Aureus Academy of Music: Ewan's First Piano Recital
Media Invite - Eight Months Later
We have just returned from Koh Samui when Teacher Yih Shyue suggested Ewan to play in an upcoming recital at the school. My eyes lit up upon hearing it. This is the highest level of affirmation any teacher could give to a student!
I was naturally surprised because Ewan's not the most disciplined student one could ever ask for. During lessons, he would get distracted, do a little hokey pokey and bring a toy to the piano. Discipline-wise, he would have been graded an F. Yet, week after week we still saw progress. He is into this third piano book this October!
Mom: Really? You think he can do this? Oh sure!
Teacher: Yes he can and I will play with him too.
Mom: Alright! Sign him up! When is this?
Teacher: In two weeks.
Mom: Two weeks? If you think he can, then he can!
Teacher: Oh Yes! How about you play the accompaniment with him?
Ewan: Yes! Mommy play with me!
Mom: Me? In two weeks time? Errrrrrr...
Teacher: I think you are a better choice than me. He will look forward to it more!
Mom: Erm... I know right...
Teacher: And he can choose to play two pieces too if he wants!
Mom: Okay. For Ewan.
Ewan: YAY!
Oh my goodness. What have I gotten myself into? I've already done my duties as a kid. Heading in for grade exams which always leave me in jitters. Ask me to dance in front of a crowd, I could do any day. Ask me to play the piano in front of one audience, oh no I can't do that.
I was more than happy to sit back and record him this time. It won't be me getting the nerves or stage fright anyways. Yet, the tables had turned on me.
Every day I practiced my part and Ewan did too. He was highly motivated but our expectations were mismatched. He made no mistakes during his practice and neither did I. However, I had troubles following his time! I pleaded for him to practice with me more so that we made no blunders and my little chill pill told me, "Haiya, you go and practice yourself first la."
He was so confident that I laughed at my own troubled self. So my husband practiced with me as he played Ewan's part to ease my stress. Stage Fright! I definitely have that.
Four days before the big day, Ewan and I went for a little practice run on the grand piano at the school. It was beautiful! We made some mistakes but laughed over it. His teacher told us to have fun and if there were any blunders, just embrace it. Nobody is going to judge and definitely not jeer.
I kept that in mind and I was determined to get this right for my son. We made a good duo and I enjoyed hearing the music played by us. I think he loved it too. Our two pieces were Hush Little Baby and Tucker's Secret Life.
What we did not expect was the crowd that came that day. There were thirty in the audience!
We walked into the studio and Ewan was all himself, being cheeky and couldn't stop chattering. I looked alright but Meyer knew I really wasn't. He whispered, "Are you nervous?" I threw him a dagger stare and told him not to rub it in! Oh that made him laughed out loud.
Teacher Yih Shyue brought a few children up to the piano for a practice run and when she came up to Ewan, he said, "No need to practice!"
Wow! Seriously Ewan? Are you being overly confident? But his courage was certainly assuring for me. It was I who needed that practice!
We were the fifth to perform and I secretly wished we could have been the first! To get it done and over with without feeling more nervous with every performance we watched. Ewan stared at the children before him intently and there was a little girl who got so nervous she almost broke into tears. I was sitting right in front of her and gave her a million assuring nods and smiles. She finally finished her song and we all gave her a loud resounding cheer.
Little did I know, Ewan was affected after watching the first four kids!
Then it came his turn, "Next up, we have Ewan and Mommy!" and a round of applause came with that to welcome us up to the front.
We went up to take our seat at the piano but Ewan gave a firm, "No." and refused to play.
I just smiled and softly encouraged, "It's okay if you do not want to do this Ewan." when inside me all I wanted to say was, "What? All 14 days of my practice gone with the wind? Oh surely not Ewan? Come on! Now I want to play! I'll give you ice-cream, chocolate, whatever okay! Just do this son!"
His teacher decided that we should check back on him again when everyone's done with their pieces. When they did, he agreed to play but to a different piece from what we had practiced.
I looked at my unpredictable son and my jaws fell to the ground.
Like a puppy lost in a battle, I raised my hands and told his teacher, "Ok I surrender. I cannot play a new piece without practicing. Can you please play with him?"
Ewan went to the piano with Teacher Yih Shyue and flipped randomly to a piece in the book. He sight-read and played his chosen song casually with no effort put in it.
