By Kinsleigh Ruegge • Senior • Violin
Today was the first day of the music festival! The number of kids I saw once I arrived at breakfast was surprising, even though I knew there were going to be thousands of us!
We made it to a rehearsal an hour or so after breakfast that took place in one of the hotel's ballrooms which we needed. We were intimidated by Carmel HS but this rehearsal made us better and I could feel an increase in confidence!! Mr. Lack even pointed out that the first row felt a little bit more passionate. I hope that confidence stays during the time we perform.
The festival then had its opening session, which technically started the festival, and someone played the marimba for us. I really liked it and whenever it moved from slow to faster notes, kind of reminded me of a spider! Next up, Frank Kick spoke to us about leadership and I remember this moment when he said something along the lines of, "Opinions are like armpits: we all got them but sometimes they stink!!!" Which is very true. I think his presentation was cool and he made it even more interesting by interacting with the audience. Finally, at the end of the opening session, all the orchestras got together in a group and discussed what would be the importance of this festival to us and that's a very good discussion topic since this festival isn't similar to an ordinary concert we would have in our hometown. It can reflect something else like hard work, both the work to get into the festival and the work to practice our pieces for the festival, the completion of our hard work, and so on.
Lastly, dinner came along and Punch Bowl Social was very fun and very delicious. I played bowling with a few others, including Mr. Lack! I wasn't very good in the first round because it's been a while since I've played bowling but during the 2nd round, I found my groove.
This day was very busy but fun! Even if you get tired in the end, you appreciate these times together and it was all worth it.
