Of Mussels and Music

One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.

Bob Marley, Jamaican singer-songwriter (1945-1981)

It was an evening of mussels and music, not muscles and music; but I just had to use a Bob Marley quotation because he came up in a conversation at work this afternoon and so it seemed apropos . . . even though Bob Marley performing Swan Lake does not. (It was one of those conversations that just doesn't make sense in the retelling, so I won't bother.)

But I would like to say that I had an amazing evening at the launch of The Royal Conservatory's 2014-15 season, which has inspired me to invest a bit of my hard earned pocket money in the pleasure of the arts. Koerner Hall's awesome acoustics surrounded me with the sultry vocals of mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah, the horns of the Canadian Brass (a national treasure), the jazzy tones of the Rob McConnell's Boss Brass, and the virtuoso talent of the students and teachers of the Royal Conservatory. I am looking forward the concert season that lies ahead.

And I mentioned mussels. Before the evening's event, I dived into a pot of mussels at the Museum Tavern. The combination with limes, gammon and sweet potato was a delicious surprise. It is now well past my bedtime due to the late commute home, but my dreams will be filled with music, mussels and a little Marley: "Don't worry about a thing, Cause every little things gonna be all right."