Once a year UVA opens the dome room in the rotunda to show off the design that Thomas Jefferson originally intended for the room, which was eventually completed as a graduate project by a group of students. The ceiling of the rotunda has an accurate depiction of the night sky, complete with the constellations, as it would have looked when the rotunda was built (Jefferson wanted Astronomy classes to be held there). Kevin and I had been to the event the first year it was held, but this year Benji was invited to perform as part of a small group of musicians so we can and stayed the whole two and a half hours. I did not remember it being quite so crowded, but the event was absolutely packed with people -- every chair on both levels full and people standing in the back (or in lines for the refreshments). Benji played both as part of the full group, performing Holst's The Planets every hour, and also performed a set of duets twice with James Tobin, who is a clarinetist and also leads the Youth Symphony Orchestra:
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| We arrived right at sunset and the lawn looked amazing |
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| Part of the rotunda ceiling (since it is domed, it is impossible to get a good picture of the whole thing) |
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| The group warming up (the doom room was also beautifully decorated for Christmas) |
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| Picture just for a sense of how very packed it was |
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| Thomas Jefferson interpreter offered some words (Benji in the background putting together his clarinet) |
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| Benji and James dueting |
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| The rotunda all dressed up for Christmas |
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