Last month I mentioned that Thomas participated in the Michigan Solo and Ensemble Band and Orchestra auditions. He played a bassoon duet with his piano accompanist and had that quintet audition with four girls he knows from school. Despite shaking with nerves, he got 1st's for both his solo piece (which was, according to his bassoon teacher, Dean, one of the most difficult bassoon pieces ever devised) and the quintet. He was stunned and slightly disappointed to learn (as was I) that the honor of receiving 1st's meant that he qualified to go on to the state level competition at the end of March--which was yesterday. The state competition was structured identically: kids and their parents flocking to a super-sized, super-funded high school in the middle of nowhere, all sitting around for hours on end, waiting to be called into a room with their piano accompanist while parents sat around uselessly. Then, five minutes later they emerged, red faced and bemused, with no idea of how they had done. Then, ten minutes after that they could return to the judging room to be told their score. The main difference was that, unlike at the district level which had high school musicians of all levels, the kids at the state auditions were only those who had gotten 1st's--so this was The Big League and so the level of expectation was much, much higher.
I mentioned in the last few posts that lately Thomas has been busy with concerts. Last Friday (the 15th) he had a MASSIVE band concert at his school--something called a Band Festival. I'm not even sure what it was since I was busy taking Frederick to his music lesson in Ann Arbor. Simon's job was to bring Thomas home from school, feed him, manage a massive outfit change and then drive like the wind to get him back 45 miles due south to his school where he had just been an hour before, where he was going to perform/compete with his band in some sort of festival/competition against other local high school bands. But, as the evening wore on, a flu which made an occasional appearance the night before (but Thomas insisted was not real) became undeniable and by the time Thomas was back home, he was barely alive with a high fever. By Saturday morning, he was white as a sheet and had a terrible, rattling chest cough. He spent all Saturday and Sunday in bed, and had to stay home, in bed, all day from Monday and Tuesday. He did go to school on Wednesday, but only because he was so scared of missing anymore days and getting further behind. He still looked terrible, was still coughing and was still weak. Worse, he couldn't play bassoon without gasping for breath after a few seconds. With the Saturday audition getting closer by the minute, I didn't see how he could possibly make it. He struggled to get through the school days, had steamy showers as often as he could stand and (gasp!) went to bed early! He did manage one practice with his piano accompanist Wednesday evening, but had to take frequent breaks and even that, he said, was exhausting. He came home and went straight to bed.
Friday night he was near tears, said he wasn't sure he would be able to manage the audition the next day, and wondered if he should skip it. If it were just the solo, I think he would have but if he didn't show up for the quintet, then the others would not have been able to audition without him and they would have been disqualified. Torn between feeling physically ill and guilty, he decided to go and risk just doing a terrible job.
Saturday morning I had to wake him up very early so we could get there on time--the high school where the auditions were is over an hour away and we had to be there before 9. I had printed up a Mapquest but because the print was so small, I decided to use the GPS in my phone to have that guide me for the last few miles instead so I wouldn't have to keep checking the paper every few blocks in traffic. So, during the last few miles of the freeway, I read the name of he high school into my phone and it started telling my how to get there--so far so good. But once we got off the freeway, I noticed that my phone claimed it would take 20 minutes more minutes to get there. How is that possible, since it should only be about 3 miles? 15 miles later and with 2 treks through condo parking lots (I kid not!) I was getting more than a little anxious about the route I was being directed to take. I also couldn't help but see that it was getting VERY close to when we were supposed to be checking Thomas in, so I started to swear under my breath. Thomas woke up and looked around blearily. He asked, "Where are we? Why are we driving through a neighborhood?" Good question. But the last thing I wanted to do was panic him right before an audition. "There was some construction and so we are being sent this way. We'll be there in a minute. Go back to sleep." We weren't there "in a minute" since just then I was told to turn left the wrong way onto a one way road, and after that then really did get sucked into a massive snarl of construction detours. Finally, FINALLY, we did find that ridiculous high school---and then we got routed around in parking lot as big a some university parking lots I have seen. There were three parking lot attendants to help us, at least. We were originally lost in the lot reserved for percussionists. Eventually someone helped us find our way out to the woodwind lot (north side of the building--what
were we thinking?). Finally rid of that damn car and inside the building, things got better. There was a guide inside who had a list of participating high schools and, once we saw Thomas's listed, told us what room to go to and warm up in. Thomas headed off to it and, once there, saw his quintet pals there waiting for him. We got there with 5 minutes to spare. While he chatted happily with his friends I got stuck with their parents--always boring. But at least I learned that their driving experiences were as horrid as ours and there was some comfort to be found in that.
