Recital Report

Every once in a while, every grown up should be forced to do something that makes you so nervous that your heart pounds, your palms sweat and your fingers tremble.

It's just not a great idea to play a violin in that condition...

Seriously, the recital was very fun. Thank goodness for my accompanist Eric, whose stellar guitar playing covered my mistakes well enough to make my "performance" better than I would have been solo. I was the only one to have accompaniment, thanks to the fact that I have my own posse of musicians at home. Eric and I played "Liberty" and then I performed "Ashokan's Farewell" with my quartet. The quartet performance was a breeze and so fun - definitely easier than standing up there alone.

I need to work on my "stage presence" a bit to lose that jittery feeling. I tried to do the old "Marcia Brady" trick of imagining the audience in their underwear, but alas, I was still very nervous. Maybe next time (if I subject myself to this again), it will be easier. We do have a video that Adam recorded, so if I'm feeling truly self-deprecating perhaps I will post it here later.

At the end of the evening, Patrick (my music teacher) thanked the parents for providing lessons for their children and for encouraging their practice and dedication. I thanked my boys for listening to and bearing with a mom who dreams to learn something really hard even though she's too old and a tad tone deaf. Patrick's closing statement made me pause and think about why I am willing to invest the time and effort into my fiddle lessons:

"We come here to learn about more than just music."

What have you learned this week? I've learned that I frequently ask my children to do things that greatly challenge them, and that I need to remember how tough that is. I've also learned that chasing dreams is worth the effort!