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A Musical Thanksgiving Feast on November 24

AAFSW’s Tripartite Musical Program on November 24, held at the George Marshall Auditorium at the State Department, was a feast for the heart and soul. The program began with with distinguished Spanish Maestro Angel Gil-Ordóñez, Director of the Georgetown University Orchestra in DC, whose illustrated lecture introduced us to twenty-first century orchestras and conductors.

Mr. Gil-Ordóñez was followed by the District5 wind quintet, which delighted the audience with five lovely pieces played in their unique and innovative style.Next on stage was Rafael Javadov, a virtuoso on the electric violin, who played a fabulous selection of classical and popular music. His hand was flying and dancing faster than the speed of light, and sometimes it sounded like an entire orchestra. The wonderful music inspired me to start dancing, and others joined me. It was a grand moment never to be forgotten.

In addition to AAFSW members and guests, the audience included music students and teachers from DC’s Woodrow Wilson High School. Below are some of their reactions to the program:

Keith Wright, DMA: As the String Orchestra Director at Woodrow Wilson high school, I appreciate the opportunity to have music students experience the world-class level performances as seen at the November 24th program. The students were immensely inspired by the quality programming. I thank you again for such a gracious and immensely rewarding opportunity.
Fernie D.: I really loved District 5. The first piece was my favorite and it was interesting to see how the music for a woodwind quintet changed over the years.
Grace S.: It was interesting to listen to the variety of repertoire, from classical to much more contemporary music that District 5 played. The violinist, Rafael Javadov, was incredibly talented. I loved watching everyone dance to his music.
Rosalie S.: When the audience members got up and started dancing, the feeling of an audience separated from the performer by a stage dissolved into everyone gathered together, bonded by the music.
Taylor W.: The November 24th U.S. State Department performance was cool because there was so much going on with just a few instruments.
Angel M.: Seeing how advanced the musicians were made me think of how I feel about music and I should be more serious so that I will become as good as they were on my instrument.
Kyra H.: I enjoyed the variety of musical styles shown at the performance; both performances seemed to hold the audience with their takes on music from different time periods.
Samuel C.: The conductor Angel Gil-Ordóñez’s lecture was interesting, and broadened my view of classical music programming. Violinist Rafael Javadov played with expertise and shared his music with incredible talent.