Today was the last day of Green Mountain Suzuki Institute, where Aryeh (my younger son) participated in his first ever Suzuki group class. It was his first organized group learning activity (that’s an awkward way to put it) since before we left last August. He had a great week!! I’m so happy that he’s coming away from it with new friends, help with musical challenges, and a resolve to go back next year. It’s all I could ask for. And there were tough moments, especially in the group class, where I’d been asked to volunteer as accompanist (from the viola! Playing harmonies). He hadn’t had that experience before of constantly playing through old pieces that might be rusty. He’d just sit if he couldn’t immediately remember the fingerings, even if it was a song we’d worked on recently, even if it was a song I’d SEEN him perform from memory years past on one of his teacher Emily’s recitals. The group class teacher, Martha, was 100% fine with this. She really was the perfect teacher for him— joyful and musical and inspiring. Also, her daughter was in the class and giving a bit of sass back every now and then, so clearly Martha knew what I was going through. Every time I’d try to encourage him to play, he’d blow up at me. I shouldn’t have said anything, and I just couldn’t learn!!! But it bummed me out so hard for him not to challenge himself! Martha had a stern talking-to with me (in front of Yeh), telling me that I wasn’t allowed to talk to him during group class, and the next time I did, I owed him a Creemee (look that up if you’ve never been to VT). Then later, one-on-one, she told me, “I’d be doing the exact same thing. Don’t worry, it’s his first time, just let it be easy and positive for him; he’s doing great.”
At the concert today, an older lady sat next to me in the audience, with a giant, glowing smile, grey pixie cut, and silver and turquoise earrings that reminded me of my Grammy’s jewelry. Her name was Judy. I asked her which kid she belonged to, and she said none; she lives in town and comes to this every year. She always knows it’s the Friday afternoon at the end of camp (we really take over Rochester, VT every summer, so everyone knows when camp is on!). She had her Kleenex ready, and told me, “I always cry at these things. It’s just so wonderful, all these kids working together. I’ve learned fiddle in these last few years, and I can’t imagine life without music!” Judy said a lot more stuff like that. She was eager to communicate with me, and eager to hear the music. During so many songs, she’d turn to me and exclaim, “Can you believe they can play that?!” Especially the Seitz Concerto #5 delighted her (I love Seitz SO much), and the end, where it escalates from triplet arpeggios to 16th-notes to double stops, she just kept oohing and ahhing.
Now i realize Judy was an angel sent to remind me why we do all this. The stuff with the kids and the stuff by ourselves in our practice room. I even welled up a bit, carried along with her emotions! I’m so glad I got to meet her.
Here are a couple shots of this beautiful week.