When he was done, the whole room applauded so loudly I felt extremely encouraged. I thought he would too.
Then.
Ewan screamed at the top of his voice willing them to stop.
My heart was in my mouth, thinking how every adult in the room was judging me. What kind of a mother raise such an impudent child!
Instead of screaming at him, I decided to keep him calm with my calms. When every stranger left, he played the two pieces we practiced for the audiences he wanted to play for - daddy, Faye, gramps and Aunty Dora.
He acted really tough, very brave and totally nonchalant about the whole recital. But when we left, I had a crying boy the whole night. He was not in tears about not playing well at the recital but about every little thing that didn't go his way that evening.
I think he experienced his very first real-life jitters and he did not know how to handle it.
We talked about it the next day and he shared that he wanted only to play without applause. He would like everyone to listen to the songs silently with no affirmation. I cannot figure that out and I concluded that he was afraid.
I am very grateful for his Teacher Yih Shyue and Aureus Academy's General Manager, Alex Holmefjord-Sarabi, for being so kind with their words even after Ewan made a scene. They told him that he did well and were very encouraging.
Frankly, I looked at them in disbelief. All I wanted to do was apologise profusely for his behaviour and there they were, inviting him back for the next recital?
They shared with me that these recitals are held to give children the opportunity to showcase their work. Playing in front of a crowd is daunting for an adult, what more a five year old?
At least, this is what I gathered from the conversations I had with them. I will always keep Alex's words close to my heart, "Ewan did really well. We look forward to have him back at the bigger concert end of the year."
Teacher Yih Shyue just informed me that there will be a Halloween-themed recital end of this month and would love to have Ewan back if he wanted! It clashes with our house-moving date but Ewan voiced his eagerness to play at this party because he wanted to dress up in his Ninja Turtle costume for it!
I know I would be crazy to take this up with the impending move but at the same time, this is his second chance to make it right! Right?
Should I say Yes?
Or should we decline this invitation for my sanity?
I was naturally surprised because Ewan's not the most disciplined student one could ever ask for. During lessons, he would get distracted, do a little hokey pokey and bring a toy to the piano. Discipline-wise, he would have been graded an F. Yet, week after week we still saw progress. He is into this third piano book this October!
Mom: Really? You think he can do this? Oh sure!
Teacher: Yes he can and I will play with him too.
Mom: Alright! Sign him up! When is this?
Teacher: In two weeks.
Mom: Two weeks? If you think he can, then he can!
Teacher: Oh Yes! How about you play the accompaniment with him?
Ewan: Yes! Mommy play with me!
Mom: Me? In two weeks time? Errrrrrr...
Teacher: I think you are a better choice than me. He will look forward to it more!
Mom: Erm... I know right...
Teacher: And he can choose to play two pieces too if he wants!
Mom: Okay. For Ewan.
Ewan: YAY!
Oh my goodness. What have I gotten myself into? I've already done my duties as a kid. Heading in for grade exams which always leave me in jitters. Ask me to dance in front of a crowd, I could do any day. Ask me to play the piano in front of one audience, oh no I can't do that.
I was more than happy to sit back and record him this time. It won't be me getting the nerves or stage fright anyways. Yet, the tables had turned on me.
Every day I practiced my part and Ewan did too. He was highly motivated but our expectations were mismatched. He made no mistakes during his practice and neither did I. However, I had troubles following his time! I pleaded for him to practice with me more so that we made no blunders and my little chill pill told me, "Haiya, you go and practice yourself first la."
He was so confident that I laughed at my own troubled self. So my husband practiced with me as he played Ewan's part to ease my stress. Stage Fright! I definitely have that.
Four days before the big day, Ewan and I went for a little practice run on the grand piano at the school. It was beautiful! We made some mistakes but laughed over it. His teacher told us to have fun and if there were any blunders, just embrace it. Nobody is going to judge and definitely not jeer.
It would be a wonderful milestone to celebrate between mother and son.
I kept that in mind and I was determined to get this right for my son. We made a good duo and I enjoyed hearing the music played by us. I think he loved it too. Our two pieces were Hush Little Baby and Tucker's Secret Life.
What we did not expect was the crowd that came that day. There were thirty in the audience!
We walked into the studio and Ewan was all himself, being cheeky and couldn't stop chattering. I looked alright but Meyer knew I really wasn't. He whispered, "Are you nervous?" I threw him a dagger stare and told him not to rub it in! Oh that made him laughed out loud.
