Music in May (hem)

Back at Central today for the next instalment of LAMs. Feeling tired due to a late night but I am enjoying learning about all this new technology. The bus ride in today was not so bad. I had the same elderly bus driver who managed the trip with ease and it was, all in all, a pleasant experience.

Last night I went with husband Jeremy, mother-in-law Lyn, and nine year old Lydie to see my eldest daughter, Jemima, perform at the McCombs Performing Arts Centre. Cashmere High have a yearly concert called aptly "Music in May". Jemima plays the tin whistle for the Irish Band and plays the clarinet for the Concestra. (For those who have never heard the word 'Concestra' before, don't panic. I hadn't either. Jemima assures me it's a invented word, made by blending 'Concert Band' and 'Orchestra' together.)

It was a cool, dark evening and I was tired. The organisation involved in getting children from school to two different swimming pools and then one to gym and geting dinner cooked and the washing in and the beds made and fire lit and the dog fed had almost got the best of me. But I worked miracles. At 6:20pm I thought I had it all sussed. We had eaten, changed into concert going gear, and I was pulling down the damper on the logburner when Jemima let up a wail. I ran to her room half expecting to see her being abducted by aliens, to find something even worse had happened. Jemima was holding up pieces of her tin whistle. The plastic mouthpiece had snapped in half.

"What the ..?" I said, in an understanding tone.

"It's broken," she wailed.

"No kidding," I said. "Quick, get your old one."

"I haven't seen it for years," she said, and started rummaging in overflowing desk drawers.

I looked around her room. There were clothes strewn all over the floor, books spilling out of the bookcase, two sports bags oozing their contents like animals shot at point blank range ... it didn't take a genius to realise finding a tin whistle in a juvenille junkstack in under two hours was a lost cause.

"You'll just have to tell your teacher it's broken," I started.

Jemima's jaw quivered, "But I'll be the only one .." (Such a thought is a teenager's worst nightmare.)

Then, voila! Jeremy arrived like Superman to the scene of a planet threatening event with a roll of cellotape and proceeded to tape the whistle back together. I tell you, he can fix anything!

We were off and got her to the PAC with a minute to spare.

The concert was great. The Orchestra was incredibly good and the inspiration the conductor, Grant Bartley, imparts on his pupils was a joy to watch. The kids responded to his every gesture with the baton. The Stage Band, the Choirs and the piece by the Senior Music Students were excellent. It was wonderful to see kids enjoying music. The Concestra was not up to the standard of the Orchestra because the kids in it are either new to Cashmere or learning as part of the music programme, but they performed 'Bohemian Rhapsody' with courage and vigour and the experience will encourage them to move forward with their music. I couldn't identify Jemima's tin whistle sounding odd in the Irish Band and she appeared to be playing up a storm so it must have held together just fine.

So, inspite of the busy day and the moments of pre-concert panic, it was a brilliant night and I'm glad I went. A gold coin donation is a small price to pay for quality entertainment and, if I'm tired today, it was worth every hazy moment. One further positive note - a tin whistle only costs $16.50 for a brand new one. Thank goodness it wasn't the clarinet that was damaged!