NY List: Philharmonic in the Park

In a similar vein to Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman’s Bucket List, our good friend Hannah has a New York List - a quite literal numbered list of things to do, places to see, experiences to take in while living in New York.

There’s a certain euphoric delight which comes with checking items off the list, and last night we were able to do so as we listened to the NY Philharmonic play in Central Park.

Active since 1842, the NY Philharmonic is the oldest active symphony orchestra in the United States and is widely regarded as one of the finest collection of musicians in the world.  While the group travels all over the world to play before audiences willing to pay lofty prices, the Philharmonic has played free concerts in the Park for the last 45 years as a service to the citizens of New York.

I have to confess my own ignorance of what an event the Concert in the Park was to be.  As I made my way into the park to meet Tracy and Hannah last night, I suddenly found myself in the midst of 60,000+ New Yorkers who had a similar desire to hear fine music under the summer sky.  Finding the girls in the midst of the crowd proved to be extremely difficult, especially when the massive use of cell phones proved to be too much for the wireless towers, rendering all phone and text service useless.

Alas, I found our spot and the remainder of the evening proved to be all it was cracked up to be.  We were not unlike many in the crowd in that we came less for the music, magnificent though it was, and more for the entire experience altogether.  Looking around, we saw thousands upon thousands of our neighbors forgetting for a few hours the stressful details of the “real world” and instead focusing on how refreshing it can be to drink in the crisp night air, to run bare feet through cleanly cut grass, to hear the gentle cavalcade of symphonic wonder.  It mattered not that we didn’t quite understand the subtleties of the notes themselves - it was enough to close our eyes and know that it felt right.

And so, my friends, if you ever get the opportunity to check off a box on the New York list by seeing the New York Philharmonic in Central Park, do it.  It’s an experience you won’t forget.