The Concert

After being postponed twice due to weather, we finally got to go see Alyssa and the rest of the fifth grade band in concert last night.

It was…as one would expect a fifth grade band concert to be, considering the fact that all of the kids in the band just started learning their instruments this past October.

Yes, it was that good. Or rather, it was the kind of good only parents and grandparents can appreciate. We have a new band director at the school. This is her first year out of college and she seems to be connecting well to the kids. She picked songs they wanted to learn and play, which is a big deal with beginner musicians.

We had to get Alyssa to the school a half hour before the concert began. My mom met us there and once we were seated, Olivia’s first question was, “Can we leave after Lyssie’s done?”

Ahh, the sweet innocence of youth. Ha. “No,” I told her, “we have to stay for the whole thing.”

She rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. Then she decided she’d like go to the bathroom and try and pee.

The program handed out at the front of the auditoria (what a stupid word) told us that the fifth grade band would perform first, then the sixth grade band, followed by the junior high band and finally, the junior high choir.

We were lucky. The fifth grade selections were short and sweet. After they were finishing, it occurred to me that perhaps my mom would be so kind as to drop me and Alyssa off at home if Tom and Olivia were to escape during the changing of the bands.

I asked her if she was okay with that and once she agreed it was fine with her, I turned to Olivia and asked, “Do you want to go home with Daddy now and have Gram bring me and Lyssie home after the rest of the band?”

That child stood up so fast she almost knocked over her chair. She was not going to let anyone change their mind about her leaving. She took Tom’s hand and led him out of the auditoria without a backward glance. He looked back with an expression of gratitude and followed our seven year old out.

Alyssa found me and my mom in the audience and sat with us for the rest of the concert. She rolled her eyes at me during the choir performance, which…well, it left something to be desired if only because the choir director didn’t choose songs that were entertaining or fun to sing. She chose songs that were, evidently, a challenge to sing. I only assume this because each introduction mentioned it being in a minor key and having several different tempos.

I’ll give the band director credit for making the concert interesting. It’s best one can expect from a concert performed by people ages eleven to fourteen.

I will admit it was kind of neat to see how far each group had come from the group before them. I remember being that fifth grade band member and listening to the class ahead of mine, not able to imagine ever being as good as they were. I love that Alyssa is getting to experience the fun, the joy, the challenge of making music.