Sarah's Clarinet Solo at O.U. - 4/17/2010
This morning Sarah performed at the Solo and Ensemble Adjudicated Event in Glidden Hall on the campus of Ohio University.
I met Sarah with Julie in the fifth floor hallway just outside the room where Sarah would soon perform. Sarah looked so grown up in
her nice dress and high heels. She was so serious. Well, I guess she was actually very nervous.
When the time came we went into the classroom. Mrs. Paris accompanied Sarah on piano. The judge sat behind a desk directly in
front of Sarah, while another O.U. official coordinated the event and shuffled some papers. Mr. Cassano and Mrs. Paris' young daughter
were also there with us. It felt very surreal with the eight of us sitting so quietly waiting for the judge to finish his paperwork
and ask Sarah to begin. The quiet awkward moments seamed to last an eternity. The room was filled with the unusually loud hum of
the florescent lights. I thought it was odd that the music department would have a noise problem.
The judge finally asked Sarah to begin. Sarah chose to play a scale first and the judge asked her to do a G scale. Later Sarah
said that she was very glad he didn't ask here for a D scale, because she had difficulty with one of the notes. For her solo, she
performed Menuet. She played flawlessly. As she played I couldn't help but think how proud I was of her, playing her first
solo so confidently and in such a foreign setting. I could not think of a time in my life where I was in such a vulnerable position as
Sarah was at this very moment. Tears came to my eyes. I was so proud of my big girl.
When Sarah finished we left the room and began breathing again. Julie and I both gave Sarah big hugs and headed down to the fourth
floor to wait for her results.
It was about thirty minutes before they wrote Sarah's score on the list in the hallway. A lady with the scores searched the lists of
names on the wall. One by one she wrote the scores next to the students' names. I felt that Julie and Sarah were more nervous
than I was. But when the lady began to write next to Sarah's name time began to slow down for me. She wrote the score in Roman
numerals. She made the one vertical line to form the 'I' and in my mind I was screaming 'Stop, That's enough, Don't make anymore
lines'. Then I realized that she was indeed finished. Sarah had earned an 'I'. The highest score possible.
We had a little celebration there in the hallway with hugs, cheers and photos.
I am so proud of my Sarah.
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