March

This year, Jason was chosen, along with one other little girl from his school, to sing in the WV All-State Children's Chorus.    It was quite the honor for him to be chosen.  Each school in the state choses two students to join the choir.  Jason and the other child practiced during breaks and after school in preparation of the concert.  

In March we drove to Charleston, WV, which is about 5 hours away from Charles Town (where we live.)  We were put up in a hotel for three days.  For each day, Jason joined all the other children to practice for six - eight hours.  It was quite the commitment, and Jason had such a good attitude during these practices.  

On Saturday, they had the actual concert.

Jason is on the front row, five children in from the left.  The auditorium was filled.  One of the kids got so nervous that she threw-up, just before the concert started.  The kids did a good job not freaking out, and staying still for the clean-up.  It was also sooo hot up on the stage.

The kids sang the songs beautifully and sounded so good together.

The only thing that I wish they did differently was concerning their song selection.  I know they were trying to pick songs that were as multi-cultural as possible, but the director ended up using a friend who composed all the music.  None of the songs were very interesting for the kids to sing.  They didn't have any fun lyrics or catchy tunes.  They decided the wanted to sound more professional than child-like.  But, really, they could have found songs that were both professional and fun to sing.  (Mozart managed it :)   Despite the complexity of the songs, the kids did really well.  I know Jason really enjoyed the whole experience.

This was one of their best songs.

Here is Mrs. LaVigne, Jason's music teacher.  She really put in so much work to get the kids ready for this.

The next morning, we took the boys back to the Clay Center (where they performed) and had them go through the second half of the Center, which has been made into a small children's museum.

During our stay in Charleston, we did a whole lot of things that we normally don't do.  We ate out at restaurants.

We visited West Virginia's State Building.

We visited some ancient Indian burial grounds.

And we hung out at the hotel.

It was so much fun to spend so much time with the little boys.  And I am so very proud of Jason and all the work he put into the concert.  He always has such a wonderful attitude and it was a real joy watching him get up on the stage.