Classical on Cuba is an annual event where musicians play 30 minute concerts for $10 a ticket in cafes and restaurants and music venues in and around Cuba St. This year we trained it in on Friday, got a hotel room for two nights and walked between gigs all day Saturday. It was fun!
View from the hotel, over Willis St, one of Wellington's main streets. Pretty quiet in town for a Friday afternoon.
First gig was on Friday night with the NZSO playing an hour of hits at the Michael Fowler Centre. It's great to hear a full orchestra getting into numbers like the Star Wars overture and Holst's Mars and 2001: A Space Odyssey (aka Strauss's Sprach Zarathustra).
Saturday kicked off with a classical guitar 😀 and interpretive dancing 😏 performance. Then we wandered around town and shopped and ate and listened to an acoustic guitar, violins and violas and double basses and bassoons and clarinets and saxes and one trombone.
The acoustic guitarist (Jack Hooker) at a lovely light filled bar, Whistling Sisters. Last year at this venue we waltzed out without paying for our drinks and didn't realise until about an hour later. We went back.
In Bicycle Junction, a cafe/bike workshop, Mish got to chime in with a brass trio playing Queen's bicycle song.
In the beer quarter, about to head in for the last gig, a Mexican themed brass cacophonic thing. It didn't work well but was the most packed event of the day. Cold evening as you can see from the outfits but the day had been sunny and lovely to walk around city streets.
What a great way to spend a weekend! Heard about the horrid weather last week when flights and ferries were cancelled. Hope you weren't much affected. Jude
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