It's deja vu, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania as we were here last in March, 2007 staying at the Marrriott Springhill Suites, Monroeville. On Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Symphony, shown here in Heinz Hall performed Mozart's 22nd Piano Concerto with young, up-and-coming twenty-eight-year-old pianist, Jonathan Biss. This was followed by an AWESOME performance of Richard Strauss' Alpine Symphony which was being recorded live for PentaTone Records. The PSO's recordings of Brahms four symphonies are brilliant and have received outstanding acclaim so this newest recording will not be an exception. The bonus following the concert was dinner at the Cheesecake Factory which has become our favourite place to eat across various cities in the USA. Be sure to click on our Cheesecake Factory video in this blog. The portrait of Lorraine was also taken at the Cheesecake Factory.
On Monday morning, we visited Karen and Gordon Pawson and their four children at Holiday Park Baptist Church in the suburbs of Pittsburgh where Gordon is the pastor. It was our first time meeting Mackenzie who was born this past winter. Trevor and Karen enjoyed playing through some music for trumpet and piano during our visit at the church.
A highlight on Tuesday was our visit to Frank Lloyd-Wright's architectural masterpiece, Falling Water, in the hills south of Pittsburgh. The weather has cooperated marvellously as we've had spectacular weather for our entire time in the United States.
The finale of our sojourn was an evening visit to Karen and Gordon and family at their home in Export, Pennsylvania where we had dinner.
Then, even later in the evening on television back at the hotel, we watched the election returns as Barack Obama became the new president of the United States of America.
