Piano Adjudications come up once a year (or twice if you’re lucky). I love that the girls’ piano teacher gives them so many opportunities to perform. It is a little bit stressful and requires a lot of hard work on their part. I’m very proud of their effort and their performances.
To make it a little fun, we made a “day” of it. The girls got out of school early and we went to the Mustard Seed for lunch. They ordered whatever they wanted – Sweet and Sour Shrimp for Gabi and Sweet and Sour Pork for Jessamyne. We even shared a Molten Chocolate Cake for dessert.
Over lunch, we talked about why we would choose to do something like this, despite the stress . . . . Here’s what the girls came up with:
- We learn poise in performing
- We learn how to take constructive criticism
- We learn how to work for a specific goal
- We learn how to work hard
- We learn that it is important to work toward perfection
- We learn how to continue even when we make mistakes
Really, the list was endless. If you’re not familiar with how these work, the girls each performed 2 songs while an adjudicator took notes on their style, rhythm, and technique.
After both pieces are played, the student waits for the adjudicator to give them some feedback. She lets them know what they need to work on, how they can improve, and what she loved about their interpretation of their pieces. This adjudicator said she loved both girls’ style and flair. (We are familiar with their flair around here).
Gabi played:
The Happy Farmer by Schumann
The Bells of San Miguel by Dennis Alexander
Jessamyne played:
Minuet in G Minor Christian Peltzold
Gigue Eugenie Rocherolle
Out of 500 students, 40 were called back for the Honors recital on Saturday evening. Gabi was one of them – she will be playing The Bells of San Miguel. Good job, girls. We’re proud of you!
Note: Unfortunately, we were unable to get pictures of Jessamyne (sorry, Jess, next time), and my video camera died during Jessamyne’s 2nd performance. But, I can attest, it was a fantastic one. Sorry about the picture quality. Lighting was poor and my battery was low.
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