A few minutes later the quintet went off for their performance. I didn't listen to them play as I did last time. I wish now I had, though I always get so nervous hearing Thomas perform, especially knowing he doesn't feel well. But they got a 1st and Thomas looked both relieved and exhausted. With that obligation behind him, we had two hours to kill before his solo. I forced him to eat a peanut energy bar--he resisted but one of his quintet pals refused to eat anything because of nerves and right in front of us she got spectacularly sick so with a "See?
Now will you eat something?" look on my face, Thomas came around to seeing the point of eating even when nervous and so ate the damn thing. Then we found a quiet corner somewhere and he played with his DS 3d game and I read a book. The bench we sat on was unbelievably uncomfortable, as high school furniture always is. I think they want high schoolers as uncomfortable as possible so they don't loiter but it's the parents that suffer. About 40 minutes before his solo we headed back to the waiting room. He wanted to "warm up" (practice his fingering on his bassoon) and be in the correct room for when his piano man showed up so they wouldn't lose sight of each other. Thomas was NOT looking good by this point: pale, weak, and that hacking cough was starting up again. I had given him a musinex in the morning to help the cough and I think that did help get him through the quintet performance but playing a bassoon takes up so much air, he spent all his extra energy on that first performance and was now wiped out. His accompanist did show up about 20 minutes before show time and they waited calmly together. Since they were the last to perform before the lunch break they were the only ones in the waiting room, which was nice because earlier in the day it was a mad house with squawking clarinets and shrieking flutes. Finally a music leader came and led them to the judging room, where the judge was waiting for them. They went in and set themselves up. I waited out in the hallway. I heard them play and they sounded good to me--no hacking coughs, which is what I was worried about. After about 5 minutes of playing they came out and we were told to return in 4 minutes. Thomas went to take his bassoon apart and so on. Finally, the judge came out and handed me the card to give to Thomas--a 1st! By then Thomas and his accompanist were coming back and when I told them, Thomas looked genuinely stunned---pleased, but amazed. We thanked our intrepid piano player for standing by Thomas all these weeks--they were obviously as awesome pair together. I don't know if he knows this yet but Dean, Thomas's teacher, wants to showcase Thomas in the year end FIM woodwind recital and so Thomas will need his piano accompanist ONE MORE TIME....I don't have the heart to ask him. At least he works at the FIM and so is used to traveling there.
So, finally free to leave, we headed home. But it seemed like we ought to celebrate in some way, so we stopped at a Big Boy and Thomas ordered a MASSIVE pile of pancakes with cinnamon apples on them while I had an omelet and toast. Like last time, Thomas also got two medals for his two 1st's. I'm not sure what a kid is supposed to do with these, but he enjoyed being given them.
After finding an egg, Frederick ran right back to the dining room table to carefully read the next clue. Here he is being instructed to look inside the dishwasher for the next clue.
After running up and down the stairs, inside and outside the house, Frederick finally gets to the last clue, which told him to look under the couch where he found a few presents: two books, a small stuffed Dumbo elephant (he is really into the songs "Pink Elephants on Parade" and "Did You Ever See an Elephant Fly?" from the movie Dumbo lately) and some bubble juice to blow bubbles.
It two or three hours Thomas will wake up and start HIS hunt.
