So, we had a blizzard Saturday and we spent most of the day out in it.
MK had his ensemble performances over the weekend. The kids met at a middle school and at the allotted times, they performed in front of a small audience of parents, their music teacher and a judge. The kids then performed and waited to hear feedback afterward.
The judges were professional musicians, so the advice was a bit hard to hear, but helpful.
Kevin went into work early to catch up on some stuff, so he met us there. We arrived in plenty of time, but MK wore the wrong shirt. He wasn’t sure if he was supposed to wear a dress shirt, or his school band shirt – he chose the wrong shirt. As a result, he was irritated and a bit rattled because he stuck out like a sore thumb. I think this affected his first performance, as well as his classmates’ performances. The song was still good, but you can hear a few squawks here and there. I don’t think all of them were from MK, but, well, it wasn’t their best performance.
This song is called “March Militia” though I’m not 100% sure of that. MK is the blond kid in the blue, dress-up shirt. (Notice how his music stand is so much higher than his peers? He does that on purpose so he can block out the faces staring at him. HA!) The song is only about a minute long, the rest is the judge giving her opinion, feel free to stop it if you don’t want to listen to her critique. 🙂
He was NOT happy with his performance, at all. In fact, he really beat himself up over it. He wasn’t that crazy about the piece to begin with, and as you heard, it was a rather difficult piece for a trio of 14-year olds to play. It was a good lesson though on paying attention to the details (what shirt to wear – I don’t think he’ll be blowing that information off in the future) and that he needs to practice a bit more and not be QUITE so confident.
Only MY kid has an overly-confident problem. *grin*
We had a little time before he was scheduled to play his next performance, so we took the opportunity to rush home to grab a bit to eat (well, MK didn’t eat, he was too nervous), and for him to change his shirt. We arrived back at the school in plenty of time for him to warm up and as a result, he was a lot more relaxed with his last two performances.
And the kids RAWKED the house, they truly did. In fact, they did so well, the judge didn’t really have a lot of criticism for them.
This song was one of the kids’ favorites – Night Train. And note the solo that MK plays (blond kid on left). DAMN!
They improvised on one part and the judge called them out on it, but they simply explained that they couldn’t seem to play it the correct way, so they just sort of made it work for them. I don’t know if they got counted off on their points, but you know what? I don’t think they really cared, quite frankly, because they just had so much fun playing it.
This last song was also a favorite and the judge … well, after the song, she just sat there, shook her head and smiled at the kids. There really wasn’t a lot she could say – they performed it perfectly.
It’s called Jericho. Another solo bit from MK – ’cause my kid’s a star. *wink*
They all left clapping each other on the back and feeling quite confident about themselves.
I couldn’t have been prouder. I think MK was BORN to play that saxophone. Seriously. He didn’t get that musical talent from me, that’s for sure.
We’re making plans to talk to the music store and upgrade MK’s sax over spring break. We’ve talked about possibly buying him a fancy, black saxophone in the past, but yikes – $3,000 is a BIT too much responsibility for a 14-year old, so, we’re just going to upgrade to an intermediate sax – something that sounds better but something we don’t have a coronary over every time he uses it for marching band next year.
The jazz band is actually traveling to Pittsburgh Kansas on Friday to perform in a jazz festival. That’s an hour and 45 minutes away so I’m a BIT nervous about him traveling without me, but he’s all excited. I hope they get to ride on one of those comfy buses as opposed to a bumpy school bus. I wish I could go to, but one, I’ve got GD to think about and two, I’m not sure MK WANTS me to go along. Besides, this will be good practice for him with his upcoming band travels in high school.
However, the jazz band is performing at a local university the following weekend, so I’m hoping it’s the same program and we’ll be able to watch that one. (Stay tuned for more video).
Thanks for being MK’s virtual audience. 🙂
Write From Karen 
HAHA! And thanks for your comments, Rachel!
one more thing: I now have March Militaire stuck in my head. I’ve been singing it since I watched the video. Grr. Thanks a lot, Karen!
Oh, the fun (and nerves) of the ensemble weekend!
May I add my critique? I am quite familiar with all three pieces!
March Militaire: First off, you are right – it is a hard song to play. The wind symphony I play in played this song last year and it took a LOT of work to get it right. I must admit, this is the first time I’ve heard it with only saxes! I agree with all the judge said – balance was an issue, along with intonation. Intonation is very difficult with saxophones, but I think their intonation problems were more nerves than anything. The squeaks I would probably blame on nerves as well – there are a lot of (quick) jumps from low notes to high and back again and it just keeps going. Calmer nerves and more breath support would take care of those squeaks. The problem is that it’s hard to get a chance to breathe in this song! There were a couple of other things I noticed as well (mainly articulation), but that is not something I would expect 14 year olds to get perfect, especially on this song. Overall, I say a good job on such a hard song.
Night Train: Like the judge, there’s not much to critique here. They did an AWESOME job! I think this one was the best of the three. They loved the song, they had fun, and it showed in their playing. And that is what music is about! FYI, improv is the one of the WORST things to do in a solo/ensemble situation. I think it wasn’t so bad here because they kept to the main theme of the song, and improv is a big part of that style of music. Don’t be surprised if they get marked down for that, though.
Jericho: They did a great job on this one as well. It is not an easy song to play as well. They did have intonation issues, especially near the end and a few places where the balance was off, but it wasn’t as much of a problem as it was in March Militaire. It’s a lot easier to balance in a larger group!
These kids did a GREAT job overall! I’m proud of them, and I don’t even know them! I can see MK becoming a great musician if he wants to. He definitely has the talent.