The Recital, Continued

This is for you Liz! 

I love this. The air conditioning is turned up so high, it feels like Christmas in our room.  I can't possibly get out of bed to get dressed up for my recital this morning.  I wake David from his sleep and tell him that I want to call my piano teacher and cancel.  David's response is not what I want to hear. He says, "Kim, you have to go or I'll be very disappointed. " And I thought parents could only say that to make you feel bad!  30 minutes later I finally get out of bed and get ready for my big concert.

A cab ride later we arrive at the music school and walk up the steep stairway and surprisingly me nerves have disappeared and I feel at peace. I can do this!  When we enter, the room is full of parents and their little ones who are all ready to play the tunes they've learned over the last few months.  My teacher, Reena, spots me from across the room and calls me over to her. She says I can go on to the music room with all the other musicians. When I get there, I realize that there's a bit of an age gap between me and all the other students. This is when my nerves come back to me.  I have to play with children aged between 5 to 10 years old? What if they all are better than me and I mess up big time?  I glance back at David and we both have a quick laugh about it all. 

Ten minutes pass. The parents (and one husband) have all found their seats, and us students sit on the back row. Reena introduces her first student, who is 9 years old and she plays a wonderful jazz song on the piano. We clap, and then she introduces me. Here I go! I sit down behind the piano and take a deep breath and start playing.  

I decided the night before that I would play the easiest song, Amazing Grace, first.   After I finish, the audience claps and I feel pretty good about myself and go on to the next song.  

It's a classic, called Bagatelle, by Antonio Diabelli. It's my toughest piece and my hands are shaking and I realize that someone is video taping me, right in my face!  This is very distracting and I lose track of my music, plus my mind goes blank and I have to stop. Oh, how embarrassing. Reena says, "it's okay Kim. You can start over again."  So, I start from to top and complete the song the second time without mistakes!  I finish my recital with a jazz song called Minor is Finer by Bill Boyd.  Which went very well.  The audience claps one more time,  and I get to run back to my seat on the back row.  I sit back, and reflect on what just happened, and think,  "you know that really wasn't so difficult.  I might do this again next time!"