The Concert

The kids had their spring concert at school last Friday night. The students sang songs they had worked on (including a couple they performed at a large gathering for National Day of Prayer on Thursday afternoon) and there was also a "talent show" of sorts. It wasn't a competition, just an opportunity for them to perform if they wanted to.

I have to say, I was amazed at how eager and undaunted both John David and Julia were to perform a piano piece. I remember always being so terrified at recitals. I hated them! I could know my song perfectly, but it didn't matter. I wouldn't sleep well for days beforehand. Not these two children of mine though. They were cool as could be and until the moment of the performance, I never detected an ounce of nervousness.

John David was first for the talent part of the concert. It wasn't mistake-free, but I think he did pretty well covering it up. (Just for the record, he can play more difficult things, but this song was Star Wars. Is further explanation even needed?)



Julia was next. She is working her way through her level 1 book and was very proud to be playing this arrangement of Ode to Joy which is towards the end of her book. (I'd like to be a braggy parent and point out that a 4th grader played this exact same piece later on.) She admitted later that her legs were shaking quite a bit, something I remember well from many of my own performances. Julia didn't play her piece perfectly - she was an octave higher than she should have been and went with a much slower than normal tempo - but I so didn't care!



I'm sad they weren't decked out in a suit and a flowing dress for their first performance, but they were just following the dress code for the rest of the night.

At this point, John David doesn't enjoy lessons a whole lot - he'd rather play with legos and go outside. I'm just not making it an option though because it's so incredibly beneficial. (Here's just one article about that.) Besides, I'll just keep reminding him how much the girls like it. ;)

Julia, however, seems to like the piano a lot. Already, she is taking what she learns from songs and is making her own music when she sits down to play. I'm impressed by the melodies she comes up with. Listening to my kids make music is something that makes me happy from the inside out.

I didn't get good video from anything else that night because I was busy with Joshua. He doesn't like to stay in one place very long. Exhibit A - video from after the concert at home:



**edited to say: blogger crops the size of the video. sorry!