I’ve loved symphony orchestras for as long as I can remember. There’s something about hearing a full orchestra perform that never gets old. You can listen to a piece a hundred times and still discover something new: a clarinet line tucked behind the strings, a French horn emerging from the background, or the entire orchestra building toward a crescendo that seems to fill every corner of the room.
I played clarinet through school into college, so I suppose I’ve always listened a little differently. I appreciate the musicianship, of course, but I also love the architecture of the music — how all those individual parts come together to create something much bigger than themselves.
These days, getting to a concert hall isn’t always convenient. Between the cost of tickets, the travel, and the effort of planning an evening out, I don’t make it to as many live performances as I’d like.
For Christmas, my partner gave me a Waverley Bath Board along with an online membership to London Symphonia! It was one of those gifts that blew me away because it was so perfectly suited to me. She knows I love my music, and she knows I appreciate a good ritual.
If you don’t know, London Symphonia is a Canadian orchestra that offers livestream and archive access to their concerts AND on-demand viewing. It means I can enjoy orchestral music from home and support an ensemble doing the work I care about, even when I can’t be in the audience in person.
Now, I’ve turned it into a weekly end-of-week unwind ritual.
I prepare a hot bath with bath salts, set out my essentials on my board, a candle or two, pour myself a healthy cocktail, and settle in with my wireless headphones.
Once the music begins, the rest of the house seems to disappear.
And the bath? It adds a whole other dimension to the experience. No one in London, Ontario is enjoying the show like this… The warmth, the quiet, and the opportunity to slow down make it feel less like watching a performance on a screen and more like setting aside an evening for something I genuinely love.
I used to think of a bath as a way to relax after a long day. Now, it’s become my own private auditorium.
The Waverley Bath Board is ample for everything in its place: my tablet, a book of programme notes, and the little things I like to have nearby. My headphones bring me closer to the performance, and the whole routine gives me a little personal ritual to look forward to every week, and I don’t think I’ve ever had that, if I’m honest.
For someone who once played in an ensemble, there is something deeply satisfying about returning to that world as a listener. I may not be sitting in a concert hall anymore, but I can still appreciate the discipline, emotion, and extraordinary coordination that make orchestral music so special.
My partner gave me two gifts for Christmas. What she really gave me, though, was a reason to make more time for something I’ve loved for decades. As far as I’m concerned, a warm bath, a great orchestra, and a little time to myself make for a pretty magnificent evening.
