Category Archives: Music

Performing

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The Kiwanis Music Festival is over for another year and the girls found the whole experience very worthwhile, despite the inevitable butterflies before each performance. The week ended well with both girls receiving excellent comments about their sightreading and L13 performing very well in the trophy class. We really appreciated the comments the adjudicator made after each performance. She was very positive and encouraging and at the same time very specific in her suggestions for improvement. As the girls will be performing some of their competition pieces again they were pleased to receive her feedback. Over the years they have had a variety of adjudicators, some who were all sweetness and light but very little constructive criticism and others who concentrated on one main area with little comment on other aspects of performance. By the end of the week B7 was a little “Kiwanised out” but was very proud of his sisters all the same. So was I.

The end of Kiwanis does not mean a lull in performances, far from it. Between the two girls there are nine concerts in the next two weeks! All the performances are with either the performance group or their orchestras, no more solos until June.

Updates

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We have had over a week now of beautiful sunny days in the twenties.  The grass is greening, we have a few daffodils and star flowers with promises of tulips to come.  On the north side of the house, the snow bank is decreasing in size and could be gone entirely by this time next week.  We have signed up for softball and soccer.  Yes, I believe spring is here.  It may have come and gone, actually; it never stays for long.

Our schedule has been totally different this week as we have attended a Kiwanis Music Festival event each day.  We are over half way through now and the girls have performed beautifully.  Both spent extra hours practising over the last week or so and it showed as they competed in their various classes.  I have noticed a difference this year in their preparation.  Whereas in the past I was called on to listen, advise, count and comment, now they do that for each other.  I must admit they are better qualified to do so than I am.  They have encouraged and supported each other at home and at the events.

Both girls have received a gold and a silver place, with L13’s gold qualifying her to compete in the trophy class on Friday night.  Tomorrow they perform with the ensemble and on Friday they both have sight reading.   I was listening to a couple of violin mums talking in the foyer last night before L13’s class and one was saying that her son wished he was homeschooled so he would have more time to practise.  That is exactly what has happened here this week, the girls have appreciated having the flexibility to spend extra time on violin.  We were able  shift and  waive certain lessons to make it  possible.

Listening to

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In addition to the comings and goings of our family that I write about on the blog, I also keep a record of the books we are reading. You can read that list by clicking on the link in the blog header. There is also a listening list which, on the whole, has been neglected. It is hard to update such a list so I have a new plan which might work. I will occasionally ask the members of the family who have mp3 players what is on their play lists and share that on the listening page. I probably won’t update it very often but at least you’ll see the strange and varied mix we listen to in this family.

A job well done

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Our family is now home after a very busy, but very satisfying day. This afternoon Stellae Boreales had their second fundraising concert for the China tour. It was a wonderful concert, the musicians played to an almost full auditorium, which was very encouraging for them. Our family felt blessed to look around the room and see many of our friends. The group has been practising very hard to master some new repetoire for today’s concert, the most interesting piece being an arrangement of part of the Butterfly Concerto, a Chinese piece.

In the lead up to the concert, the girls have put in hours of practice. Andrew has been working hard keeping the website updated and preparing the program. This morning I was able to finish work on a scrapbook I am making which includes all the performances of the 2007-2008 season so far. I will keep on adding to it as they complete their Ottawa performances and then fill it with China photos and memorabilia when we return. All the families involved with the group worked very hard to make today a success. For weeks people have been procuring donations of goods and services for the auction which followed the concert.

After the last auction item was collected and the remains of the desserts cleared away, we packed up and headed to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, tired but very pleased with the day. Needless to say Andrew and I were very proud of our girls and very impressed with the group’s performance. Andrew recorded the concert, and it is playing as I write this. L13 and A11 have been sitting listening, commenting on the little things they noted as each piece was performed and reliving the whole experience.

China

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China is a hot topic around our place at present and has been for some time now. The reason being that L13, A11 and I will be in China in July this year. As I have mentioned many times the girls belong to Stellae Boreales, a violin ensemble. In the first two weeks of July the ensemble is traveling to China to visit and perform in Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai.

Of course it is a costly exercise to take fourteen musicians and their entourage to China so fundraising is a high priority. The group held their first fund-raising concert back in November and their second is on April 13th. We have the next month to sell tickets, solicit advertising and procure silent auction items. We also have some amazing parents seeking grants and sponsorship from a range of sources.

Every weekend the girls are involved in rehearsals and lately a slew of performances as well. Although it is quite a bit of practising the girls are enjoying being part of a great group of musicians. The camaraderie has developed as the musicians rehearse, travel, eat and kill time together. As a regular attendee of both rehearsals and performances I can see the friendships that have formed over the last months and years. This will only add to the excitement and enjoyment of spending two weeks in China together.

The musicians, including A11 and L13, have been writing about the events of this year and preparations for China. You can read their impressions on the Stellae Boreales blog.

Family Day

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Ontario had a new holiday today: Family Day. Andrew had the day off but for the rest of us the only change to our normal routine was an extra hour of sleeping in. It is a bit sad that we spent our Family Day this way but we have had a few interruptions to our schedule lately so I deemed it necessary that school continue.

Last week was far from normal as the girls were at the NAC for a day and a half performing with Stellae Boreales in concerts for schools. They thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being back stage, eating with the orchestra members in the Green Room and performing in five concerts to large audiences. B7 and I went to one of the performances where we sat in one of the boxes, giving us an excellent view of the stage.

Yesterday we celebrated Andrew’s birthday with pancakes for breakfast, a morning at church and an afternoon watching the Ottawa Junior Youth Orchestra in concert. Laura is a second violin in this orchestra and it was great to see them perform their varied and challenging program. While we were enjoying the concert freezing rain was falling outside, turning the carpark into a skating rink. We arrived home without incident but heard this morning that a 737 slid right off the runway into a snowbank.

