A friend of ours in our old Bitburg ward used to rename "trials" as "growth opportunities". That phrase and idea has stuck with me over the years, because it's a great way to take something difficult and put a positive spin on it.
Glo was stretched and pulled and pushed this past week at Interlochen. I do believe there were a couple of times that she wasn't sure she was going to be successful at the end, but to her credit, she kept going through the necessary motions, and she did indeed make it.
She sat Concermaster of the Interlochen Philharmonic (IP) this past week. It's a huge honor to be first chair, first violin of any orchestra, because in essence, you are the leader of not only your section of 14 violins, but of the entire orchestra. You are responsible for tuning the orchestra at the beginning of any rehearsal, and you work closely with the conductor.
Originally, Glo was disappointed in being placed in the "lower" orchestra of the two at Interlochen, especially considering she's one of the oldest campers here. In fact, I believe all of us felt badly for her. However, she has learned so much this past week about being a leader that I wouldn't have had it any other way.
The Concertmaster of Week One (Adrian) had it pretty good. The music was traditional stuff: Offenbach, Grieg and Mendelssohn (Reformation Symphony). He had a solo within one of the works, but it wasn't terribly difficult.
When I looked at the repertoire for Week Two (Glo's week), my heart sank. It was all French music. Ravel, Bizet, Dukas, and a composer I'd never heard of, de Falla. French music is some of the most beautiful music ever written. Debussy was my favorite composer to play as a pianist, because the music was not so much technique based, but interpretive based. The music is about painting a picture, similar to the impressionistic painters of the time including Monet, so the importance is placed on sound and affect. All of this is well and good for a soloist or a small ensemble, but getting that to happen with a large, highschool orchestra is a challenge to say the least. In fact, at the beginning of the week, Glo and I sat down with some of her music, and a recording of that music, and we simply couldn't find where her part was within the recording. Seeing as she was supposed to be leading her section, that's a major stressor!
Too, she had several solos within the different pieces. When she took the solos to her private violin teacher here, she came out discouraged, seeing that even he struggled to play them well for her. (As a side note, she mentioned to me that she knew AMY wouldn't have had any problems with them :-)). One of them was in eighth position on the violin which for us non-violinists translates into the "stratosphere where-only-dogs-can-hear-the-notes position" :-)
Too, through all of this week, auditions for weeks 3 and 4 have been hanging over her head. Yep, she's needed to give hours each day to learning the excerpts that will decide her fate for the next two weeks, and she felt the pressure to move up into WYSO (the best orchestra here on campus).
It didn't help either that her stand partner was not supportive of her at all. This isn't uncommon among stand partners (especially from the one who is sitting in the lower chair), but everyone always hopes for the best from stand partners. You hope that you will work together and be friends and it will be a fun time, but Glo had the opposite. Her stand partner would correct Glo constantly, but would never offer praise when Glo did something correctly. So sitting for three hours with that person was difficult.
Glo was pretty much losing it Tuesday night after all of this hit her. She hadn't slept well, and she had been hopping from one rehearsal to the next practice to another rehearsal to a lesson all day. She just wasn't sure that she could pull it all off. It certainly felt like a trial at this point.
But you know what? Glo kept putting one step in front of the other, and in the end, she made it.
I was reminded of many of the kids we see at the health center each day. They are on a slew of prescriptions for anxiety and depression and mood swings. No doubt, other parents would have seen the need for some of those medications for Glo over this past week, but I see these things as part of life. Wouldn't it be nice if stress came in nice, orderly packets of time that we can take when we are mentally prepared for them? In my experience, stress comes all at once and it stays for a while, and the best of us learn how to handle it and keep living life.
Glo's concert was yesterday, and she was as professional as anyone. She came out, tuned the orchestra, sat down, and led her section. Mark and I both noticed that there were times we couldn't hear any other first violin except Glo, because gosh darn it, she had put hours of practicing into the parts and even met with the conductor for help....and it showed. Her solos were beautiful, and so very French sounding. They were light and ethereal just like they should be.
And in the end, the best part of the night was seeing her conduct the Interlochen theme for the fourth time in her life. I don't know many kids who get that honor, but she has. And you know what? When the conductor forgot to leave his baton on the stand for her, she had no worries because she's been conducting music for the past two years in church! She didn't use the awkward blade hand that we frequently see from young conductors. Nope, she knew just how to hold her hand, and she made eye contact with the different members of the orchestra. In other words, she controlled that orchestra (versus them running the show).
