We just finished the last week of class at BFA. This coming week will be final exams followed by graduation on Friday. This means that my teaching work at BFA is basically done.
Instrument Petting Zoo
On Monday and Tuesday, I helped out with the instrument try-outs at the elementary and middle school. Some of the time I helped with the string tryouts, while other times my focus was on the brass instruments. It was a bit of a zoo, though it was fun to see the kids get their hands on instruments. Some struggled to produce a sound, while others seemed to find an instant addiction to a particular instrument, much in the way I did when I tried a violin for the first time ever.
Intermediate Orchestra
On Monday, we had a wrap-up orchestra party. When I walked in the door, the kids surprised me with a “card” drawn on the board! We talked about the Spring Concert, sight-read a couple pieces for fun, cleaned up with our fastest time ever of 10 seconds, and had time for snacks and talking. What a fun group! They have grown so much in the last year!
Guitar Class
On Monday and Tuesday, the class had prep time for their worship final, then two days of students leading worship (the second half of their final exam). On Friday, we went outside during out last class time and just spent time together enjoying the beautiful weather.
Lessons
Starting Tuesday, I had my last lesson with each of my private students. It was a time of looking back at personal and musical growth achieved throughout the year, looking ahead to plans for next year, and enjoying one last “present” moment with some sort of fun musical thing, like sight-reading duets by the creek or improvising. I made sure to get a picture of each student for my own personal memories; here are a few of my students:
My students show impressive skill at expressing appreciation in subtle ways. It took me half a day to notice a handmade card and chocolate tucked into my things by a surreptitious student. Others surprised me with kind words of appreciation, though they had struggled in lessons. Other students gave me the kind of hug that meant more than words could ever express. It was an emotionally draining week, pouring so much into each person one last time.
High School Orchestra
This last week was full of random variety as well as meaningful wrap-up. On Monday and Tuesday we watched the video of our Chamber Music concert, and viewed another video of a full orchestra to identify some wind, brass and percussion instruments. On Wednesday, Karen Rempel came in and did a session on the Alexander Technique. As we became aware of our center of gravity, we spent some time lying on the floor. This progressed to a fascination with the difference in gravitational pull felt when playing an instrument while lying on the floor versus playing in an upright position.
Thursday was a fun day of instrument exploration. All the students rotated to another instrument in the string orchestra and attempted to quickly learn the differences in technique and note reading. We played a couple beginning-level pieces with moderate success. As a result of this day, a couple of my cellists now want to become bass players, and one violinist is seriously thinking about learning viola for next year!
Friday was our wrap-up day. We celebrated an amazing semester by going to the EisCafe, filling out course evaluations, handing out certificates, handing out personal notes to each student, and discussing Isaiah 59-60 and how we will spread God’s light into various parts of the world as we disperse. This is a special group of people, and I will miss them.
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It was an exhausting week, but adrenaline kept me going. Friday I finally let the tears loose, allowing myself to feel all the emotions that had been kept in check by the speed of the week’s events.
