The view from stage on a sold-out night at Davies Symphony Hall, in San Francisco, always blows my mind. Here’s how it looked last weekend, right before Semyon Bychkov walked on stage to conduct us in Benjamin Britten’s 1962 War Requiem—a death mass for war itself. Tears were shed. Joshua Kosman, in his SF Chronicle review, called us “sensational.” Next week, I’m performing Handel’s Messiah. Music is humankind’s highest achievement; it goes where words cannot, and transforms souls. Come, if you like Baroque, and we’ll share a moment. I’ll wink hello from stage.

The view from stage, Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco (©John Vlahides 2013)