A Busy Concert Season

Kate has been a busy, busy violinist these past few weeks. First, the junior orchestra played their final concert of the season. They worked for months on the third movement of Vivaldi's Summer Concerto and they played it beautifully. They also joined the intermediate and senior orchestras to play a modern piece composed by David Wadley. A few days after that concert, Kate participated in the local Kiwanis Music Festival, in three violin competitions and a composition competition. She had practiced many hours for these competitions, and we were very proud that she played her pieces so well.

The following weekend, Kate's strings school had their annual spring concert. Kate played, with her group, a medley featuring pieces from "The Sound of Music". It was definitely a crowd pleaser and appreciated by Todd's parents, John and Marilyn, who joined us for the weekend. She also played selections from the Suzuki repertoire with the entire school. Even though I have to see this at every Suzuki event, I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing a stage full of kids playing Twinkle variations together! There's Kate in the photo above, among all the violinists in their best black-and-white concert garb.


As if there wasn't enough craziness, Kate also had to attend dance rehearsals the week before the concert. I spent much of the weekend shuttling her between her two dance performances and the group violin rehearsal and concert. The whole family attended the dance recital too, and Kate performed beautifully in her "Pool of Tears" and "Card Guards" dances with the rest of her class. My friend Laura designed this lovely card guard costume in the photo above.

Now, Kate gets a few weeks' break before an upcoming violin exam. Julia had decided some time ago to abandon the arts scene and is no longer doing dance and piano recitals. However, she too has been busy, going to track-and-field meets every week or two with her school team. It's nearly impossible, though, to convince a teenager to pose for a photo for her parents, so you'll just have to imagine her racing in her school colours and spikes.