1st Piano Recital

Maddie and Ella had their first real chance to show what they've learned in piano! Our neighbor Erin teaches piano and invited us to join her recital on Oct. 24th. The girls are so lucky to take lessons from their talented Grandma, however we don't have many performance opportunities, so this was appreciated.

I didn't take a picture during the group practice except of the boys getting their wiggles out outside. Maddie and Ella were able to play their pieces for the other students to prepare for the big night. And thank heavens we did a run through... Maddie was super brave and did great playing her pieces first, but Ella is my shy girl and she froze up. I took her outside to calm her down talk through it. I had the idea to compare it to jumping in the water at swimming lessons: it's super scary at first, but once you dive in, you have fun! She thought about that hard, and then we tried again. I had to help her push the first few keys, but then she went with it... and felt so happy when she was done!

The night of the performance went very well and I am so proud of my little piano students. Maddie played "Chant Arabe" (anon.) and "Turkish March" by Beethoven. Ella played "We Thank Thee O God For a Prophet" (simplified and right hand) by Caroline Sheridan Norton, and "Three Black Cats," by Helen Marlais.

The trenches of piano lessons and practicing pay off big time on special nights like these. I am so impressed with how far they've come and how much they've learned already!