Music Festival Brings up Memories

These music competitions help children get used to performing

These last two days I have been volunteering for the Kiwanis Music Festival, where young students get to compete against their peers once a year.

Adjudicators are invited from outside Vancouver to come and judge the budding musicians. I met one adjudicator today from Victoria, BC, who had played professionally in Winnipeg, Manitoba for many years. 

We had a quick chat outside as he soaked in the sunshine (it was overcast yesterday) to kill a bit of time before the competition began.

Cello is a popular instrument

As an ambassador I had to greet the students and their families and direct them to the right place, as the venue had two rooms, one for violinists, the other for cellists.

Most of the kids were mainland Chinese or Korean. One very young Korean boy, about five years old -- very smartly dressed and wore Tod's loafers, was accompanied by his mom and his grandma, who carried the cello as if she was hugging it. It sounded like he did well, as he called his father right after with big cheers.

I learned piano from the age of seven to about 16. Competing in the Kiwanis Music Festival was an annual ritual that frazzled my nerves.

My heart pounded so loudly I wondered if everyone else could hear it and was so relieved when it was all over, but also annoyed if I did not do well.

One time my mom had to drive me to North Vancouver and she was unfamiliar with the area (pre-GPS) and we got lost. Sitting in the back seat I was getting more anxious, lost and late! We finally found the venue and I was allowed to go last to help settle my nerves before performing.

I remember the adjudicator saying I played the piece well, but it was supposed to be played lightly like a bird singing, but instead it sounded like an elephant playing. I was just relieved to get the whole thing over with.

Another time, when I was 16, I was so nervous that when I sat at the keyboard, I completely blanked out and forgot what I was going to play. 

I stared blankly at the keys, unable to play

I lost all my confidence and had to perform with the music, and I almost played it like I had just learned the piece (JS Bach's Prelude No. 1 in C major, or Ave Maria).

The next day I was supposed to play the same piece for my whole school and I freaked out, but my music teacher insisted that I play it. I did and it was an affirmation that I could do it.

Back at this year's festival, while waiting her turn, an accompanist on the piano for one or more of the cellists sat outside and told me these competitions are a frightening experience for children. I remarked that they would put them in good stead later in life when making presentations and speeches.

But she said for some people just playing for a competition was hard enough as it was and I told her about my blanking out experience. That happened to her too.

She said in her 20s and 30s she was so nervous performing in front of people, that it was only in her 40s that she got used to performing in public, it was not something she liked.

Then she talked about how difficult it must be for professional musicians, and how there was so much expectation heaped on them.

I suggested perhaps there were some performers who liked the attention.

However, she thought for a true musician, the end goal was not attention, but their love of music, and they would not enjoy performing in public...