She has become a bit spoiled for the past two weeks being that she was surrounded by amazing musicians, involved in master classes, & taking private lessons from Barbara Govatos who is a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra. If I lived in Philly, and could afford lessons from her she would definitely be Lexie's teacher. She learned a lot in the two weeks she had lessons from her.
I can understand why Lexie said she was "spoiled" with this program because when you're surrounded by people who can actually play and know their exact measures and all the music jargon & other kids who really take their music seriously (in other words they practice) tells you that these kids are talented and don't mess around when it comes to music.
Although she told me is was a pretty strict camp with attending classes all day, having a hall monitor that walks the hallways at a specific time to make sure they hear you practice, waking up everyday at 7am, and being in bed by 11pm she managed to enjoy her time with her new friends during her lunch hour! Luckily they had a beach trip to Ocean City, and a movie night to relieve any kind of stress.
Although she was sore from playing so much on her first day she immediately got used to it. See...when you don't play as much and only practice for 30 minutes instead of two hours you're wrist will be sore for the first day or two. She literally put in about 22 hours of practicing in a 14 day period! I'd say that's a lot. Apparently they presented an award for "who practiced the most" and it was given to a young girl who practiced for 17 hours. When I asked Lexie how that could be when she practiced for more than 17 hours she said that apparently they gave everyone a sheet to log in their hours but misplaced hers, and didn't focus on jotting them down. (we later found it at home mixed in with her certificate, and music sheets!) She just wanted to practice and play. Obviously getting an award for "who practiced the most" didn't mean anything to her, and that's okay because she knows that she practiced.
Although she was sore from playing so much on her first day she immediately got used to it. See...when you don't play as much and only practice for 30 minutes instead of two hours you're wrist will be sore for the first day or two. She literally put in about 22 hours of practicing in a 14 day period! I'd say that's a lot. Apparently they presented an award for "who practiced the most" and it was given to a young girl who practiced for 17 hours. When I asked Lexie how that could be when she practiced for more than 17 hours she said that apparently they gave everyone a sheet to log in their hours but misplaced hers, and didn't focus on jotting them down. (we later found it at home mixed in with her certificate, and music sheets!) She just wanted to practice and play. Obviously getting an award for "who practiced the most" didn't mean anything to her, and that's okay because she knows that she practiced.
Going to her Grand finale concert this past weekend was a perfect end to my Fourth of July . Personally I don't think I would've wanted to be anywhere else. The entire day at this camp was filled with concert after concert with different composers and I can tell that all of these kids really worked hard & take their music seriously. They all played exceptionally well, and I'm so proud of how well she played. There was so much to record, but really wanted to sit back and enjoy the sounds of beautiful music so I only recorded two pieces. You can listen to them here, and here. I seriously got tired of holding my phone, and even more tired watching their arms! Totally amazing performances!
I met a lot of her new friends & in an instant could distinguish how well they all played compared to a regular band in high school. The Wind Ensemble played a few pieces too, and because it was the Fourth of July I had to record a snippet of their performance which you can see here. If you listen carefully you can here the piccolo player in the background. She was awesome. They all played amazingly well too! Too bad Lexie's high school doesn't have an orchestra where she can get to pay the violin more. Although she loves piano the violin is definitely her forte. She hopes that she'll be pumped up for band this year being that she had an amazing experience with musicians who know their music, practice, and really know how to play!
I met a lot of her new friends & in an instant could distinguish how well they all played compared to a regular band in high school. The Wind Ensemble played a few pieces too, and because it was the Fourth of July I had to record a snippet of their performance which you can see here. If you listen carefully you can here the piccolo player in the background. She was awesome. They all played amazingly well too! Too bad Lexie's high school doesn't have an orchestra where she can get to pay the violin more. Although she loves piano the violin is definitely her forte. She hopes that she'll be pumped up for band this year being that she had an amazing experience with musicians who know their music, practice, and really know how to play!
No comments:
Post a Comment