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Las Vegas Philharmonic hosts concert for first responders

Posted at 11:34 PM, Oct 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-15 02:34:31-04

Nearly two weeks after the shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival, the Las Vegas Philharmonic's own show went on, this time with special meaning.

The concert at the Smith Center opened some of their seats to free tickets for first responders - and the Philharmonic says almost 600 firefighters, law enforcement, and victim's families decided to attend.

Since the musicians in the orchestra are local, many of them had their own connection to the 1 October Shooting.

Concertmaster and violinist Deann LeTourneau says one of her good friends is still in critical condition at Sunrise Hospital.

"Every single person in this orchestra has had someone affected by what happened," she says.  It's why putting on a powerful show was so important.

"It was important for us to work through our emotions during the rehearsal so we could be there for the audience," says music director Donato Cabrera.

Cabrera lived in New York during 9-11 and remembers musicians making a difference in healing their city then.  He says for this concert, they chose pieces that have been used in previous national tragedies and embodied the idea of Vegas Strong.

The concert was also a sign of resilience, that music would still continue after people were attacked enjoying music.

"Any act in the world that's happened like this will never stop us as a society and a city," LeTourneau says. "We're bigger than that."