My first winter concert was for Copper Hills. I ended up being so nervous about it. I was worried that they’d mess up really bad. I was missing a couple kids who got sick. The orchestra went first; they took a while. The band did three songs. They did Hot Cross Buns, and I played the piano accompaniment for that. Then we did “Good King Wenceslas.” Everyone did the first half, then the advanced kids and I played the second half. Then the advanced kids played “Up on the Housetop.” They actually did pretty well overall.
Next was the Rosecrest concert. I just had time to go home from band class at Hillside and change. Even so, with traffic, I was later than I had planned on. With my tuner nowhere to be found (I left it at Copper Hills at the concert but got it back and then left my purse at Hillside), I tuned everyone with the iPad app. We were missing a couple kids for our concert. The band went first. My kids did ... okay. This is typical for elementary orchestras as it takes a while to get the hang of string technique. One beginner must have been nervous and rushed through all the songs. Then the advanced kids did “Frere Jacques” at the last minute since we decided to rehearse “Star Wars” more. But we had never rehearsed “Frere Jacques,” so that went badly.
After that I stuck around for the choir performance, which sang for around forty minutes. A few of my kids were in it. It turned out to be a good thing that I stayed, since the principal (I finally met him and figured out who he was) gave all the music teachers and staff poinsettias at the end. It was very kind. It’s actually still alive to this day. It’s a miracle.
The concert for Hillside/Orchard was at the music store at Jordan Landing. The principal said any concert we did would have to end by 5, which meant a lot of parents would miss it by being at work still. Again, I’d brought no tuner, so we had to tune by ear. How archaic. Orchestra went first. My band did pretty well. I played along on the clarinet for the “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas” duet. Then the advanced kids (two flutes and a sax) did “Frere Jacques” as a round. The one kid still wasn’t getting the concept of a round. He came in two measure later than the flutes but joined in with them instead of playing from the beginning. Oh well. Then the advanced flutes did “Up on the Housetop.” I joined with them on the flute as they were small in number.
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