This year’s Christmas Performance takes place at Northcrest Community in Ames, IA. It has been four years since the kids have performed a piano duet together. They enjoyed their performance of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy.
Connor likes the piece “Polish Dance” by Severn and was looking forward to performing at Northcrest. I love the kids’ collaboration.
Congratulations to Devon for receiving 2nd prize in the Piano Category V in Iowa of the OPUS 2023 Music Competition. This is Devon’s 2nd year participating in the OPUS Music Competition.
Devon had been preparing for the Des Moines Youth Symphony Concerto Competition for months. Through the process, he had learned to collaborate with a piano accompanist, detailing what he wanted in the music. Both Devon and our accompanist, Joyce Moeckly, expressed their excitement after the audition. We then received news that Devon had won the Concerto competition the next day. He will be performing four shows with the Des Moines Symphony at their family concerts on March 5 and 6. Congratulations to Devon for this extraordinary and honorable opportunity!
This is the first year where both Devon and Connor are in the Des Moines Youth Symphony together. The kids had their first concert of the season last night.
This is Devon’s fourth and final year at the All State Music Festival. He always strives to get a better chair placement each year. This year, he encountered a mishap. A piece of sheet music was displaced in all the cello folders. When the association had discovered it, it delivered the missing sheet music to the local high school orchestra directors. Unfortunately for Devon, our local high school does not have an orchestra and our band director was unaware of the situation. He showed up on chair placement audition day and noticed an unfamiliar orchestral title on the excerpt announcement. After discovering he did not receive the music, he had to acquire the new music and practice for the audition that would take place in an hour. He made an impressive 8th chair despite of it.
Connor performed Monti’s Czardas for his violin recital. He put in lots of practice to ensure he did a good job, and he did.
Yesterday, Connor attended a violin rehearsal with our accompanist, Amanda, to prepare for his recital next week. What a soulful delivery of the piece, Czardas! This kid is relentless. He was disappointed that he did not make to All State this year, but that did not break his spirit. Here he is back on his feet and ready to perform.
Congratulations to Devon for making it into the All State Music Festival 2023. This will be his final year participating.
The Ankeny Community Chorus had approached Ankeny Centennial High School’s band director, Mr. Hook, to look for a cellist to accompany their performance. Mr. Hook has always been wonderful. He has helped us in registering Devon every year for the All State Festival and keeping us updated on the event by sending us audition times and passing us materials. There is no orchestra at Centennial and there are no cello parts in our band, but Mr. Hook is always gracious to work with us, treating Devon like he was one of his band students. We heard from our friends that he would even include Devon’s name in his announcement during a band concert when congratulating the All Staters. Mr. Hook had given our contact to the chorus and while they were looking for a cellist, they were also looking for a flute player for the higher part. We had suggested maybe Connor could play the violin for the higher part. The boys met with the chorus and they loved them. What an unique experience to hear the sound of your instrument with singing voices! The boys had a great time rehearsing and performing with the chorus.
Every year, the youth symphony has the opportunity to perform alongside with the Des Moines Symphony. This weekday matinee performance is usually attended by 4th graders to introduce them to orchestral music and instruments, as they begin participating in band and orchestral activities the next year. The side-by-side concert had been cancelled for the past two years due to covid. Hence this is the first year Devon gets to participate in the event. It was a thrilling experience.