Teacher Yih Shyue brought a few children up to the piano for a practice run and when she came up to Ewan, he said, "No need to practice!"
Wow! Seriously Ewan? Are you being overly confident? But his courage was certainly assuring for me. It was I who needed that practice!
We were the fifth to perform and I secretly wished we could have been the first! To get it done and over with without feeling more nervous with every performance we watched. Ewan stared at the children before him intently and there was a little girl who got so nervous she almost broke into tears. I was sitting right in front of her and gave her a million assuring nods and smiles. She finally finished her song and we all gave her a loud resounding cheer.
Little did I know, Ewan was affected after watching the first four kids!
Then it came his turn, "Next up, we have Ewan and Mommy!" and a round of applause came with that to welcome us up to the front.
We went up to take our seat at the piano but Ewan gave a firm, "No." and refused to play.
I just smiled and softly encouraged, "It's okay if you do not want to do this Ewan." when inside me all I wanted to say was, "What? All 14 days of my practice gone with the wind? Oh surely not Ewan? Come on! Now I want to play! I'll give you ice-cream, chocolate, whatever okay! Just do this son!"
His teacher decided that we should check back on him again when everyone's done with their pieces. When they did, he agreed to play but to a different piece from what we had practiced.
I looked at my unpredictable son and my jaws fell to the ground.
Like a puppy lost in a battle, I raised my hands and told his teacher, "Ok I surrender. I cannot play a new piece without practicing. Can you please play with him?"
Ewan went to the piano with Teacher Yih Shyue and flipped randomly to a piece in the book. He sight-read and played his chosen song casually with no effort put in it.
Then.
Ewan screamed at the top of his voice willing them to stop.
My heart was in my mouth, thinking how every adult in the room was judging me. What kind of a mother raise such an impudent child!
Instead of screaming at him, I decided to keep him calm with my calms. When every stranger left, he played the two pieces we practiced for the audiences he wanted to play for - daddy, Faye, gramps and Aunty Dora.
He acted really tough, very brave and totally nonchalant about the whole recital. But when we left, I had a crying boy the whole night. He was not in tears about not playing well at the recital but about every little thing that didn't go his way that evening.
I think he experienced his very first real-life jitters and he did not know how to handle it.
We talked about it the next day and he shared that he wanted only to play without applause. He would like everyone to listen to the songs silently with no affirmation. I cannot figure that out and I concluded that he was afraid.
I am very grateful for his Teacher Yih Shyue and Aureus Academy's General Manager, Alex Holmefjord-Sarabi, for being so kind with their words even after Ewan made a scene. They told him that he did well and were very encouraging.
Frankly, I looked at them in disbelief. All I wanted to do was apologise profusely for his behaviour and there they were, inviting him back for the next recital?
They shared with me that these recitals are held to give children the opportunity to showcase their work. Playing in front of a crowd is daunting for an adult, what more a five year old?
This is not about the school's reputation but for a child to gain valuable performing experiences to celebrate his self-esteem and boost his sense of accomplishment.
At least, this is what I gathered from the conversations I had with them. I will always keep Alex's words close to my heart, "Ewan did really well. We look forward to have him back at the bigger concert end of the year."
Teacher Yih Shyue just informed me that there will be a Halloween-themed recital end of this month and would love to have Ewan back if he wanted! It clashes with our house-moving date but Ewan voiced his eagerness to play at this party because he wanted to dress up in his Ninja Turtle costume for it!
I know I would be crazy to take this up with the impending move but at the same time, this is his second chance to make it right! Right?
Should I say Yes?
Or should we decline this invitation for my sanity?
As part of Aureus Academy's 4th Birthday Celebrations, enjoy up to 10% off music lessons for the entire year! The Prepayment Promotion has now been extended to 5th October 2017 due to popular demand!
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A stay at home mum, blogging to widen her social life.
We want to echo the sound of love through our lives to inspire other mothers alike.
Aureus Academy of Music is a fantastic resource for anyone looking to improve their musical skills. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced musician, the academy offers a wide range of classes and programs that cater to all skill levels. The instructors are highly trained and experienced, and they provide a supportive and engaging learning environment. I particularly appreciate the flexibility of the class schedules and the ability to take classes online. Overall, I highly recommend Aureus Academy of Music to anyone looking to take their music to the next level. I also remember that the Music Production Courses in Bangalore for providing a professional service similar to this.
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