First Recital

Today we had a Spring Recital for my 6 piano students. They each played two pieces of their choosing; some even chose to memorize their music! We held the recital at the church on the beautiful grand piano. It sounded so nice. With everyone's families there were about 30 people in attendance and the students did such a great job.

I decided I should also play something - more for my own good than any other reason. I need something to practice towards and I need more experience playing in front of people. So I played Sonatina Op. 36, No. 4 by Muzio Clemente. I've been playing it for weeks and can play it well on my own at home. But you put me in front of people and my nerves get the best of me. I hate it! I enjoy playing the piano and I love teaching lessons. But I really want to get more comfortable playing in front of others. I've always had stage fright and as a child I would be naseous and have nightmares before recitals or class presentations. It was torture!

I've definitely gotten better at speaking in front of people. Teaching really pushed me in that area, and I'm thankful for that. But playing the piano is a whole different story. I enjoyed practicing and preparing a piece of music to share with others but the few minutes before it was my time my heart was beating so hard I was sure everyone else could feel the floor pulsing. Palms were sweating...Then when it was time to play the notes on the page started floating around and my fingers were trembling. As if the piece wasn't challenging enough.

Well, I made it through - with a few blips, but all in all I finished the piece, and I didn't cut it short like I was tempted too half way through. It was great having a recital. The kids were so cute and did a great job and it was fun to see parents snapping pictures and taking video of them - for a few of them it was their first recital.

On the puppy front, Zeke is doing well. The last few nights we've had him sleep in his cage in our bedroom. I think that helps him to be comfortable. He's slept through the night almost everynight! He is responding very well to "come" and usually sits on command. We still have to clean up a few puddles each day, but I guess that's to be expected. Thankfully the puddles are usually on the hard floors and not carpet.

Hope you all are doing well!