We’re so proud of Topher! He’s put in a lot of work, and this year was his first year playing an instrument, and to be selected for the artist in residence program was the crowning achievement of all the work he’s put in this year. He’s really come a long way, I know because my office is right below his bedroom! He’s cleaned up a lot of those honks and squeaks!
Last night was a special night, and Beth’s parents came down from Rochester and stayed the night so they could watch Christopher’s big performance. We were joined my my parents as well, and we had a lovely evening. We didn’t quite know what to expect, and it was quite the performance all around. All of those kids should be super proud!
Beth and I just enjoyed live music, and it’s been so long since we’ve been to a play or a concert. It’s hard for an elementary librarian/teacher to not enjoy kids giving it their all. It’s all about the effort and seeing the joy they’re getting from the supportive crowd.
For Topher’s piece, he selected “I’m Blue” by Eiffel 65. We found a kid appropriate version (I had no idea the original was explicit) and he listened to it over and over. We found some sheet music online, and his music teacher modified the piece for him, for his performance. He must have played through that sheet of music 100 times, and it showed. He was one of the very few kids that didn’t actually read the music as he played. He has memorized the entire piece, and got to play along with a quartet of instruments (cello, violin, guitar, upright bass) and it sounded great! He was beaming. I wish the picture was better:
Update: One of Toph’s teachers told him he made the front page of one of our local digital news papers:
Very cool! I mean, he was the best dressed player up there. I’m biased. He was very happy with his performance and felt very encouraged by the entire experience. He said he’s only a couple hours away from being famous, and I replied that it’s probably a few thousand hours, but he shouldn’t slow down now. We told him we’d be his groupies and that we only require free admission to all of his shows. I suppose this is a good second option to the priesthood, God willing!
Here is a mirror of the article. TheOdessaFile.com has a unique page setup, and their articles are not individually linkable, so I’ve pulled in the article here.
Update #2: more pictures and some videos of two performances!
