Recitals

It has been recital season at our house.  Last weekend, Ben, Sarah, and Rachel performed at their piano recital, both individually,

and with their piano teams.  Ben is on the left (his teacher is filling in for one student that was gone).  His team played Skip to My Lou, arranged for five pianos.

Rachel is also on the left, below, playing with her piano team.  There are five pianos, ten hands.  Each person plays a different part of a song.  They played a most amazing version of Canon in D.

And Sarah with her team.  They performed a 40-page version of Waltz of the Flowers.  They spent the whole year working hard on it.  And they played it wonderfully!

Here is Sarah with her teacher and her piano team, all of them wearing flowers to go with the Waltz of the Flowers.  They have had a lot of fun together!

The following day Ben and Rachel had an orchestra concert.  I'm so impressed with how far Ben has come in his first year of playing the cello.  His whole orchestra was filled with beginners in September, and now they can make beautiful music. 

Rachel also performed with her orchestra.  They sounded great!  Unfortunately, since Rachel sat in the back, directly behind the conductor, and I had a sleeping William on my lap so I couldn't get up and move, this was the only picture I was able to get of her--as she exited the stage. 

A few days prior, Rachel had performed Jon Schmit's "Waterfall" for her school variety show.  It was a terrible piano, but she played the piece beautifully. 

And Sarah marched with the band in the local parade, playing the flute. 

It was a great day to watch a parade!  We had a great time, until William got very hot (I think it was about 65 degrees, but he is not used to the heat living here) and sticky from eating too much candy.  He was ready to go!  (William cannot handle having dirty hands!)

Then this last weekend, we headed up to Seattle for yet another piano concert.  This time the kids played with their teams at a Team Recital with other piano teams from all over the area. 

Here is Rachel sitting with her team before the concert began. 

And Ben waiting with his team. 

They both played great.  I love the look of concentration on Ben's face as he watched the other pianists to make sure they all stayed together.  They cue each other with nods and facial expressions.

Rachel's team played well too.  It is fun to watch them work together, and amazing to listen to on all these great pianos at the Steinway store, where the concert was held.  Beautiful sound!

The next day, Ben played a cello/piano duet with one of his friends from school for his friend's piano recital.  It was fun for them to play together and they had a good time the last few weeks meeting to practice. 

Phew...that was a lot of recitals.  We have one more coming up this weekend, then I think we can take a break for a while!