We finally reached the end of the school year.   To celebrate, the kid's school put on a orchestra/band/choir celebration.  The great thing about being in a really small school, is that you can do all those things in one event.  AND, to make it better, it was for all three kids.  (Next year we'll have kids at three different schools...elementary, middle and high.  Yikes!)  

The kids have been grumbling about the music program all year.  I get it.  They were more advanced than most of the kids, which meant that all the pieces were geared to beginners.  This frustrated Alaina and Ethan, and they really didn't learn too much.  On the other hand, they were able to practice fundamentals more and help teach their classmates.  They were also able to shine more, getting a couple of solos and small group performances.  The music chosen for the performance was actually pretty impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  (Sometimes I feel like the performances are so set on demonstrating just how technically difficult they are, that they get a little boring.)

Here they are.

Alaina on flute.  She did wonderfully and had a small solo in one song.

Austin was on percussion and was able to drums, glockenspiel, cow bell, bongo and symbols.   He shared this honor with only one other kid, so the boys both got a lot of spotlight time.

pre-show.

Ethan on the cello.

As well in playing in their full orchestra, he was in a smaller, more advanced strings group that played a few songs.

He also performed a trio and the boys sounded awesome.

After all the instruments were played, they had a couple of show-choir songs.  One was from Suessical the Musical.  The kids did great and really, the concert moved along at a good clip, so it was one of my favorite shows that the kids have done.