Yes, it's that time of the year again, when Somerset organises its annual music festival for young performers. This year, Jordan played in 5 entries and included one jazz piece in his repertoire.
He was rather nervous but handled it better this year. Last year, he was just a bundle of nerves, but this year, he somehow seemed calmer and enjoyed the challenge of the competition. Actually I wouldn't term it a competition because it isn't truly one in the real sense of the word. You could for eg, have one entry which is for Year 4, Any Composers and get all kinds of levels for pianists. Some children started out learning at an early age so by the time they are about 9 yrs old, they are quite advanced in playing skills, then you have those that just only began at age 9, so really, it was a rather wide range of different levels performing in the same section.
On Saturday, the 1st day of competition, Jordie scored 2 blue ribbons (best performing) for his Sonatina and jazz piece and a red ribbon for his duet performance with little Emma, who also studies under his piano teacher. Aww.. they looked so cute playing together!
Yesterday, Jordie made a few boo boos and didn't play quite as well so, he got 2 green ribbons (3rd place) for both sections, but nevertheless, even though he was disappointed, he took it rather well, as we told him we were proud and happy that he did his best. His piano teacher was very supportive and sat in on every one of his performances so we really appreciated her involvement and interest in his development.
In between, we had time to go in and watch some young talents perform in the strings section and they were really good. Somerset also had other sections such as drama, vocals, individual speech, poetry recital, keyboards, guitar, harps and brass. It is good exposure for kids learning music to watch others play and be inspired to play better. Of course, the stress involved in performing before a crowd also hits home so kids do generally buck up on their effort to practice before the event, which is a good thing for discipline.
Anyway, whew so glad it it's all over! All that mad rush in the morning to get him there on time, practice, practice.... Now, I can unwind for a bit....
Yes, it's that time of the year again, when Somerset organises its annual music festival for young performers. This year, Jordan played in 5 entries and included one jazz piece in his repertoire.
He was rather nervous but handled it better this year. Last year, he was just a bundle of nerves, but this year, he somehow seemed calmer and enjoyed the challenge of the competition. Actually I wouldn't term it a competition because it isn't truly one in the real sense of the word. You could for eg, have one entry which is for Year 4, Any Composers and get all kinds of levels for pianists. Some children started out learning at an early age so by the time they are about 9 yrs old, they are quite advanced in playing skills, then you have those that just only began at age 9, so really, it was a rather wide range of different levels performing in the same section.
On Saturday, the 1st day of competition, Jordie scored 2 blue ribbons (best performing) for his Sonatina and jazz piece and a red ribbon for his duet performance with little Emma, who also studies under his piano teacher. Aww.. they looked so cute playing together!
Yesterday, Jordie made a few boo boos and didn't play quite as well so, he got 2 green ribbons (3rd place) for both sections, but nevertheless, even though he was disappointed, he took it rather well, as we told him we were proud and happy that he did his best. His piano teacher was very supportive and sat in on every one of his performances so we really appreciated her involvement and interest in his development.
In between, we had time to go in and watch some young talents perform in the strings section and they were really good. Somerset also had other sections such as drama, vocals, individual speech, poetry recital, keyboards, guitar, harps and brass. It is good exposure for kids learning music to watch others play and be inspired to play better. Of course, the stress involved in performing before a crowd also hits home so kids do generally buck up on their effort to practice before the event, which is a good thing for discipline.
Anyway, whew so glad it it's all over! All that mad rush in the morning to get him there on time, practice, practice.... Now, I can unwind for a bit....
