted the classics and welcomed a high school senior named Grace onto the stage; she had the voice
of an angel. Grace sang two songs — "All of me" by John Legend (we groaned in annoyance, but she nailed it) and "I Dreamed a Dream." Amidst other orchestral favorites, they played the theme from Star Wars and a medley from Phantom of the Opera. 

But once the sun set, Adam complained of freezing (thank you, Wisconsin summers) and we decided to call it a night, marching back to the car in time to the music.