So in the end, would Glo have preferred to not have had all the stress of the week? Maybe. But did she learn and grow from it all? Absolutely.
Glo was stretched and pulled and pushed this past week at Interlochen. I do believe there were a couple of times that she wasn't sure she was going to be successful at the end, but to her credit, she kept going through the necessary motions, and she did indeed make it.
She sat Concermaster of the Interlochen Philharmonic (IP) this past week. It's a huge honor to be first chair, first violin of any orchestra, because in essence, you are the leader of not only your section of 14 violins, but of the entire orchestra. You are responsible for tuning the orchestra at the beginning of any rehearsal, and you work closely with the conductor.
Originally, Glo was disappointed in being placed in the "lower" orchestra of the two at Interlochen, especially considering she's one of the oldest campers here. In fact, I believe all of us felt badly for her. However, she has learned so much this past week about being a leader that I wouldn't have had it any other way.
The Concertmaster of Week One (Adrian) had it pretty good. The music was traditional stuff: Offenbach, Grieg and Mendelssohn (Reformation Symphony). He had a solo within one of the works, but it wasn't terribly difficult.
When I looked at the repertoire for Week Two (Glo's week), my heart sank. It was all French music. Ravel, Bizet, Dukas, and a composer I'd never heard of, de Falla. French music is some of the most beautiful music ever written. Debussy was my favorite composer to play as a pianist, because the music was not so much technique based, but interpretive based. The music is about painting a picture, similar to the impressionistic painters of the time including Monet, so the importance is placed on sound and affect. All of this is well and good for a soloist or a small ensemble, but getting that to happen with a large, highschool orchestra is a challenge to say the least. In fact, at the beginning of the week, Glo and I sat down with some of her music, and a recording of that music, and we simply couldn't find where her part was within the recording. Seeing as she was supposed to be leading her section, that's a major stressor!
Too, she had several solos within the different pieces. When she took the solos to her private violin teacher here, she came out discouraged, seeing that even he struggled to play them well for her. (As a side note, she mentioned to me that she knew AMY wouldn't have had any problems with them :-)). One of them was in eighth position on the violin which for us non-violinists translates into the "stratosphere where-only-dogs-can-hear-the-notes position" :-)
Too, through all of this week, auditions for weeks 3 and 4 have been hanging over her head. Yep, she's needed to give hours each day to learning the excerpts that will decide her fate for the next two weeks, and she felt the pressure to move up into WYSO (the best orchestra here on campus).
It didn't help either that her stand partner was not supportive of her at all. This isn't uncommon among stand partners (especially from the one who is sitting in the lower chair), but everyone always hopes for the best from stand partners. You hope that you will work together and be friends and it will be a fun time, but Glo had the opposite. Her stand partner would correct Glo constantly, but would never offer praise when Glo did something correctly. So sitting for three hours with that person was difficult.
Glo was pretty much losing it Tuesday night after all of this hit her. She hadn't slept well, and she had been hopping from one rehearsal to the next practice to another rehearsal to a lesson all day. She just wasn't sure that she could pull it all off. It certainly felt like a trial at this point.
But you know what? Glo kept putting one step in front of the other, and in the end, she made it.
I was reminded of many of the kids we see at the health center each day. They are on a slew of prescriptions for anxiety and depression and mood swings. No doubt, other parents would have seen the need for some of those medications for Glo over this past week, but I see these things as part of life. Wouldn't it be nice if stress came in nice, orderly packets of time that we can take when we are mentally prepared for them? In my experience, stress comes all at once and it stays for a while, and the best of us learn how to handle it and keep living life.
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| See that little arrow? It means SO MUCH! |
And in the end, the best part of the night was seeing her conduct the Interlochen theme for the fourth time in her life. I don't know many kids who get that honor, but she has. And you know what? When the conductor forgot to leave his baton on the stand for her, she had no worries because she's been conducting music for the past two years in church! She didn't use the awkward blade hand that we frequently see from young conductors. Nope, she knew just how to hold her hand, and she made eye contact with the different members of the orchestra. In other words, she controlled that orchestra (versus them running the show).
So in the end, would Glo have preferred to not have had all the stress of the week? Maybe. But did she learn and grow from it all? Absolutely.
Yay Glo!!
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