Day 2496. On Friday morning I went back to bed after Randy had left with the kids but my third alarm already went off at 9:30 am as I had a 10 am student. However, I found a message from her that we couldn't do the lesson so I went back to bed. At 11 am my alarm went off again, and I got up to get ready to teach at 11:30 am. I finished at 12:20 pm and left right away to pick up Sammy. Randy had already left just after noon to pick up the other kids.
Sammy and I were back before noon, and I warmed up leftovers for me to eat. At 1:30 pm Randy and the kids returned home. I had been looking for Emmy's dress shoes for the concert that he had worn last Sunday and came to the conlusion that he'd had to have left them at the music schoon on Sunday since he changed and left with different shoes. It was somewhat nerve-wracking as he needed the shoes for the concert, so I was really relieved when the music school confirmed that they were there. Randy then went to pick them up.
I had a student from 2:30 to 3:20 pm. After Randy had returned, Emmy had done a concert for him which was a chance to play all four songs for him. I made their sandwiches and cut up fruit for Tammy and Emmy, then I went downstairs to do one last run-through with Emmy. He bowed and sat down to play but he made a mistake right away, on the second note, so he started over, including the bow. However, he kept making the same mistake which was astonishing given how well he could play the song. He started having a fit every time, and crying because he couldn't get it right - hours before the concert. I had to let it run its course as there is no comforting him when he's like that. He finally came to me to comfort him, and I suggested he'd start with song 2 and to the first song in the end. He played the other 3 songs perfectly, and lo and behold, he then played the first song perfectly as well. He was very relieved, as was I. It was time to go upstairs.
We wanted to leave just before 5 pm but Emmy was impatient to put his nice, new clothes on. I helped him with all the layers. He was looking great! In fact, several people at the concert told him how great he looked, and one person said he was the best-dressed one there, which was true. I also dressed up as that was the dress-code.
Just before 5 pm Emmy and I left the house. Randy and the kids stayed home as we were gonna get home pretty late. Tammy and Sammy had fun at home, ate dinner, took a bath and went to bed at their regular time of 8 pm. Emmy and I rode the subway downtown, all the way to the end, then walked to the "house of music" in the heart of the city where the concert was going to take place. The winners of the city-wide music competition in February were invited to play there, and as Emmy had received an "honorable mention", he was invited to play as well. Tammy had been fifth, not fourth like Emmy, so she was not eligible to play.
We found our way to the location that I had never been to before and ran into one of the music school teachers right away. Together we took the elevator to the top floor where they had a little hall that had room for an audience of about 150 people. It was quite visible that Emmy was really nervous as he had gotten very quiet. I reserved two seats on the aisle in the second row where I had a perfect view of the piano. It was Austrian-made, one of the most prestigious and most expensive ones. We greeted the teacher who reminded everyone that they could sit down at the piano and warm up, try it out. Emmy was the first one to sit down but he didn't want to play more than a few notes. His teacher came by and ran into my picture that turned out really great. Then the other kids sat down, and many played whole pieces.
At 5:45 pm all the kids that were part of the choir went to the front to practice for half an hour. Emmy was part of it too and had gone to two rehearsals for that in the past week. After they were done, it was still 45 minutes before the concert was to start at 7 pm. Emmy was getting more nervous as the time for the concert got nearer and nearer. 15 minutes to seven, he went backstage with the first 10 perfomers of the night. Emmy (at age 6) was the youngest performer and went first. I think that made it more nerve-wrecking for him.
At 7 pm the music school founder and director and founder of this competition, who is also Emmy's teacher, came and gave a little speech. Then Sammy's music teacher came as she was going to lead through the evening and announce the performers. Sometimes she also said what they were playing, other times the performers themselves gave everyone that information. Miss Sara gave the names of the four pieces Emmy was playing. Nobody else was playing four; three was the most but of course most of those were a lot longer than Emmys.
After she was done speaking, Emmy came on stage, bowed quickly and sat down to play. And he did an amazing job! After each piece he put his hands in his lap like he was supposed to while people were clapping, then he started the next piece. Of course he made mistakes but he overcame them and continued on. When he was done, he bowed for everyone, and everyone was clapping loudly. He had opened the concert well. Then he went off stage.
I left the room to pick him up and hugged him and told him how proud I was of him. His teacher did the same. Then we went back inside and to our seats while everyone was clapping. The concert was really long; it lasted just over 3 hours. Half-way through it there was an intermission. They had prepared a little buffet but the food was gone quickly. Emmy and I had some, and we also had something to drink. There was another little boy whose brother was playing, and Emmy was with him. Then I saw that Emmy had been stopped to be interviewd. He had a mic in his face while a guy was filming him and a lady was asking him questions. He told me she had asked what it had been like to be the first one to play. I hope I'll be able to find the interview somewhere later.
The concert continued, and I was amazed that Emmy was not falling asleep. He got tired but he stayed up - contrary to some of the other younger ones around. After everyone had played their pieces, it was time for the choir to come on stage to sing the song "You Raise Me Up". After they were done, each performer received a coupon for tickets at the "House of Music" that we were at. And those who had received "honorable mention" at the competition in February also got flowers - and Emmy was one of them. That's the first time he's ever received flowers! He was brimming from ear to ear.
We said our good-byes and left around 10:15 pm. We walked back to the subway and rode it home. It was nearly 11 pm when we got home. We found Randy asleep in the chair by Sammy's bed. Emmy got ready for bed quickly and fell asleep right away. As for me, it was time to work. I had lots of pictures to download, pick from and edit, so it was nearly 3 am before I made it to bed.
