Cavatina

In musical terms, "cavatina" is a short, simple melody that is part of a larger piece. It is the perfect term to define the mini-recital Grace's music teacher had at her home studio tonight. She expects her students to read music, play piano, play the same piece with others in a duet or quartet, compose, and speak in public. The four children who performed tonight did all of that - even if it was in a small venue with a very supportive audience of parents and family members!

Jai (kindergarten), Patrick (1st grade), Grace (1st grade), Isabelle (kindergarten)

These four kids have been practicing their pieces for about a month now. The solo wasn't a problem, but playing the duet and quartets are a challenge since they take private lessons and have only been together twice before tonight to play. That is why learning their part of the musical piece ("Go Tell it on the Mountain" and "Up on the Housetop") including tempo and counting beats is so important. Each student needs to be as close to perfect as possible to avoid messing up anyone else.  They all did great!  Grace's solo was "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer".  Thanks to Kyle, Grace was ready to perform all theses songs tonight!

Ms. Nancy has two pianos and three keyboards in her music studio.  The kids all took their spots at the pianos as the proud parents watched, snapped photos, and recorded video.  

Grace and Isabelle waited for the boys to get ready before starting to play.  The big topic of the evening - besides music - was how many teeth everyone has lost.  This is a BIG deal at our house since Grace lost her 5th tooth today at school. (4 on the bottom and 1 on the top)  Lucky for me, the Tooth Fairy already did her job (at 10:30 pm) so I will not have another parental fail like I did for Teeth 3 and 4!

We enjoyed a nice evening with these children and their parents.  It is fun to see the other kids and how they play.  I do like the big concerts where we can see the older kids and hear how amazing their performances are.  It gives everyone something to aspire to.  I hope Ms. Nancy decides to have one of these in the spring!