| "My" kids
Today we had one of those rehearsals...
... they were just spectacular, they almost made me cry, I swear. We started with Pines and I told them today was "Alternative Interpretation Day" which just means it'll be faster, slower, more rit., more accel., softer, louder... whatever I felt like doing differently in my interpretation, they have to follow and stay with me.
What can I say? They hung in there like little pros. We then followed that with a discussion about what they thought of my different tempi, did it work better in the music, etc. They gave great reasons as why they thought what they did.
We sightread the first two movements of Prokofiev 5th and, yeah, there were a few notes that weren't they belonged. Considering I did everything at normal tempi, they did very well and I was proud of them.
Then it was time for the solo pieces and they shone like stars while they accompanied for Tchaikovsky's violin concerto. It didn't matter what the soloist and I did, they hung with me like I've had them as my orchestra for years. They did the same on the other solo piece, Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante. I have a have violin/viola duo that play that piece like it was written for them.
So, is it any wonder that I tend to be an optimistic person, that I like to see the good in kids? It's because every Saturday I get to see kids aching to play and smiling when they do well, smacking their foreheads when they come in one 16th note early and then smiling sheepishly at me afterward.
You needn't tell me I'm one of the luckiest people in the world to see young people at their best. Believe me, I know. When kids play for me, I don't care if they sassed their mom they night before, I don't care if they got a D- on an assignment, I don't care if she broke up with him, I don't care if they got their first speeding ticket on the way to rehearsal. All I care about is that moment and whether they have the heart and ears to gauge a ritardando properly.
The parents are wonderful people as well. If any of you folks ever want to see them in action and you happen to reside in the twin cities, we rehearse at Highland High School starting at 8:45 in the friggin' morning. You'll leave having a whole different attitude about our young people.
ML |