Speaks volumes of your work with the students and their music education. Congrats my friend.
Thank you, my friend. I'm so proud of my students, I simply can't contain myself! Not because how they performed, and how much hard work they've put into this trip, but I'm especially proud of the way they carried themselves. Even getting a bronze medal, the Choir went up to the silver and gold choirs and patted them on the back, told them congratulations, and words of well wishes. I didn't tell them to, either. As a music educator, it is one of my greatest joys to see my students reach "the next level" of their playing. And everybody knows that feeling when they hit that milestone in their playing. You can know all of your scales and be perfect on your instrument. But you're still only reproducing notes on a page. You create music when you put your heart into it, when your emotions can be heard from your instruments. I've always told my students that these pieces of metal and wood don't hide what you're feeling. You can't hide behind it, it's impossible. And what I saw and heard from my students this weekend, was truly amazing and "the next level". You see, about a month ago, the senior class lost two members from a car crash. They were well known students, and were football players, and huge supporters of the band program. Many of my students were their friends. The last song the concert band played was Frank Ticheli's Amazing Grace. My students made the suggestion that we dedicate it in their memory, and I felt it was suiting. Holding the last note, I saw several of my students openly crying, but with a smile on their faces. It was at that moment, I knew that they had created something many of them had never before.
I also decided to tell the entire music department about my leaving, Friday night at dinner. There were a few tears there as well. Not only from students, but a lot from the parents. When I came to this program, the parents and the band were hurting. In life, we have to find love and hold onto it wherever we find it, and I learned for myself this weekend that I had found it here. I think my seniors took it the hardest, though. I've been one of their class advisors since they first walked through our doors as freshmen. I think many of them had this idea that they could come back in five or ten years and I'd still be here. It'll hit the underclassmen and it'll hit 'em hard at band camp. But like I told my seniors, it's time to start a new adventure, to meet new people, and hear new stories.
