Tonight was Adam's first school choir concert.  As we watched, Brad and I noted some key differences between this choir concert and the concerts we attended at BBIS in Berlin.

1.  Here, a t-shirt and jeans is considered appropriate performance attire.  This would never fly in Germany.

2.  The entire concert, consisting of two separate choirs (one girls, one boys) lasted a total of 30 minutes.  That included the time it took for one choir to exit the stage and another to take their places.  Each choir sang two (TWO!!) songs, for a grand total of only four songs.  When it was over, Brad turned to me and said, "Best choir concert EVER!"  After the choir marathons at BBIS, which usually lasted about two hours, this was a welcome treat.

3.  No children sang Handel's Hallelujah Chorus, and nobody forced us to watch fourth graders sing opera.  While these ambitious music choices have their merit, I must admit that I would rather not watch them.

I know I am trashing the music concerts at BBIS, which is pretty unfair of me.  Adam especially LOVED the music program there, and the teacher made an admirable effort to expose the kids to all different kinds of music and encourage them to express themselves.  Every kid at BBIS had a small solo at the concert, which I think was wonderful, even if it did make for a loooooong afternoon. 

And Adam seems to be liking this choir program just as much as he liked the program in Berlin.  For the last couple of weeks, Adam has been singing his songs at home, practicing for tonight.  He fancies himself quite a good singer, and will look all earnest and sensitive as he sings with his somewhat forced vibrato. It's awesome.