Another Trip to Staunton, April 12-14

Blackfriars Theatre before the Sunday Concert

We celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary with another trip to Stuanton.  To read about some of our previous trips see 2014 - February, 2015 - December, October, March, 2017 - February, and 2018 - March.  Notice I said "some".  I didn't take the time to post about all of them.

To begin our celebration we had dinner reservations at one of our favorite restaurants - Zynodoa.  A farm-to-table establishment with a southern flare.  They treated our anniversary as a big deal much to our delight.  

Our own menu.

George had the fettuccine and

I had the étouffée.

Saturday morning we attended a Staunton Spring Music Festival free concert at Trinity Episcopal Church.  During this weekend series all of the music was from the Baroque Period and the musicians were playing antique instruments.  I had never seen some of them before.  The Saturday morning program was all French baroque pieces.  

Before the concert I walked around the sanctuary to view the many Tiffany windows.  At one time Staunton was on a major train route and many of the residents became very wealthy because of the trade opportunities.  Thus there were those able to afford to help the decore of the church. The above window is my favorite.  It came from the Tiffany Studios in 1903 and it's very special because it is an exquisite example of a window that contains no painting.  All pictorial effects result from the artistry of the extraordinary palette of glass, including plating, confetti, acid-etched, and flashed glass.  

In 2000 the congregation had the magnificent organ completely refurbished.  We've attended one organ recital since then and it was excellent.

During the concert I didn't take many photos but just had to have this one - on the right is Paul Morton playing a theobo, one of the many instruments new to me.  

I found it fascinating that the coral group was following the music on their e-tablets.  

That evening we attended an adaptation of Pride and Prejudice at The American Shakespeare Center.  While an excellent production it did not modify my total loathing of anything related to Jane Austen.

Sunday's concert was held at the Blackfriars Theatre and was all English music.  See first photo above for how the stage looked before the performance.

 The photo shows Paul working hard to tune his theobo.  At the harpsichord is Carsten Schmidt, Artistic Director of the Festival.  Watching him conduct was great fun.  He used his entire body and bounced all over the place.  

In this image you can see how big the theobo is.  Must be difficult to travel with it.  Maybe the neck folds but I couldn't see how it would.

We ended the weekend with a performance of A Midsummer's Night Dream at the American Shakespeare Center and a leisurely drive home on back country roads.