Until recently I hadn't attended a St. Louis Symphony Orchestra concert since my fourth grade fieldtrip to Powell Symphony Hall. I don't remember much about the concert except its length (long) and the fact that I was one of the handful of kids who stayed awake during the performance. Whether it's my age, the music selection or the casual outdoors setting that allowed me to wear jeans, the symphony is not what I remembered and that's a good thing. Of course I was at Art Hill instead of Powell Symphony Hall but that's a minor detail.

The free concert in Forest park last Thursday night was filled with whimsical tunes that floated throughout Art Hill to the multitude of people flocked on the lawn with picnics (in the modern sense - with chairs). Nonetheless hundreds of people came to the event and judging from the applause after each song, they liked it. I know I did. Yes, there were insects but who can concentrate on bugs when tunes from the Wizard of Oz are playing? To make things better they played holiday music, Tchaikovsky's Trepak from The Nutcracker, which settled my year-long yearning for Christmas music. I swear its better when you know everyone else is listening instead of staring at you for playing it the spring, summer and fall.

It's easy to forget that selection has everything to do with personal enjoyment but the ten songs selected for last night were perfect and SLSO conductor, Ward Stare, talked to the audience throughout the performance making the setting friendly and personal - not what you'd expect for an otherwise formal event but the concert proved the typical symphony concert perception isn't entirely accurate. Classical music doesn't have to be boring!

I always try not to complain about things when I don't pay for them because I think it's rude to judge when someone's doing something for free. But sometimes free events aren't enjoyable for many factors. However the concert last night was amazing and if a donation bucket floated through the crowd I'd have dropped in a few dollars. Maybe even a five. But the great thing was that they didn't ask.