While the world mourned the 10th anniversary of September 11th this Sunday, many New Yorkers turned to music for their expression. "So we do what people do when the boundaries of our reasoning are strained, and we must turn to art. We make music," said Alan Gilbert, the conductor of the New York Philharmonic, as he conducted the orchestra in performing Mahler's symphony No.2 for a special 9/11 memorial concert. Performances took place all over the city, whether they were in coffee bars, large venues, or even just on street corners, showing countless people expressing themselves artistically, as most can't find words that correctly show their feelings toward their memories. At many events, such as the Music After, many of the musicians simply felt they needed to express something, even if there was little or no audience present to hear them.
This article (and the NYP performance) are important because they show reverence for the heroes who lost their lives, and the absolute need people have for expression about it. This new york Times article portrays this through talking about a performance that had a maximum of 90 people after hours of playing, and interviewing some of the musicians to show their determination to play, even if no one else heard them. This is a great example of how the attacks had such a large effect on people at large. I have been to New York City many times, and have witnessed the immense amount of diversity and people who live completely differently from one another. This musical gathering impressed me above other memorial events because it involved very different people coming together all over the city to converse about this tragic event, and show their different interpretations about it.
