Eli's Strings Concert

On Thursday morning I chaperoned for OPE's 4th, 5th & 6th grade Strings classes and took them to their early morning rehearsal. And by take them I mean I rode the bus with them. :) There were about 400 hundred students from the SM school district playing in the Strings concert and the whole music program is just amazing! It was great to help with the setup and then watch the schools practice for the first time together. The 4th graders did an outstanding job listening, waiting and practicing.

I mouthed to Eli (during rehearsal) that I was texting Daddy so he gave me a great big smile to send to Florida.

 Later that night, we watched the Elem. Beginning Strings (Eli), Elem. Advanced Strings, West Strings, Combined Westridge Orchestras, Combined West Area Orchestras, Symphonic Strings and their Philharmonic Orchestra perform for an hour. I just love hearing the progression from each level. The HS group was outstanding! We noticed a lot of crossover from the Tuesday night concert. There were a lot of HS students in the band, jazz band and philharmonic orchestra. Eli has plans to switch to the bass next year and we had an opportunity to see those huge things up close. It was a great concert and this time Noah helped me take the photos. Since Scott couldn't be there for this concert, I recorded some video so he wouldn't miss out. It was a great performance!

There was a tricky part to the very last performance when they were ending the, "March from 'Carmen'"....the kids were to play the bow from end to tip 3 times and continue the long stroke back out to the tip and end with raising their bow. Eli and I practiced all morning and several times before the performance. He was so nervous that he was going to mess it up but after several practice shots...he was dead on and ended it perfectly! Great job Eli! Daddy and I are so proud of all you have learned and accomplished in Strings!