State Music Festival--the 2008 Edition

Who knew this would become an annual event for our family? And it looks like Nathan will follow in his brother's footsteps and participate in District & State Music when he's old enough.

Andrew participated in the 2008 Music Teacher Assoc. State Music Festival this weekend. To get to the state level, you must participate in districts, receive a superior (1) rating for your performance and pass a theory and ear training test with at least 75% correct. Since Andrew met the criteria, he was invited to state. (This first picture is Andrew in the practice room working on his songs before he performed.)

Since he's getting older, his pieces are becoming more difficult. We had a few tears shed over errors and notes that didn't want to be remembered...did I mention you have to have two MEMORIZED pieces of music? I know he was sick of drilling the same lines 8-10-12 times a day, but it paid off.


I was the Monitor for his room, fancy way to say I'm the check in girl and SHHH person in the hallway. I was able to hear through the door when he played. I held my breath at the part he often forgot on the first piece and he played if flawlessly. Then he nailed the ending which is tough to do when you don't have adult sized fingers. It was a tricky chord progression that was easy to hit some extra notes. Andrew calls it sour chords when he gets extra notes in error. His second piece was easier in the fingerings, but the entire bass is octave jumps. Again, a difficult fingering when your fingers aren't quite long enough to hit an octave without moving the wrist. He was more confidant on that piece and I only heard one incorrect note (Andrew said there were two). Apparently, the judge didn't hear it--maybe she doesn't eat, sleep and breathe Burleska at her house!





We waited for the ratings to go up. You have to have a Superior (1) Rating (either a 1, 1- or 1+) in order to receive a trophy. Here's his rank when it went up--contestant 246.

Andrew received a Superior rating with a 1+. We're very proud of him! His trophy looks like last year's model with the new date. It spins and he loves that part...so does his dad. They blow and see how fast they can make the center spin.

CONGRATULATIONS, ANDREW!!!!!

One final note--we got a call last night from Andrew's piano teacher regarding Jazz Band. She found out that there were 20 (twenty) piano players that auditioned for the 3 (three) Jazz Band Pianist spots. Andrew (the only 5th grader who auditioned) got in ahead of the older children. She wanted to make sure he knew to hold his head high that he was accepted while 17 others were turned down. I was amazed!