District Auditions

The halls of O'Henry Middle School were empty -- an eerie feeling. There were no voices of children. No voices of teachers. No ringing class bells or announcements over the PA. There wasn't a soul to be seen except a kid periodically running around a corner with a look of terror in his or her eyes and an instrument held tightly.

Although the halls were empty, it was hardly quiet. Music streamed into the halls from behind closed doors. Here there came the blaring of trumpets, there the waddle of bassoons. Here were the clarinets, and just outside the bathroom (that took forever to find) were the trombones.

I walked up to the window on the door hoping to spy my kid. It was papered over except at the edge. I pressed an eye to the glass. Here was the bell of a trombone and the hand of some kid (not mine) sliding his slide in and out. There was a tapping bare foot with red toenails and her sliding slide, too. From the sound behind that door, there must have been many others.

Down the hall, a tympani was rolling. The percussion auditions had started. And two doors down, the flutes erupted into a flutter of practicing where before they had been quiet. Evidently they were taking a break.

Behind my door, a young man wrote instructions for all the kids to see:

  - G scale (1 octave)
  - F scale (2 octaves)
  - Chromatic scale
  - Etude #1
  - Etude #2
  - Etude #3

One by one the kids started playing. I listened closely to the first and the second and the third. I listened hoping to catch my son as he played. A woman walked up beside me.

They will play the music twice around, she said and sat down on a chair next to the door. She had a book with her. She smiled at me and began to read.

I walked back down the hall from where I had come. I could swear that was him playing a chromatic scale as I turned the far corner. At least, I like to think that I know his sound.

---
District Band Auditions
O'Heny Middle School, Austin TX

9:20:25 PM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []  

On the Value of Consumer Electronics

Ftrain:

[...] I mean, I'd like to just go to the doctor when I felt sick. That is what I want. I'm a f*****g American, I work hard and make good money, but I can't go to the doctor. [...] it still really sucks here now.

I pointed to the DVD player. That said, it is remarkable how inexpensive consumer electronics have become. [...]

2:46:06 PM   permalink: []   feedback:   comments: []