First Band Concert

We had our first band concert today. Yes, I know it is Sunday but it is a FREE concert so I don't feel like it is breaking the Sabbath.

Here is most of the band. My husband is the photographer. I of course sit in the flute section which means front row in a Symphonic Band. That is me, the third flute.
Not that we really sit according to any order. If that were the case I would be sitting at the end of the flutes since I am so rusty. We usually sit where ever we are comfortable within our sections. Some prefer to sit right in front of the conductor while others of us really don't care as long as there is room enough for the flute that sticks out on the right side.

My favorite part of the evening is hearing each song announced. I listened to the MC tell a little about the composer, the piece or for what it was written for and often what movie it was used in. It was interesting to see how he wove all this seemingly disjointed songs together into one program. The concert was called "Journey's through Time and Space". I guess you can pretty much fit anything into that.

My husband besides being the photographer also had the fun job of keeping our three kids under control. Sophie has been to concerts before but the boys, well.... we had stake conference this morning and it didn't go too well. So we knew this was going to be fun. But my husband thought we should all go. The boys need to get used to concerts and especially see Mom perform.
The boys made it through about 3 songs. Henry thought we were too loud and was covering his ears the whole time. I don't blame him. We were in a small room and we started with a fanfare by Richard Strauss. During one of the quiet and slow songs about 4 pieces into the program the boys got bored and had to get taken out. Sophie sat there like a little lady and listened. During the intermission Sophie was able to come up and talk to some of the other musicians and look at their instruments. She was fascinated by the Bassoon.
My husband brought the boys back in after the intermission and they made it through the rest of the show. They loved the Pirates of the Caribbean medley we played and Sophie loved the Star Trek music. I personally love Gershwin's American in Paris which we played last. It is really hard for me to play but it is a fun song to listen to. My husband went home humming one of the marches that we played. It sounds like a long concert but really there were only 12 song on the program. I was amazed at how well the kids did.
It is fun to play my flute again and if I can just fit in a bit more practice time I would really get better and not have to fake my way through some of the pieces.

Music Study - Mozart

This week we have been listening to a lot of Mozart. He is our composer for the month of March. Sophie has greatly enjoyed it. I started with the Classical Kids CD called Mozart's Magnificent Voyage.

After listening to this Sophie was very interested in Mozart's opera The Magic Flute. I was hoping to find the other Classical Kids production called Mozart's Magic Fantasy but our Library doesn't have it. And they don't have it on CD swap either.
I may just have to buy it.

Instead I decided we would get a movie version so she could see and hear the music. (Thank you Netflix!) I remember watching Ingmar Bergmen's The Magic Flute in College (I had a film teacher that loved Bergman films) and thought we could watch bits of it. I knew it was very long so I thought we could watch just a few of the arias.

I was shocked that they loved it. It is sung in sweedish and you have to read subtitles. But they didn't seem to mind. I did explain what was going on to the boys since they couldn't read it. They ended up watching the whole thing. Not in one sitting. We started it in the afternoon yesterday and then I stopped it to make dinner. They begged to watch some more of it after dinner last night so we let them. They finished it with their Dad before they went to bed. Even the boys sat there glued to the screen watching it. I was really surprised.



I like this cover of the film better. The one above looks far too sinsister and very Bergman like but not something I would show to kids. But I had seen the film before so I knew it was alright. I also knew I was going to be sitting here watching it with them to make sure it was alright. Sophie did say parts of it were a bit scary but she really liked it. She loved Papageno playing his bells and little pipe flute.





We have done very well with Music study, now I need to finally get around to introducing our Artist.

Call me Crazy

I don't know what has possessed me to add yet another thing to my schedule. I guess I just love feeling super busy. Either that or I just love getting away and doing something for me once in awhile. But two weeks ago I joined a band. No not a garage band but a symphonic band. I have a friend who has been playing in this band for years and she invited me to join. So I went last week to check it out.
When I was in the 4th grade I started playing the flute. I played for years all through elementary and high school. While in high school the band teacher often had flute players switch to other instruments, usually a brass instrument which weren't as popular. So I played the Euphonium the last two years of high school. I didn't play anything in college. I kept meaning to take a class or something but it just never worked out. Besides you had to audition which I never wanted to do. So, I haven't played my flute since my Sophomore year of high school. I have had a flute and it has moved around with me all over the place. Last year I even paid to get it refurbished. I needed new corks and pads. So for almost a year I have had a flute in perfect condition just waiting for me to play.
When I went to my first band practice and tried to play the music, I was very overwhelmed. The music is way harder than anything I ever had to play in high school. And to try anything this hard after all these years....let's just say I felt like I was drowning. Last night I went again, after practicing a little during the past week, and had a much better experience. I was actually able to play rather than just sit and stare at the pages covered with notes so high that I didn't know the fingering for them and so fast that I was getting the first and last but missed all the ones in the middle.
We have 4 Free concerts a year. I am glad that my kids will be able to see mom perform. It should be fun, I will learn a lot, and I don't have to wear an outfit like these below anymore.
This is an actual picture of my high school's band. When I was there the uniforms had a yellow cape on one shoulder and a yellow plume or "chicken" as we called it, on the hat. I won't miss the uniforms at all or the marching for that matter.

My hold finally made it.

Yesterday at the library I went to pick up my holds and found a CD there that I had placed a hold on way back in December. It is this Classical Kids CD about Tchaikovsky. It would have been great if it had made it last month when we were studying Tchaikovsky, but oh... well.

We listened to it last night while I made dinner. Sophie of course was at the table coloring greek gods and goddesses. But she was listening. She loved it and asked to hear it again today. This is the first of these Classical Kids CD's I have ever tried. She even wanted to take it out to the car so we could listen to it while we drove around. We really enjoyed the story that wove together the pieces of music.
I am going to have to give the others in this series a try. I hope the library has them all. I hope they will come in a timely manner too. Don't you love it when it takes over a month to have the holds make it to your library? I should just be happy. We have a great library system!