Wintry conditions

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A snow storm blew in mid morning yesterday and continued for the rest of the day leaving us with a foot or more of snow to deal with. We were out most of the day for our history lesson, followed by cross country skiing. Skiing in amongst the trees kept us from the bearing the brunt of the blowing snow but by the time we finished my hair was two big white clumps of snow. Our homeward trip was a little slippery in places; by this time a lot of snow had fallen and the van had trouble getting going again after it stopped at stop signs.

This morning we woke to bright sunshine but a white, white world. Four of us did some tag team shoveling in order to get out to music lessons and orchestra. Although we live very close to a main road, our own street is often not plowed until well after the surrounding streets. Once out of the driveway I immediately became stuck in the street. Andrew and a couple of neighbours helped push me into the “ruts” so I could drive fifty metres and get stuck again where our street joins the main road! They pushed me out again and we were fine until I attempted to return in the afternoon.

On entering our street I was happy to see the plow had been by, but as I turned the corner I realised the plow was only a few houses ahead of me and the cleared space in the road was only one car wide. I reversed out again, ran an errand, giving the plow time to finish and Andrew time to clear the entry to our driveway. All this detail may seem quite unnecessary to those to live in this city too, but I am still amazed by the whole “snow removal routine” which must be put into practice every time a storm hits. So it is for those who are have never experienced what is now a familiar part of my winter.

After rehearsal were over we met up with a group of people Andrew works with to skate on the canal. It has been open for just over a week and was full of people. The weather was great for skating not too cold and not too warm, just around -4°C. As it was a family skate, I did not feel too bad about my shaky style, there was a 5 year old with the same technique. We spent an hour skating before enjoying a potluck dinner and heading home. The night was not over for the girls who are playing at the Viennese Ball tonight. Stellae Boreales has two time slots finishing at midnight!

First lesson

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When Andrew brought the children home from their various activities on Saturday afternoon, I was greeted by a very excited B7. He entered the house carrying his new half-size classical guitar. The arrival of this guitar has been long anticipated. It was not the one Andrew had ordered months ago but we did not want to wait any longer. B7 proudly and carefully took it out of its case and showed me. He strummed and picked for a while and then put it away, only to get it out again a bit later to do the same thing. Sunday and Monday the same thing happened as he waited for his first lesson.

Andrew gave him his first lesson last night so now he has a little more knowledge about his instrument and some exercises to do each day during his “guitar practice”. He did mention to me that he thought playing the guitar would be easy but he is finding it’s not! Today I supervised a practice and he happily demonstrated what he has learnt so far. Soon the house will once again ring with the sound of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

Concerts

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‘Tis the season for concerts around here but we are definitely in the home stretch now. The children have a few more performances, both instrumental and choral. Two weeks ago Stellae Boreales had their first big concert for the year. All of the members had been selling tickets for a month or so and we had media coverage in local papers and the Ottawa Citizen. A11 and L13 were interviewed here at home several weeks before the concert and the article appeared in a few community newspapers.

Many of our homeschooling and church friends were there that night to encourage the girls even though the weather was snowy and the roads slow. It was a wonderful concert. The program included pieces from both the intermediate group and the senior group as well as two pieces from the complete ensemble. Two guest cellists and a Chinese pipa player performed also.

Since then the girls have played at a Christian Women’s Club morning and a friend’s Art exhibition at a local gallery. L13 played with the senior ensemble at the National Gallery donor event and tomorrow night A11 will play with her orchestra at the NAC; they are providing pre-concert entertainment before “The Messiah”. A week ago the OYOA had their Christmas concert where A11, L13 and their friends P and H were all performing in different orchestras. L13 hobbled onto the stage as she had sprained her ankle the night before jumping off a snow covered ledge! Fortunately the musicians sit down in orchestras so she was able to perform. The four girls performed together at P and H’s church Christmas banquet also.

Each Sunday during advent Junior Praise, the children’s choir all three children belong to, has been providing a song and some readings to accompany the lighting of the Advent candles. The children also sang and played for our Seniors at their Christmas banquet. L13 organised the program and all the members of Group of Four participated with  voices,  instruments or both.

Just because most of the concerts are over doesn’t mean the practising has stopped. In January our violin teacher has her Christmas recital where all her students play solos so there will not be a holiday from violin, but I’m sure there will be a few days off.

Two days at the museum

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Ottawa does museums very well. My favourite is the Museum of Civilization, over the river in Hull and we were there twice last week. On Friday we spent the day there to review what we have covered so far in Canadian history. Currently we are looking at the development of settlements and the many groups of people involved in those settlements. The museum has a fantastic exhibit called the Canada Hall which traces Canada’s history from the Viking explorers to modern times. Even though we have been through the exhibit many times we only allowed ourselves to get as far as the Coureur de Bois’ shack this time. As we looked in the hospital we noticed it was Jeanne Mance’s Hospital, that we had read and written about the previous week. There were a few other moments where names and locations suddenly meant more than they had on previous visits.

Face to Face, a new exhibit on the top floor features a variety of Canadians from various periods and people groups. We wandered through, pausing the longest at Samuel de Champlain’s display to see what we could recognise from our studies. Our plan is to spend a day at the museum every month or so to reinforce and complement our studies at home. After lunch we went to the library in the museum and were able to choose a couple of videos to watch. Both fitted in perfectly with the topics we have just covered: The Voyageurs and Rendevous Canada 1606 both films from the National Film Board.

The following day we were back at the museum again as Stellae Boreales was performing in association with the new Glenn Gould exhibit. Although the audience was small the concert went well and was a good rehearsal  for their fundraising concert on November 30th.