Gorgeous wine dinner

Went to a fund-raising event for the choral conducting graduate students at the university. It was held in the conductor's house, which is huge and gorgeous and used as an event space (I can tell by the number of chairs and couches in the two-resident house!). With $100 donated to my fellow graduate students, I mingled with other attendees to this high-class experience of wine tasting paired with  appetisers and choral pieces performed by the choral graduate students.

The fund-raising organisation, Choral Society, plans a lot of events for choral class participants, and they have their own napkins and wineglasses for us to take home! I was a bit nervous because I did not know anyone there, but I made some friends and enjoyed the event. Again, I sat with a retired paediatrician, who is very bright and asks smart questions on my research. It was very fun talking with her and her friend. 

And of course the appetisers were delicious and well-seasoned. The wines are alright, I liked one out of the 6 we tried. Though all were from France, it tasted a bit bland to my taste. The wines I had in France had more flavor. Did the wine committee (American) choose less flavorful ones? It's interesting that people's taste is vastly different. Other events organised by this group include lecture by the conductor on the pieces that we will perform in a concert for each semester.

The choral graduate students will sing just for us!! There is microphone, music stand, piano, and everything you need to host a home recital. And the house is huge!! In the bedroom I found a couple framed pictures of the conductor and his partner taken when they were younger. It seems they have been together for a long time. It was a good feeling to know that even though a lot of the participants are catholic (I didn't ask each of them, but saying just by demographics and statistics), they are understanding on the same-sex relationship of the conductor and his partner. It is true that university city residents are more liberal, but it still is heartwarming and encouraging.

Today's wines and songs.

Fancy!