I witnessed a miracle on Wednesday evening. That is the best part of about getting old and being old enough to watch your grandkids do their stuff. Wow what a miracle it was!
There on the giant platform/stage sat a collection of Grade 8 students from Adam Scott Collegiate performing their first Band Presentation. In the lobby they were selling their first CD. It was amazing.
It was amazing that one teacher could motivate this body of bustling and impish thirteen year olds to make the noise they did. And yes it was “noise” but a coordinate “noise” that parents and grandparents alike – “enjoyed”.
There is the front row, to the left, was the clarinet section – oh boy. They can sound like sick moose or near death cows – some where deep in the bush. Sparkling to the right on the front row were the flautists – playing their flutes of course. They pucker in funny way and can grin and play too. They did that and also winced in pain once in awhile when someone behind them painfully hit a very wrong note.
I wasn’t sure where the “painful sound” came from – the saxophones or the trumpets section. But every once in a chord or two – the entire section would blow right off the score to whole different planet.
In the center section, at the back, was the baritone section. This section could be heard clearly throughout the pieces played and provided the whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp… needed to provided kind of a toe tapping beat for the flautists toes in the front row.
Clearly everyone could see that this baritone section was the best of the band. And though I do not know beans about music – I knew it was the best and I listened for it as close as I could through my video tapping of the Band. YOU SEE – my grandson Clifford is sitting in the middle of the Baritone section blowing for all he is worth.
As the Band twiddled, and whomped, and scratched and bellowed like sick cows and wounded moose – we loved it. 12 months ago these kids played none of this and were a million miles away from being concert virtuosos.
This night the music and the pieces played sounded great. People in the audience were moving their heads back and forth and even mouthing the words. A puzzled look was on some faces as they couldn’t quite catch the part of the familiar pieces played… but eventually we got it.
My hat goes off to an amazing teacher and Band Leader. Sorry I do not know her name – everyone else did because of their kids bringing home their stories. Grandparents are kind of out of that loop. But she was great and did she ever relate to the kids. She was cool.
To say I am proud is not the best thing to do. There has to be another word. I think it must have a root to the word based in the word GRANDPARENT. Like maybe it should be “beamingfromeartoeargrandparent” – that could be shortened to “bfeteg”.
There were also “idontbeleiveitcouldhappen” or “idbich” people that are parents… that also say “thatismysonuptherelistentohim” or “thatismydaughteuptherelistentoher”. The “Timsutlth” and “Timdutlth” people
So with an audience filled with “bfeteg”, “idbich”, and the “Timsutlth” and “Timdutlth” people… we were proud of them. On top of that the adults walked around with their new video cameras creating masterpieces that will last for years on their home computers.
I think that the best video could have been made watching the faces of the parents listening. Too funny. As I walked around taking my videos I could see their faces and expressions.
To top it all off… as I walked up to the front stage and then up the side stairs… I did get a funny side-glance from the teacher as she pumped her arms in the air leading the band… and the girls in the front flautist section stopped blowing to look at the old gray haired guy that held his camera high to shoot a photo of the guys in the back row, baritone section. It was their last selection the teacher had said… and this time next year I may be dead… and my grandson may be chasing girls and not in the Band any longer… so it was NOW or never! I leaped forward as any good “Paparazzi” and got the shots. Yes! (Paparazzi is a plural term (paparazzo being the Italian singular form) for photographers who take unstaged and/or candid photographs of celebrities.)
As I retreated to the lower floor of the auditorium after that amazing shot and continued to shoot more video. The side-glance I got from the other mothers that were video tapping or the professional looking guy in the back row with his whiz bang camera that could zoom from where he was seated… was too funny. Their expressions were clear – “wheredidthatguygettheballstogoupthereandgetthatshot”? or “wdtggtbtgutagts”? AND HE IS IN MY VIDEO!!!!
Next year in the program there will likely be a small note, “Grandparents and Parents are not allowed to approach the stage during a performance”
But I want to tell you – there is nothing more powerful in the Christmas season than your grandkids performing on stage… and being able to beam from behind the video camera. Talk about Golden Memories!
Hey – I made a DVD out of my shots. It is much too big for YouTube… but it is FUN. And some day when my grandson is doing something extraordinary – like being an astronaut, or a movie star, a famous heart surgeon or a guitar rock star – have I got a video for you!!!
Celebrating Grandparenthood….
