Oklahoma Music Achievement Auditions

Today the girls had the opportunity to perform at the Oklahoma State Music Achievement Auditions, after both receiving a top score of "1" at the regional competition in March. It was a bittersweet day, which I'll explain soon. These competitions are a great way for students to have performance experiences under pressure, as well as to show off what they have accomplished and have something to work hard towards. The girls were so enthusiastic to be there and from their standpoint, this is way better than the recital, because you have the opportunity to receive a trophy, or at least a ribbon!

Firestar played Carnival of Venice, a lively waltz, and was rewarded with a super-best score of 1+! Her judge's sheet was full of only glowing comments about her excellent tempo and perfect dynamics, wonderful staccatos and exceptional legatos. Not one negative comment! We are so proud of her hard work! And a 1+ earned the big trophy, so she was super proud. As you can see in this picture, she was equally as proud of the $1.00 treble clef straw that I bought her in the little gift area.




Little Sparrow learned a very difficult lesson today on the theme of "life's not fair". She has been working on this piece since January, and has been playing it absolutely perfectly for months. Her teacher has said that this song was just made for her. However, her teacher failed to read the Achievement Audition rule book. Rule #5 on page 27 states that all performance pieces must be written for piano, no arrangements allowed. Her song was an arrangement for piano, a version of Hayden's Surprise Symphony. She was so excited to perform today, sure she would receive her first trophy, and was so devastated not to be allowed to have the opportunity to do so. My heart broke for her, as it was so important to her and she's worked so hard, and it was not at all her fault. To try to make her feel a little better I bought her this lovely cloisonne piano in the gift area; a "trophy" for her hard work, because we know she would have done so well. She is very proud of it, and knows that we are very proud of her too. Not only are we proud of her hard work in piano, but also for gracefully learning to handle an unfair disappointment. When she was first upset, she said that she would never do one of these competitions again. By the time we left, she was already looking forward to trying again next year. I love her spirit!