Bonnie's Blog

My student just won 2nd place in the MTNA (Music Teachers National Association) national contest in NYC. She had a strong program: last movement Taktakishvilli sonata, last movement Reinecke sonata, and that devilishly tricky Ballade by Frank Martin. When she called to say she had won 2nd I was so surprised at the conflict in my initial reaction which was, “Not first??” The same thing happend this week when my student got 1st alternate to play a concerto with an orchestra.

Wow, just the trap I tell my students not to fall into. I’ve had a few parents who were unhappy (and very vocal) unless their child won first place and I have no time or patience for that and now I felt it in myself. But not for long. I took two deep breaths then came back to reality and am happy and proud of not only their accomplishments but that they worked so hard and play so well and love it so much. That’s what counts. I won;t forget.

I have a student playing the Khachaturian flute (violin) concerto. He is very musical with strong ideas of his own which he easily communicates. (His heart is on his sleeve.). When I asked him what feeling or image he had for the slow section he said II think it is a feeling of loss” I imagined him thinking of his mother dying or a beloved dog running away but he added, “I think of how I would feel if I lost my i-phone!”

My younger son Kyle started cello and piano lessons when he was in second grade. He stopped cello in 9th grade (which was like a knife to my heart!) and continued piano until he graduated. Since then he has seemed more interested in video games than classical music. Now he is a senior in college and asked me if I would pay for him to take piano lessons. Would I! I’m so thrilled he’s interested again. So parents, take heart, just when you wonder if all the lessons meant anything to your child, they just may surprise you!

A few years ago my husband and I went to visit his cousin who is a farmer. He was plowing the fields when we arrived so we went to see him. Seated in his air conditioned tractor he was plowing up the row and down the next up the next row and down the next and up and down.. row after row, day after day, month after month. How could he stand it?? At dinner he asked me, “So Bonnie are you still teaching flute lessons after all these years?” Yes!” I enthusiastically answered.”Doesn’t that get awfully boring?”