I was treated to a lovely evening at the Mahalia Jackson theatre. This theatre (which is adjacent to the Municipal Auditorium) is run by the city of New Orleans which means that it is one of the worst places to spend an evening. I wouldn’t mind spending so much on parking if it were possible to enter the parking lot without waiting in their induced traffic jam for 20 minutes.

Sir James Galway made the night worth it. The LPO was amazing as usual. Being St. Patrick’s day, the evening’s program was very Irish and Celtic (I guess that’s pretty much the same thing). Sir James played Corigliano’s Pied Piper Fantasy, a piece that was written specifically for him. It was a great piece because it was a mix of modern music and performance art with older, traditional folksong sounds. It reminded me a lot of Penderecki with measured timings and lots of odd sounds from the string instruments.

He also ended the night with a few encores from, as he put it, the most popular and influencial Irish composers: Traditional and Anonymous. He is a wonderful musician and performer. This is obvious as I don’t particularly like Irish music or the flute as a solo instrument. I thought this LPO Gala performance was great.

Of course, minus the facilities and staff of the “New Orleans Cultural Center.”