Jodi B

About three weeks ago, my daughter was notified that she was one of five finalists in a concerto competition sponsored by her youth orchestra. The finalists were choosen from the whole state of Indiana. It wasn't until after I saw the list of performance concertos... that I started to freak out. Her finals consisted of a piano solo by Grieg, one violin concerto by Wieniawski another by Bruch and a cello concerto by Saint-Saens. I thought to myself, "How could my daughter's Haydn Concerto in G compare to those concertos?

During the weeks that followed, both my daughter and I concluded that it was indeed a true honor to be placed in the finals.

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When we walked into the warm-up room, the sound of strings filled the room. It was then when, to my surprise, negative thoughts filled my head. "What are we doing here?" But I quickly shook them off and immediately turned to my daughter who looked like she had the same concern. I looked her in the eyes and told her that she can't worry about the others in the room; she must block them out to practice on her own.

Her performance went really well. She played really clean and accurate. She really did her personal best and she was proud of herself.

In the end, she won 3rd place; which both her and I were REALLY happy!

Now, if I could only afford a nice violin... ahh that's another blog :)

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Dropping Time

January 2, 2009 08:54

Over this last week, I have come to realize that sports and music are share simularities. After all, they are both disciplines?

My youngest daughter, who is 10, swims on a team that competes year-round. She attends practice about 3-4 times a week. The coaches don't encourage "winning" races, but encourage them to swim their best to drop time. My daughter so far has dropped 15 seconds off her 100 freestyle; that's four laps in the pool!

I was on the cross-country team in high school. I wasn't the fastest runner by any means. In fact, I came in last almost all the time. One of the reasons why I ran was to spend more time with my dad who was the coach. He didn't really care who won the race, as long as we did our personal best. Some of my best memories weren't about the race itself, but knowing that I truly did the best I could.

My oldest daughter will be competing in finals for a concerto competition tomorrow. After her lesson this week, the words of her teacher rang clear to me. "Don't worry about what anyone else is doing. What matters its that you play the best for yourself."

After her lesson this week, on the way home, my daughter and I have discussed about doing her best, having fun (because isn't that what it is all about?) and "dropping time."

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