On the Road with Joanne Robinson: Show #206 Dallas

Our monster two-week tour has finally come to an end, and from Atlanta to Granville to Waco to Dallas, it’s been a great one!

After the show (Photo from John Ringor)

On Friday night we taped at the exceptionally beautiful AT&T Performing Arts Center’s Winspear Opera House in Dallas. Two From the Top alums, percussionists Joshua Jones and John Ringor from Chicago, joined us as members of the Percussion Scholarship Group. It was so much fun to see them again. Joshua is one of the most exuberant people I know – he went out of his way to make all the other kids feel at home – and John was his usual hilarious self.

Highlights of the show included wonderful performances by violinist Jenny Lee, pianist Sahun (“Sam”) Hong, and violist Isabella Markham. Talented cellist John-Henry Crawford gave Chris a major piano workout when the two collaborated on the challenging Allegro Commodo from Martinu’s Cello Sonata No. 2, which Chris described as “a race to the finish between piano and cello.” It was fascinating to watch the two of them working through the intricacies of the piece the night before.

The show closed with the nine-member Chicago Symphony Orchestra Percussion Scholarship Group playing Minoru Miki’s Marimba Spiritual, and their performance couldn’t have been more spellbinding. You need to check out this Flip video I shot of the group rehearsing their piece the night before the show.

Percussion Scholarship Group on stage

Now picture them decked out in matching black attire with dramatic stage lighting and the acoustic magnificence of Winspear Opera House, and you’ll get an idea of what it was like to be in the live audience. What an exciting way to end the show – and the tour!

Next stop: back to Boston for a bit, and then off to Stanford for our next taping in early December. Until we meet again… have a wonderful rest of the month and a happy Thanksgiving!

– Joanne