Last Thursday
Last Thursday was the last Thursday of 2005. My wife and I had been invited to a very special event. It was my first reunion with 3 of my former beginning violin students, hosted and organized by the parents of one of the students. There was also a 4th family that was invited but were out of town that day. We had kept in touch to varying degrees with the families of these students over the past 1o years. The students were Christopher, John, Katie, and (absent last Thursday) two sisters Anita and Sarita. They had all started violin around age 6-8. Now Katie is a junior at West Virginia Wesleyan, voice & violin education major; John is a senior in computer science at U of IL; Christopher graduated last May from Eastman with a triple major in composition, violin and mathematics; Anita is out of medical school and beginning her residency; and Sarita graduated from U of IL in political science. My goodness, I almost felt like a proud papa - ALMOST. My input into these lives was quite limited, but of some value. As kids, once they had gotten past the fundamentals of violin and into intermediate/advanced technique, they were all in the 'advanced group' - the ones who had earned the right to be most challenged and to perform as much as possible in public. So we played at county fairs, summer park programs, weddings, recitals, picnics, summer camps and camp-outs - any event that seemed like a good, stimulating musical experience. They even sometimes got paid a token amount if it was a paying gig. All in all that was a remarkable group of kids among the hundreds I've taught in 28 years of teaching Suzuki violin.
Fast forward 10 years since my wife & I left Champaign, IL: John is a computer major and casual violinist as well as guitarist (I haven't heard his guitar.) He played respectably well at the party last Thursday when we all played together. Katie is a vocal and violin major. Her voice is tremendous, and she has the singer's personality - extremely outgoing. Violin seems to be a close 2nd to her singing. She plays at least as well as I do at this point, given her youth and lack of experience. What she lacks in experience, she makes up for in moxy. She attempted her Mendelssohn C0ncerto, which had been shelved for a few months. That takes guts. It was not a perfect performance, but she did express herself well, including some interjections of commentary. Funny! Her boyfriend Adam was with her and brought his trumpet and a Fake Book. BTW both Katie and Chris have perfect pitch. Christopher is the star by far of this group. He is a natural musician who early on caught the vision to dedicate his life to music. Doesn't hurt to have perfect pitch and a touch of genious. His accomplishments in music already are prodigious - composer/concert master/performer. Last Thursday Chris and his high school buddy Jim (pianist) played Ravel 'Szigane.' Everyone was transfixed and in awe. Chris had learned his part in 3 days, and the two young men played a perfect, artistic performance of this virtuoso piece. It was wonderful! Jim is, like Chris, a gifted musician and obviously touched by genious - now studying at Stanford (?) as PhD candidate in German literature. Besides the highlights mentioned, all 3 young violinists and I, accompanied by Jim or Adam, spent hours reading a wide varienty of music together: Baroque duets, a Bach concerto for 2 violins, Christmas duets, songs from a Fake Book, Kreisler 'Praeludium & Allegro,' 'Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.' What fun! It was such a joy be together again to play music like in the old days. Some of the pieces they'd loved to play 11-12 years ago, such as Fantomen and Pachelbel Canon did not make it to this party. I didn't bring the sheet music. But now we know how to be better organized next time.
Though I was the teacher of these young violinists, I feel humbled to know where they have gone since I last saw them. They each have unique gifts from God and are on quite different paths in life. And studying violin at a young age seems to have influenced each of them in a positive way. I wouldn't have traded that evening last Thursday for anything. It encouraged me very much. I was in a daze the next day trying to process what my role may have been in these kids' lives, and then try to reconcile it with the path my own life has taken. I'm thankful to God to have some skill for shaping kids' lives with music, and I am anxious to get back to doing more of it in southern IL. I believe God is directing me in that way.
This first posting comes from Louisville, KY on New Years Day, where Peggy and I are attending a huge missions summit at the Kentucky Convention Center, and staying at the Downtown Marriott Hotel. We have our 3-yr-old grandson with us. This should be the subject of my next posting.
Fast forward 10 years since my wife & I left Champaign, IL: John is a computer major and casual violinist as well as guitarist (I haven't heard his guitar.) He played respectably well at the party last Thursday when we all played together. Katie is a vocal and violin major. Her voice is tremendous, and she has the singer's personality - extremely outgoing. Violin seems to be a close 2nd to her singing. She plays at least as well as I do at this point, given her youth and lack of experience. What she lacks in experience, she makes up for in moxy. She attempted her Mendelssohn C0ncerto, which had been shelved for a few months. That takes guts. It was not a perfect performance, but she did express herself well, including some interjections of commentary. Funny! Her boyfriend Adam was with her and brought his trumpet and a Fake Book. BTW both Katie and Chris have perfect pitch. Christopher is the star by far of this group. He is a natural musician who early on caught the vision to dedicate his life to music. Doesn't hurt to have perfect pitch and a touch of genious. His accomplishments in music already are prodigious - composer/concert master/performer. Last Thursday Chris and his high school buddy Jim (pianist) played Ravel 'Szigane.' Everyone was transfixed and in awe. Chris had learned his part in 3 days, and the two young men played a perfect, artistic performance of this virtuoso piece. It was wonderful! Jim is, like Chris, a gifted musician and obviously touched by genious - now studying at Stanford (?) as PhD candidate in German literature. Besides the highlights mentioned, all 3 young violinists and I, accompanied by Jim or Adam, spent hours reading a wide varienty of music together: Baroque duets, a Bach concerto for 2 violins, Christmas duets, songs from a Fake Book, Kreisler 'Praeludium & Allegro,' 'Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring.' What fun! It was such a joy be together again to play music like in the old days. Some of the pieces they'd loved to play 11-12 years ago, such as Fantomen and Pachelbel Canon did not make it to this party. I didn't bring the sheet music. But now we know how to be better organized next time.
Though I was the teacher of these young violinists, I feel humbled to know where they have gone since I last saw them. They each have unique gifts from God and are on quite different paths in life. And studying violin at a young age seems to have influenced each of them in a positive way. I wouldn't have traded that evening last Thursday for anything. It encouraged me very much. I was in a daze the next day trying to process what my role may have been in these kids' lives, and then try to reconcile it with the path my own life has taken. I'm thankful to God to have some skill for shaping kids' lives with music, and I am anxious to get back to doing more of it in southern IL. I believe God is directing me in that way.
This first posting comes from Louisville, KY on New Years Day, where Peggy and I are attending a huge missions summit at the Kentucky Convention Center, and staying at the Downtown Marriott Hotel. We have our 3-yr-old grandson with us. This should be the subject of my next posting.
posted by Trucking Fiddler at 7:31 AM
1 Comments:
Congratulations on your new blog. Good initial post. I was present for the Thursday evening event, and I agree, it was magical. As I told you, I think one of your most valuable contributions to the musical development of these young people was to instill in them an enthusiasm and love for playing that not all violin teachers have the ability to do. You were constantly providing them with performance opportunities, and encouraging them to try new pieces, sometimes beyond their technical capabilities, rather than have them spend a year doing nothing but scales. I will look forward to the day when you can come off the road and return to teaching violin to young people.
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