I couldn’t provide a picture because I obey the wishes of the Symphony and Pink Martini, who don’t want people taking pictures during their performance. Besides, you really need to see them in person. Trust me on this.
The place was packed, as it should be with such a talented group of musicians performing. The first part of the show was a treat of four selections by the Symphony orchestra, conducted by Dennis Gowen. He’s been the guest conductor of the Symphony since the departure of Tom Wellin. I liked working with Tom (I used to do most of their TV advertising) but I really love Dennis’ style. He’s very conversational and warm, often asking the audience a trivia question or telling dry jokes. If you’re a University of Mary student, you also know him as a member of the faculty there.
Pink Martini are a group based out of Portland, Oregon, although the musicians come from very diverse backgrounds and locations. They too have a wonderful way of interacting with the audience, who clearly loved their performance last night. There were several standing ovations.
The group gave us a swinging, smiling encore, and the crowd stood cheering to draw them to a second, but then the house lights came up. They hung around to autograph CDs and meet the audience, and the Bistro volunteered to keep their kitchen open extra late and served a special menu of dessert and stuff for the patrons.
This evening was a special treat because my wife and I won our seats (and a bunch of other Pink Martini stuff) at the New Year’s Gala hosted by the Symphony six months ago. They gave me fantastic seats, first row behind the railing on the balcony, although I doubt a bad seat exists at the Belle. I appreciate the legroom, I’ve torn my knee in half twice, kneecap and all…sometimes being jammed into a seat for too long can be quite agonizing.
I did see a few familiar faces in the orchestra and on the balcony: Susan Wefald, who serves on the state Public Service Commission and plays violin; Tom Weigel, my friend’s dad who owns Weigel Funeral home and plays bass; Signe Snortland, who was my anthropology teacher in college and plays viola; Pat Pins, my speech coach from high school (and one of my favorite liberals); Loren Grey from Clear Channel radio with her husband, who owns the Kirkwood Ace Hardware; and a few others. One downside to being in the balcony is we don’t really get to look around the audience below to see if any of our friends are there.
If you’ve never seen Pink Martini, you may have to wait next year, as I was told at church there isn’t a Sunday show today. The girl who mentioned it was supposed to usher, but she didn’t know any details. But I’m sure they’ll be back next year – they were really happy to perform for us (and with our talented Symphony) again this year!
To visit Pink Martini’s website: pinkmartini.com
To visit the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony’s website: www.bismarckmandansymphony.org