The Sweetest Sounds

Kapitel eins

^^above is Adagio for Strings audio

Lillian Mason

    Today was the day.

It was the final performance of the year for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. All this school year, we have prepared for this moment. On this particular day, one could walk on stage and change their life forever. Last year, three students got picked to perform for higher-leveled orchestras around the world.

...

I, myself, have been playing since the fourth grade. Compared to other performers and music teachers, I started out to late. That true performers, which could be considered prodigies, start as soon as they can walk.

Since I was a child, though, everything I did revolved around music. Coming from a family of non-performers, the interest of playing the violin wasn't expected of me.  My parents were hard workers, both graduating from college along with earning their masters. Even though I wasn't expected to become a performer, I was expected to perform perfectly in school and go to college just like they did. And don't get me wrong, school is such a very important thing, but I didn't want to spend the rest of my life as a doctor or lawyer. I wanted to pursue in something that made me happy....

I remember the day perfectly....

It was towards the end of my third grade school year. A woman who was a violinist in from a community college orchestra came to schools across the area to introduce third graders and up about the art of classical music. Of course she performed a very complicated solo piece, then let some students touch the many instruments placed out in the gym. After answering a few questions, she announced that she will pick three students to come up and try out the instruments. First, she picked Maddie (a girl in my reading class) and Alex (a boy who was considered the class clown). Then, it was time to pick the final person... It was like fate allowed her to walk straight over to me and pick me! No hesitance at all.

"How about you?" I simply nodded and walked with her to the center of the gym.

"Pick any instrument you want. You never know, that could be the instrument you could end up playing!"

And right there, fate again lead me to the shiny wooden instrument in the far back. I very carefully pulled out the object and held it out to her. At the time, I didn't know what it was called.

"So, you are going to play the violin. That is the instrument that I play." She set the violin on my left shoulder, put the bow in my right hand and tug the bow across the strings. Even though, it sounded like a cat dying, a rush of energy and excitement went through me. It felt like a lifetime, having her help me play the violin. Who would have thought that at that very moment, created a drive in me to master this object set on my shoulder. I was going to be a violinist, maybe even the best ever known.

When I started middle school, orchestra class was given to students my age. My mother saved money to pay for a used instrument, knowing that playing an instrument looked good when going to college. I practiced every day since I got that cheap, rented instrument.

My orchestra teacher knew I had potential from the very beginning. She was probably the main reason I am where I am now. She picked me, out of all the students, to begin private lessons and take me to the city's orchestra performances. She convinced my mom to buy me an actual violin when I started high school. 

I was never vain when it came to my violin playing, but I did know that I was good. The worst thing about being really good, was that others knew I was too... I wasn't the best player in the world, but let's just say I could out-play the seniors my freshman year. And the other students stopped at nothing to make me few less than myself. They started rumors, laughed if I messed up at all, and said I didn't have a life outside of playing. They were kind of true on that topic. All I did was school work and practicing... I wanted it so bad, that I didn't do anything else. I didn't have a lot of friends and boys never asked me out.

My senior year of high school was probably one of the best years of my life. At my final school performance, I had a huge solo part during our final song. I guess I stunned people other than myself, because I got accepted into the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra right out of high school. I became a principle player by my freshman year of college. Now you would think after I finished this little snip it of my life, that's it, I met my goal and I accomplished everything I could. I thought that too... till my final performance at Powell Hall.

...

    Everyone in the orchestra was already on stage, setting themselves in place to perform our second and final half of our end of school concert. Since I am a principle player, I was to enter the stage last. Our final song was Adagio for Strings from Samuel Barber. Beautiful song... but the only way you could truly do the song justice was to have a connection to the piece.

When we first worked on this song, I would say I played alright but I didn't feel the song. Nothing bad has really ever happened in my life. Then I got the phone call two weeks prior to our concert...my school orchestra teacher had died of leukemia. She was the main reason I was here, and to know she wouldn't be able to see me do what she said I had the capability of doing....broke my heart. This performance would be my best, not because of recruitment, but because of Mrs. Johnson (my orchestra teacher) would see me from heaven. 

It was my turn to step out on stage. All I could see was the bright stage lights and the beautifully decorated ceiling of Powell Hall. I sat in my seat in the very front, beside the conductor platform. We waited for the conductor to arrive, and we knew he did when a round of applause struck our ear drums telling us... this was it... our performance had to be perfect. We tuned quickly. Then the large room was silent. We sat there for a good 30 seconds, staring at our sheet music. Our conductor raised his hands, signaling us to get ready. And just like that, it started.

The music mixed together perfectly. It felt like I wasn't playing the violin, but that the music was playing me. We were now at the "climax" of the song and I could already feel the tears rim my eyes. Flashes of my younger years in orchestra went through my brain. Memories of my peers telling me I didn't have a life, my parents said playing the violin wasn't a career, Mrs. Johnson's funeral. Then the dramatic pause happened and I couldn't even breathe... By the end of the song, I was crying. I then realized that I proved all of the negative people end my life that they were wrong.

The night of our spring concert really did change my life. I got offers to come try out for other symphony orchestras but one caught my attention. I got a phone call to try out for a violin position in the Symphony Orchestra of Berlin (Berliner Symphoniker).

I remembered Mrs. Johnson mentioning this particular orchestra in middle school when she talked about the top orchestras in the world. I couldn't turn down this opportunity...