Swan Song

Welcome back, kids.

So today's installment is Midland High Orchestra's Spring Concert, which I think is Alayna's last orchestra concert ever (unless you count that Senior recital thingy that she has later on in the month, but I'm not sure what all that entails.) Anyway, this was pretty run-of-the-mill as far as high school orchestra concerts go - started at like 7pm, lasted an hour a half, was at Central Auditorium (notorious for giving one a sore back after extended sitting), and we were all home by 9pm. Now, usually these Spring Concerts run a little longer, because Mrs. Mammassian (the orchestra teacher) likes to acknowledge all of the seniors in the orchestra halfway through the concert, detailing their progress over the years and talking about their future plans, but she announced earlier that they would only be mentioning the seniors briefly this evening due to complaints (the last couple years have run looooong). I guess the plan is to do a much more in-depth senior awards ceremony next week or something.

Who knows, I got like one or two senior awards thingies every week this month, it's nuts.

Anyway, as always I was forced to cut all the video from this post (because each of the songs they performed were between five and ten minutes in length, which exceeds Blogger's file limit), but I did throw in some pictures for you guys. 

Enjoy. . .

Following the Concert Orchestra (which neither of my children participate in) kicked things off with three songs, Honors Orchestra came on to do one. Both my kids are in that one, but for whatever reason I completely forgot to take a video of it - totally out of character for me, I don't know. The only pic we got of it was the one where they're standing up for applause (not this one here, the one before it.) Anyway, the last ensemble to perform was the Symphony Orchestra, which as you know both girls are in.

Symphony Orchestra (feat. Alayna on violin and Abby on Cello.)

Alayna and her stand partner kill some time with Rock-Paper-Scissors while Ms. Mammassian repairs some kid's violin string between songs. Seriously.

Abby and the cellos.

Violins

The two opening songs were good (second one started off with a couple rough measures, but they locked in after that.)

Between this second and the final song, Mammassian once again took the time to acknowledge the Seniors in the Orchestra. Alayna was called up first, which we were not prepared for - the video that I did get (which ran long so, sadly, you can't watch it) cut off at the beginning where she's reading Alayna's name.

Again, just a quick acknowledgement of the Seniors that are sailing off into the sunset this year.

Dad got one with his phone, too.

Lexi (of course, she's like second-in-command in the Orchestra behind the teacher) presenting Ms. Mammassian with flowers from the Seniors.

The last performance of the evening saw the orchestra joined by the Meister (however you spell that) singers, along with alumni from the band, choir and orchestra (including our neighbor, Dave, on bass second from right.)

That last song was awesome, and the ensemble on stage rightfully got a standing ovation.

Afterwards, we had to fight the throngs of spectators in the auditorium to make it back to this back room where performers can mingle with audience members after they put away their instruments and crap. The Larsons came out to watch Alayna's final performance, so we made sure to get a pic of them with her.

Sisters.

Dad and Cindy drove up from Clare to watch the girls' showcase this evening, too.

One with Lexi.

With Mom.

That one Sara chick that she works with at Taco Bell.

Those two and their respective boyfriends (as you saw earlier this month at Prom.)

One with Sebastian.

The Houghs, 2.0

With Ms. Mammassian (she always insists getting one with her following these things.)

Thus concludes the Cannonball's final orchestral performance. Fittingly, she left her music binder (at left, here) at Central Auditorium when we took off at the end of the night.

- Brian

The Ides of March

Hey guys.

No, this one doesn't have much of anything to do with the assassination of Julius Caesar, it just so happened that the girls had their Spring Concerts at Chestnut Hill this afternoon, and Yours Truly had to take the day off so that at least one parent could be in attendance (Kris had to work, and it's a hell of a lot easier for me to take the time off than it is for her to do so.)

I mean, c'mon.  I'm not sure what genius is responsible for scheduling these stupid kids productions at Chestnut Hill, but why the hell can't they have them in the evening, so people can attend without having to take a frickin' day off of work?  Is that too difficult for elementary school staff to coordinate?  . . .Idiots.

Anyway.

2nd Grade takes the stage. . .

Abby's grade put on their concert around 1pm, so I made sure to get to the school and into the gym by 12:30 in order to grab a front row seat.  Unfortunately, each grade level's production was only about twenty minutes long, so, once 2nd grade wrapped up, I was forced to remain where I was for about 40 minutes before Alayna and the 4th graders took the stage.  Honestly, this was kind of a small price to pay for keeping such a good seat - the pics and video turned out pretty good (no fat ladies in front of me this year, so I had that going for me.)

Nevertheless, had these showtimes been pushed back even a half an hour, I could have gotten by taking a half-day off of work instead of a full-day, but NOOOO - while I sat in a crowded gymnasium surrounded by other parents, some random substitute was wrangling my 8th graders, all damn day.

So, all in all, I guess I should have left a note for the substitute that said 'Beware the Ides of March' somewhere in my lesson plans.

Oh well.

Here we go. . .

Waiting to start.  Abby seemed pretty excited with her position in the stands - her pseudo-beau, Jackson (in the glasses and green shirt) and BFF Larkin (the blonde standing directly in front of her) were right by her.

Belting out some jams about. . . bees.  Or Spring, or something - you couldn't really follow the lyrics well.

I took a hell of a lot more video than pictures for both of the girls' concerts, but Blogger only allows uploads of up to 100mb, so you're stuck with a few short clips today.  Deal with it.

After 40 minutes of screwing around on my phone and weathering the grumpy sideways glances of soccer moms and grandmas that desperately wanted my seat, the Cannonball and the rest of the 4th grade finally took the stage. . . 

Front row this year (at least for the first few songs) - it was good seeing more than her forehead this year.

The fourth graders moved around a lot, so their positions were constantly changing.  For the most part, Alayna was able to stay in the limelight (it doesn't help things that she's hobbit-sized.)

Not at all paying attention - which is pretty much the norm for her.

. . . aaaand now she's in the far back row.  Make up your damn mind, 4th Grade.

Exit, Stage Left.

Since Kris had to work during the concerts, she pestered me throughout the afternoon for pictures of the girls at their shows.  She also voiced concern that I had forgotten, in my typical male absent-mindedness, to take a picture of both kids before school (they had dressed up for their shows, and Kris spent extra time on their hair in the morning.)  So, once we got back from school that afternoon, we posed a quick set of pictures to satisfy the Warden. . .

They each bought these stupid plastic cases that were designed to look like smartphones from their School Store today, and, once we got our mandatory 'nice' pictures for Kris out of the way, they demanded I snap a few more pics of them 'using' their new phones.

So there you go, folks.  The Ides of March.

- Brian