Tickling the Ivories, Part I

As a youngster, I was not trained in the musical arts of any kind; unless you count when I participated in a ward choir here or there.  Therefore, I really never envisioned that my home would be one of those in which music plays a big role in the upbringing of the children.  Thank goodness that my life has never turned out the way I have expected!

We have been blessed in the last few years with wonderful piano teachers for our children who have really helped them to excel in developing their talents in playing music as well as learning musical theory and fundamentals.  And the most exciting part of that training is in the springtime, when they get to play in recitals and participate in piano competitions.  This year, our children had great success in these events and it was super fun!

The first competition was the Broomfield Piano Festival which was held in March.  This was a one-day event for children in 5th grade and older.  The students auditioned in the morning (playing three memorized pieces), and if they were selected to advance, they played in a public performance in the afternoon (playing just one piece).  The second performance was judged and then they awarded trophies (and scholarships!) to the first, second, and third place winners in each age group.  I'm told that this competition is the most difficult because the participants are usually very talented.

Last year (2014), both Chase and Avery participated in this competition.  While Chase advanced from the audition and played in the afternoon concert, he did not place in the competition.  Avery auditioned in the morning, but did not advance.  Avery was especially disappointed at the time, and made a goal for himself to do better this year.

Here they are, preparing for their morning auditions in the 2015 competition.  Do they look nervous?

This year (2015), we were so excited because both Chase and Avery advanced through the morning auditions!  One added bit of drama, however, was that Chase had awakened that morning very sick with some kind of virus that caused coughing, sniffles, aching and fever.  He felt so awful that he almost didn't want to advance in the competition because all he wanted to do was go home and go to bed.  Boo!

However, he hung in there for the afternoon performance for Avery's age group and then for his own.  He was burning with a fever and barely able to sit upright, but when it was time to perform you would never have guessed how awful he felt.  Anyway...BOTH boys played beautifully and we were SO excited and surprised when they were awarded trophies!  Avery took second place in his age division, and Chase took first place in his.  WOW!  They really improved over last year and we were thrilled for them.

Our winners!

Avery worked so hard to achieve this goal; we were so proud!  He really nailed his Tarantella.  It was just awesome!

This guy practices long hours and loves his music, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he did so well in this performance.  The surprising part is how beautifully he played despite being so sick that he was sweating out a fever through the whole thing.  Impressive performance, Shorty!

And bless his heart, when we finally got Chase home, he went straight to bed and stayed there for the next four days recovering from the nasty virus that had afflicted him.  Poor guy!

Here are the videos of their performances in the public concert in the afternoon (please excuse the poor quality of the video and sound...these were recorded on my iPhone while I sat with a wiggly Trey on my lap...not to mention while experiencing a healthy dose of "mom nerves!" ha!):

Avery at the Broomfield Piano Festival 2015

Chase at the Broomfield Piano Festival 2015

The trophies and certificates were great, but we were also surprised to learn that the guys both got cash prizes for their wins as well.  Cool, huh?  And the final surprise was that, as winners, they were asked to perform the next week at the Broomfield Art Show (for local elementary school students).  

Avery was magnificent!

It was pretty loud in the room while Chase was playing, but he did very well!

This was a completely new venue for them to perform because they were really just providing background music for the event.  So, there were lots of people wandering around the whole time, sometimes stopping to watch them at the piano, and of course talking loudly.  Ha!  But, they both did a great job remembering Froggy's advice:  "Don't look left.  Don't look right.  And don't stop for ANYTHING!"

It was such an honor to be asked to play for this event.  And it was such a great experience to work hard and achieve a challenging goal by placing in this difficult competition.  Way to go, guys!