Geekin' Out

Last night, I attended the ASCAP awards ceremony, where one George Lam was being honored. George received an Honorable Mention for a piece of his, and invited me as his guest for the program and reception. It was held at the Walter Reade Theater, at Lincoln Center, and was full of geniuses. Child prodigies were a-plenty, as the kid who won the "best composer ever" award (as George put it), is all of 14 years old. As for the other Mozarts, most of their hobbies included math and computer science. MATH AS A HOBBY? Wow. I don't think I've ever been in the same room with 20 composers, let alone 200. Peter Schickele was the MC, Philip Glass spoke, and there was an awesome performance by Matt Haimovitz, a bad-ass cellist.
After the ceremony, there was an open-bar, fully catered reception at the penthouse at Lincoln Center. I felt a bit out of place, not being a composer myself, but I was so happy for George and all of his rubbing elbows time. As I stepped out onto the balcony, overlooking Manhattan, I was taken back by the beauty of this city. Not to sound cheesy, but there- 50 stories up, looking at this gigantic metropolis, I realized how awesome it is that I'm here, doing well, persuing my dream. Of course, being surrounded by some of America's foremost 21st century composers certainly helped that realization. Maybe the next time I'm in the penthouse will be at my very own Live! From Lincoln Center broadcast.