For Lack Of A Better Title, This Post Will Be Called "Bach Recital."

   As some of you know, I played in the Oregon Junior Bach Festival last Sunday afternoon. Something less than festive, the "festival" was broken up into about four recitals-the first three being competitive. Yes, "competive piano" is something new to me, but I was never one to play sports. (I find fugues infinately more enjoyable than field-gaols. Er, I mean "goals." But on second thought though, watching football for me is something like being in a jail. Actually the Federal Pen is more like it.) 

   I performed in the second recital, which was small- only eight students played.

   It was an amusing concert, mostly because of the strange contrast between the nerve-wracked, sweaty students, and the old man behind us who uttered a very solemn and restrained "yaahh," after each student completed their fair share of finger gymnastics. 

We were all evaluated (or judged, I should say) by a man and a women sitting behind the audience- who were conveniently armed with pens, pencils, a wealth of knowledge, and most fearful of all, the scores of the pieces we were playing from memory.

    

    Only two people from my recital were picked to move on to regional- I was not one of them. I was disappointed, yes, but was also extremely happy and exhilarated that I had actually participated in a recital where someone got up and acknowledged the "winners." Perhaps they didn't use that dreaded term, but the audience could see past all euphemisms. No good Oregon Music Teachers' Association instructor would dream of using the word "loser*," but "winners" must have an opposite. Right? After years of receiving medals, awards, and certificates for doing things like simply attending recitals, that word most certainly does not sting in my ears.

*Note: I don't mean this as a detriment to all the talented students who performed. I thought they played wonderfully, and I was very impressed. I was reasonably satisfied with my own performance, too.