Austin Symphony Orchestra Society

 

0

5

kathleen l.

Austin, TX

Austin Symphony will be giving FREE concerts every Sunday evening at 7:30 on the Terrace at  the Long Center for the Performing Arts between Riverside and Barton Springs Drive.  There was a Big Band Concert last Sunday with a lit dance floor for the kids!  Absolutely wonderful except for Threadgill's Live Rock Band next door spilling over inbetween songs.  The park there is beautiful and full of life with children playing in the ground level fountains, running over and rolling down the berms.  There are plantings, park benches,  and an exquisite cat tail balcony overlooking the pond complete with another fountain and docks.   A spiral sidewalk winds up a hill topped with a map of the State of Texas and seating for a 360 gaze around Austin.  At night this is the place to see the new downtown skyline lit with magical colored lights.  Simply a peaceful place to be.

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Elite '08

326

438

Michelle C.

Austin, TX

I associate liking the symphony with people with intellectual tastes.  So it feels in the nature of a confession to say that I don't generally love the symphony.  I just find sitting in an auditorium listening to symphony music a little....boring.

However, the Austin Symphony is responsible for a very lovely, Austin-y experience I had tonight.  Every Sunday at 7:30 pm, from June 3 - Aug 26 (w/the exception of July 1st), the Symphony performs a free concert at Woolridge Park, which is on Guadalupe just south of the courthouse downtown.  Some friends of ours were going, so in the interest of being social, we threw our blankets in the car and headed on down.  It turned out to be absolutely wonderful.  We got there around 7:15, plopped down our blankets, and indulged in a fabulous picnic while listening to the symphony play live big band/swing music (the musical theme changes every week).  All kinds of people were there, from very young to very old, from hipsters to not-so-hipsters, and the vibe was just very laid back and so community-oriented.  After eating, I alternated between people watching and lying back on my blanket, watching the clouds, and feeling the evening breeze.  The performance was first class, and I enjoyed it thoroughly.  Very cool experience, and a nice way to spend a summer Sunday evening!

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