Royal Albert Hall and a New Sense of Life.

This last week, Mrs. Trigg- the headmistress at St. Michael's Primary School, asked me to accompany the Year 5 class on a field trip to the Royal Albert Hall. St. Michael's was part of a huge group of schools invited to the hall to participate in the Camden Music Festival. Over 2,000 kids from around the Bourough of Camden participated in this event. What an event it was indeed! Knowing that this would be an incredible experience, I didn't hesitate to say yes to this invitation.

At the end of the school day, the 20 kids from Year 5 and four adults boarded a coach and braved London traffic to get to the Royal Albert Hall. The ring leader of all of us was an energetic, and goofy Year 5 teacher named Mr. Russel. While on the coach, Mr. Russel did not hesitate to join in with the kids as they were singing some of the songs for the evening concert. He joked around and seemed in his prime with the kids. His inspiring energy made the long trip through the heavy traffic go quickly.

Royal Albert Hall is one of the largest performance halls in the world as it houses around 4,500 people. Thus, the 2,000 kids who were participating in the evening concert barley filled up half of it. It was an incredible sight to see all of the various school uniforms color the already beautiful hall. St. Michael's school was instructed to take a place right up on stage. I've never been so thrilled! There we were, with the pipes of the GIGANTIC Royal Albert Hall pipe organ rising in our background, sitting on stage at one of the most famous concert halls in the world! Then all the kids started to sing....and what a sound it was! There were so many kids (three sections of the hall were filled) singing during the mass choir pieces that it took four conductors to keep everthing together. I still can't believe how the three choir conductors and an orchestra conductor kept everything in line. They even mangaged to pull off a rather descent sounding Gloria by Vivaldi. The British do not shy away from challenge in the arts! Perhaps Americans could learn a thing or two about the English passion for challenging music.

The period inbetween the rehearsal and the concert got challenging as the energy from the kids got higher and higher. So what do you do with 2,000 10-12 year olds who become wrestless? Good question... I dont' really know. The organizers didn't really know either so consequently we had piles of kids running around and playing tag in the fancy corridors. To my amazment, some of the kids actually got THE WAVE started before the concert began. Yes ladies and gentlemen.... I have seen the wave go around the entire Royal Albert Hall like it was a football stadium. A site to see!

Because of the kids starting to go bonkers, Mr. Russel decided to take the St. Michael's kids out and have them run around in a nearby park. As the kids were playing a British version of Red Rover, I got the chance to look up and see the moon rise right above the Royal Albert Hall. It was a very clear and brilliant night as one could see even the London eye peaking through the trees. It was one of those moments for me when time decided to stop for an instant and I reflected on how blessed I was to be in that very spot. I was incredibly thankful for that moment as it created a space where I could back up for one instant and actually see where I was at and what I was doing. We all get so focused and burried within all the activity that goes on in our lives that it sometimes becomes quite difficult to see the "big picture".

Spring has start to come in London and things are begining to change. Not only can I see the new buds start to form on the trees and the flowers start to bloom, but a new look on people's faces. It is a fantastic time of new life and hope. I saw the first glimmer of this outside Royal Albert Hall this week. I pray that we all might have the chance to stop where we are and aquire a new sense of life this spring.