~ Murray Lincoln ~
There on the giant platform/stage sat a collection of Grade 8 students from Adam Scott Collegiate performing their first Band Presentation. In the lobby they were selling their first CD. It was amazing.It was amazing that one teacher could motivate this body of bustling and impish thirteen year olds to make the noise they did. And yes it was “noise” but a coordinate “noise” that parents and grandparents alike – “enjoyed”.
There is the front row, to the left, was the clarinet section – oh boy. They can sound like sick moose or near death cows – some where deep in the bush. Sparkling to the right on the front row were the flautists – playing their flutes of course. They pucker in funny way and can grin and play too. They did that and also winced in pain once in awhile when someone behind them painfully hit a very wrong note.
I wasn’t sure where the “painful sound” came from – the saxophones or the trumpets section. But every once in a chord or two – the entire section would blow right off the score to whole different planet.
In the center section, at the back, was the baritone section. This section could be heard clearly throughout the pieces played and provided the whomp, whomp, whomp, whomp… needed to provided kind of a toe tapping beat for the flautists toes in the front row.
Clearly everyone could see that this baritone section was the best of the band. And though I do not know beans about music – I knew it was the best and I listened for it as close as I could through my video tapping of the Band. YOU SEE – my grandson Clifford is sitting in the middle of the Baritone section blowing for all he is worth.
As the Band twiddled, and whomped, and scratched and bellowed like sick cows and wounded moose – we loved it. 12 months ago these kids played none of this and were a million miles away from being concert virtuosos.
This night the music and the pieces played sounded great. People in the audience were moving their heads back and forth and even mouthing the words. A puzzled look was on some faces as they couldn’t quite catch the part of the familiar pieces played… but eventually we got it.
My hat goes off to an amazing teacher and Band Leader. Sorry I do not know her name – everyone else did because of their kids bringing home their stories. Grandparents are kind of out of that loop. But she was great and did she ever relate to the kids. She was cool.
To say I am proud is not the best thing to do. There has to be another word. I think it must have a root to the word based in the word GRANDPARENT. Like maybe it should be “beamingfromeartoeargrandparent” – that could be shortened to “bfeteg”.There were also “idontbeleiveitcouldhappen” or “idbich” people that are parents… that also say “thatismysonuptherelistentohim” or “thatismydaughteuptherelistentoher”. The “Timsutlth” and “Timdutlth” people
So with an audience filled with “bfeteg”, “idbich”, and the “Timsutlth” and “Timdutlth” people… we were proud of them. On top of that the adults walked around with their new video cameras creating masterpieces that will last for years on their home computers.
I think that the best video could have been made watching the faces of the parents listening. Too funny. As I walked around taking my videos I could see their faces and expressions.
To top it all off… as I walked up to the front stage and then up the side stairs… I did get a funny side-glance from the teacher as she pumped her arms in the air leading the band… and the girls in the front flautist section stopped blowing to look at the old gray haired guy that held his camera high to shoot a photo of the guys in the back row, baritone section. It was their last selection the teacher had said… and this time next year I may be dead… and my grandson may be chasing girls and not in the Band any longer… so it was NOW or never! I leaped forward as any good “Paparazzi” and got the shots. Yes! (Paparazzi is a plural term (paparazzo being the Italian singular form) for photographers who take unstaged and/or candid photographs of celebrities.)
As I retreated to the lower floor of the auditorium after that amazing shot and continued to shoot more video. The side-glance I got from the other mothers that were video tapping or the professional looking guy in the back row with his whiz bang camera that could zoom from where he was seated… was too funny. Their expressions were clear – “wheredidthatguygettheballstogoupthereandgetthatshot”? or “wdtggtbtgutagts”? AND HE IS IN MY VIDEO!!!!
Next year in the program there will likely be a small note, “Grandparents and Parents are not allowed to approach the stage during a performance”
But I want to tell you – there is nothing more powerful in the Christmas season than your grandkids performing on stage… and being able to beam from behind the video camera. Talk about Golden Memories!
Hey – I made a DVD out of my shots. It is much too big for YouTube… but it is FUN. And some day when my grandson is doing something extraordinary – like being an astronaut, or a movie star, a famous heart surgeon or a guitar rock star – have I got a video for you!!!
Celebrating Grandparenthood….
~ Murray Lincoln ~
1 comment:
That was very funny! I want to hear! Could you do just a short 30 second clip of a song for Youtube?
Bruce
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