Tchaikovsky

May 25, 2016

Not only was today the last orchestra concert of the year, both Pam and Seri had their senior solos as well. Pam played the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 Mvmt 3 while Seri played Tchaikovsky Variations on a Rococo Theme for Cello and Orchestra.

It was stressful preparing 3 concertos simultaneously (the Symphony Orchestra had to accompany Seri, Pam, and me for the last two music concerts of the year), and rehearsing had been a little rocky trying to accommodate all three musicians (and the two weeks of AP testing).

I wasn’t nervous for myself, but I was nervous for them and was anxious for everything to turn out okay. Knowing that the concert was livestreamed didn’t help, but I also reminded myself that there’s a lot of blind trust when it comes to performances because you just have to believe that all the rehearsing paid off. I know that Pam was just shaking her arms out and walking around to try to calm her nerves, while Seri sat in a room and meditated.

It maybe helped lessen the pressure because the concert’s theme was “videogame music,” but, at least for me, I was still tense and it didn’t help that there was a thunderstorm raging outside.

In performances, there’s a delicate balance of being present, but not overthinking things. As Pam put it best, right before she walked onstage, “I just need to relax and not think, otherwise I’ll play the wrong notes.”

Pam performs first of the two solos and sitting at the grand piano, center stage in her navy and taupe dress, she is a sight to behold. She elegantly delivers an energy-filled performance and I breathe a sigh of relief as one concerto is done. One more left.

Seri strides barefoot onto the stage in her taupe and ivory dress, and with her head bent over the neck of her cello, she pours out a soulful piece that would make even Tchaikovsky proud. Certainly the heavens agreed, as rumbles of thunder and the pattering of rain were audible during the quiet sections of Roccoco.

As our concert wraps up with the Symphony Orchestra playing a few videogame soundtracks, my mind goes on autopilot as I try to soak in the last few notes I’ll ever get to play in this auditorium. Videogame music is certainly not the most inspirational music for a moment like this, but other pieces, both orchestral and band, float through my head, and I know that these past 4 years have been worth every single note.

[pictures to come!]