Music to their ears

As part of a Venture Scouts project, Older Daughter helped put on a music recital at a nursing care facility in a nearby town.

The recital consisted of the students of an elderly and much beloved lady named Genevieve, who teaches piano and harp. While this particular recital only had four harps present, I've seen as many as fifteen at other recitals.


This past weekend, the short recital was held in the dining room of the nursing facility to bring a little cheer into the lives of the residents. Here the students are setting up...

...and tuning up.

A flyer was distributed throughout the rather extensive facility, inviting all who appreciated music to attend. Eventually there was about a hundred residents who came to hear the joy...

...in all stages of health.

Older Daughter opened the recital by welcoming everyone...

...and introduced Genevieve (on the left, in red), who stood up to take a bow.

One of the things I like about Genevieve's recitals is students are required to dress like ladies and gentlemen. I think the little extra air of formality encourages people to play or sing their very best. This young man was the announcer for each selection.

Here Older Daughter is playing her piece.

This young lady sang a Christmas song, accompanied on the piano by her older sister.

Then her even younger brother also belted out a song. As you can imagine, the performances of these very young people warmed the hearts of the very old people who came to listen.

A harp solo.

I was sitting behind this couple. The wife, on the right, had a very sweet smile. She was clearly in poor health and living in the nursing facility. The husband, on the left, was clearly in superb health and living off-site. They held hands the whole time. When the recital was over, I watched him push his wife's wheelchair out of the dining room. There was a great deal of tenderness between them, palpable even to a stranger like me.

Altogether I think Older Daughter's project was a great success.

Recital

Older Daughter had a piano recital last Thursday in the town of Colfax, Washington. Her piano teacher also teaches harp, so I got conscripted to transport two harps a well as my daughter.

The outskirts of Colfax -- a small county seat located in the wide Palouse region -- were beautiful.

The recital was held in a small church, which was quite lovely.

Unfortunately the above photo totally washes out the gorgeous stained glass windows.

A total of seven harps performed.

Older Daughter played two pieces, both beautifully.

I sure wish those stained glass windows had photographed properly, as it was a beautiful backdrop to her playing.

Music music music

Older Daughter's music recital was last Saturday. Her elderly teacher, in addition to teaching piano, also teaches harp, so the harps dominate the scene. It really is extraordinary to be in the presence of fourteen harps at once, ranging from full-scale concert pedal harps down to little Irish lap harps.

Ages for the harpists ranged from young (13) to old (88).

There's just nothing prettier than a harp and its player.

One of the students played French horn...

...and this young lady belted out "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" in beautiful style.

Older Daughter played two pieces (We Three Kings and Prelude in C) and played them beautifully, without one single mistake.  She was relieved!

The relief was short-lived, however, since the next day (Sunday) both girls played in church, along with some other children.

Little Reeser at first was more interested in the camera than the music.

This fellow has only been playing trombone for two months, and I was astonished by how clear his tone was.  That's a difficult instrument!

This young lady made a mark with her clarinet.

Little Haileigh (age 4) gave a rendition of Away in the Manger, along with her Sunday school teacher.  The microphone was turned up too high so she nearly blasted us from our seats, which gave the congregation a good chuckle between putting our fingers in our ears.  She's not shy!

Younger Daughter played beautifully.  She won't admit it, but this performance was less nerve-wracking than the last (though when she reads this she'll deny it).

Older Daughter not only played a couple of pieces solo, but she also played the accompaniment to Younger Daughter's violin and the other girl's clarinet.

Younger Daughter lights the advent candles.

Our pastor reads the Gospel text upon which the sermon was based.

Altogether it was a beautiful service, though I think the girls are relieved it's over!

Fiddling around

Younger Daughter had a fiddle recital in Spokane last Friday. Her teacher and his wife have a small music school, and all the students participated. Fiddle is their specialty, but they also teach guitar, piano, and mandolin.

Here are some of the kids warming up in the hallway behind the stage (it was held at a high school auditorium).

A chaos of cases. I thought this photo turned out pretty neat.

Here's Younger Daughter, nervously warming up by herself at the end of a hallway.

Here are the parents who run this music school, Andrew and Deanna, performing with their talented brood of homeschooled kids (three boys, one girl). (A family friend is playing the base.)

At last it was Younger Daughter's turn. She was scared spitless but played beautifully. What a kid!