Final Piano Recital 2013...

Ruby and Alice completed another year of piano! They did a great job and the recital was no different. I was a few days from having the baby and in no mood to get dressed up to go be that pregnant amongst a bunch of people who would say things like, "Oh, he is still in there!?" or my favorite, "That belly is very..." long pause "...prominent". I just wasn't up to it. My mom was in town helping me get 5,000 things done, so I felt good about she and Chris going to the recital. I attend every lesson and am well aware of their piano...so I happily stayed home. Looking back, I have one regret...not helping Alice pick out some appropriate shoes. :) I am grateful to Chris for taking pics for me with his phone.

Junior Festival round one and four...

Junior Festival. I have a love/hate relationship with this annual event because preparing for it takes almost all year of the same two songs. I think the girls could learn more during the year if they didn't have to be performance ready in March with two songs. This has mostly to do with their teacher, who won't move on until after Junior Festival. Sometimes they have their pieces memorized for months before March and they make no forward progress because she doesn't want to botch their Junior Festival pieces.

Anyway, they have this trophy incentive program, for every 15 points you earn, you get a larger trophy. You get 5 points per year if you get superior scores. Ruby got her trophy after three superior years. Alice's first superior was this year, and let's just say it required some creativity on the part of the judges to give her that superior. She was one of the youngest kids in the festival and I think she demonstrated eventually that she knew her songs well and had all the dynamics all figured out...but here is how it went down.

She was second (they have different groups of five or six players that play at a certain time, so you only hear the people assigned to your time and your room). She sat down and they told her to play her first piece. She played, "Monkies in the Trees." So she played exactly the first half of the song. Then she did her rainbow hands to her lap and respectfully waited for the judges to write their comments and scores. Mama Bear was having an internal cow...so I said, "Alice, can you finish the song, play the whole song?" She said, "yes." Then she repeated the same section and stopped again in the same place. I was baffled. Didn't know what more to do, after all, this was supposed to be a polished performance, not a practice session, so I just left it.

So then they said to play her second piece. She was to play "Little Playmates". She literally started playing 'Monkies' RIGHT where she left off. Played the rest of the song and happily finished and waited. I was DYING...you see, this is a one shot opportunity to show what Alice and I have been working on ALL YEAR and she was ready for MONTHS, could play these pieces in her sleep...AHHHHH! So I was glad she had shown her whole first piece by now, but she would be DQ'd if I didn't get her to play her required piece. So I said, "Alice, can you play "Little Playmates" now?" Unruffled and unaffected, my girl was like, "oh yeah" and she played her second song perfectly.

After it was done, she bowed and collected her music from the judges and came to sit on my lap. I was worried that she was going to be aware of the major botching, but no. On the way to the festival, she asked, "Mom, what is the lowest score you can get?" I said, "A one". She said, "If I get a 1, it's okay because I'll just keep playing at home." She isn't competitive, she's like me that way. I was relieved that the judges were forgiving on my little seven year old who did know her songs and did spend all year preparing.

When it was Ruby's turn, she played her pieces perfectly. Ruby is competitive and she performs really well under pressure...the under pressure part is like me. She didn't know one of her songs until the day before the festival...but she pulled it off well! I was proud of them both.

Christmas Recital...

Ruby and Alice did a great job performing at their annual Christmas recital. They always amaze me with their confidence in piano performing and I have to say that I credit the Suzuki method!

Ruby's First Book Recital...

 Ruby worked really hard at learning by memory the entire Suzuki Book One. She had her Book One recital the same weekend as the horse show while Jeff's family was in town. She played through all of her songs with confidence and we were all proud!

 Ruby and her teacher, Joanie Steck.

Twinkle Trophy...

Alice has been working since September on four different versions of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. She had to know how to play each of her twinkles with both her left and right hands. It is part of the Suzuki method of learning how to play the piano, and though I am a big believer in all things Suzuki, we were VERY over the Twinkles, and it was something that had to get crossed off the list before the baby comes! Alice was so sick of playing them that she had come up with all kinds of weird finger games to play them with, and other distractions that made it hard to just get the job done. Her ear was moving on, and she was starting to play the melodies from Ruby's Jr. Festival songs and it was hard to keep her on the task at hand so we could officially move on. She was pretty nervous and shy about it, so she didn't play as well as she knows how, but she did well enough to pass off her "twinkles" and get her prized trophy from Mrs. Steck.

Alice with her cheerleaders, me, Ru, Chris and Oma. Great job, little girl!

Junior Festival...

Alice, Mrs. Steck (dressed up as Mrs. Treble) and Ruby before Ruby played. Mrs. Steck is the envy of all of her students, and when Alice says she wants to be her when she grows up, I have to think I should like to be her as well.

The National Federation of Music Clubs has a Junior Festival annually where young piano players come and play two pieces from a specific list of approved options and get judged by a panel and given a rating or score. The scores compile over years, and they have varying levels of rewards or trophies for those who stick with it over several years and earn enough points to deserve them.Sometimes I need proof that I existed even though I'm not a fan of pictures of myself. Here I am with my girls for once.

Ruby had prepared all year for her first junior festival, and it was one of the most heartbreaking disappointments of her broken arm was that she may not be ready in time to play. We worked on her pieces by ear while she was in her long arm cast, which did prevent her from playing the piano because it held her right arm at a 90 degree angle. Then we arranged to have her cast off the Wednesday before the festival so that she'd have one piano lesson with Mrs. Steck and a few days before the festival. The shorter cast did free her fingers up some and her elbow movement was back, so she was determined to play.Ruby's fancy cast, embellished by Chris' artistry.

We learned the last 1/2 of "Sail-Away Sonatina: Fish in Schools" in a day or two and she practiced and felt ready to go participate. She'd known "Little Playmates" since August or so, so it was just a matter of remembering it after taking five weeks off.

She did a great job! She learned a lot about how nerves can make you brainless, as she did know her pieces perfectly, but did mess one of them up royally. She was allowed to restart and in the end, she got a superior rating from the judges, who complimented her use of dynamics and consistent rhythm. They were impressed that she was there cast and all, and she felt proud of her performance, though later she admitted to me that she was embarrassed that she didn't play "Fish in Schools" perfectly.

They wouldn't allow me to take video or pictures of the actual performance, so I'll video her playing at home soon.

Piano Recital

Ruby's end of the year piano recital was this week. As usual, Mrs. Steck went all out. She had the kids play downstairs this time because she had gotten a beautiful, new piano, and it was a really special event. Ruby sang a little solo, "Three Little Kittens," and then she played her three songs: "Mary Had a Little Lamb," "Lightly Row", and "French Children's Song." She did a really great job, and was noticeably proud of herself, though you'd have to know her facial code in order to know that. She got a bronze medal for being the 3rd place practicer over the course of the year, and she asked me later that night, "am I really just dreaming that I got a medal, mama?"

Mrs. Steck made the girls some darling little crowns, and a lollipop tree, and she gave them each a folder with all the things they'd earned and worked on all year inside. Oma came to show her support, and of course Chris and Alice were there with us as well. It was a special day!