In Honor of My Mom!

Patti -on Left (Asst. Director), Mom -on Right

About 3 weeks ago my mom's middle school orchestra had the honor of playing at KMEA. Her orchestra had been chosen to play at the Music Educator's Conference - which is a really big deal! Basically, they were playing for a lot of music educators who... really know music! First, a little background: My mom has been teaching music for 24 years, 21 of them at this middle school. When she started at the school there were 13 orchestra students. Now there are over 100! I took a personal day off of work and my family drove up to the concert. It was so nice to be able to take the day off and go hear the concert and support my mom. I'm thankful I was able to do that. My grandparents, aunt, and a family friend were all there too. (Cara's family couldn't make it because of her new job but they were there in spirit!) The orchestra had worked very hard on their music. We arrived early and listened to them warm-up. Now, I hadn't heard my mom's orchestra in a few years and - whoa - I was blown away! During the warm-up! The music sounded fantastic. During the actual concert I was again amazed. I had goose bumps at different times because the music was SO good. That is a sign of a REALLY good concert!! Plus the music was great! The songs played included: Moonlight Express, El Diablo Azul (arranged by my dad!), The Evil Eye and the Hideous Heart, The Best of Queen, and Dance of the Tumblers from "Snow Maiden". Great music selections, excellent sound by the musicians, and classy conducting by my mom!

Mom conducting the first piece of the concert.