Jbird played in the school's Saint-Saëns' Piano Concerto (No.2) Competition on Friday night. He played his heart out and managed to win the competition. We are very excited and can't wait for his prize - to play with the concerto with the school's University Orchestra on April 11. It's a beautiful concerto, well worth a listen if you have a moment to peruse youtube. We'll also post a recording of the final concert after the date.
I wish I had a photo to share of the competition scenario but I'll have to describe it in words. He played with his accompanist on a stage to a nearly empty hall. His judges were upstairs in the balcony. The contestants were given cuts in the concerto the night before so they'd all learned the whole thing but were only playing about half of it. His arms flung around, he looked to both heaven and earth for inspiration. I mean this literally, he got so hunched over the piano at one stage that he knocked his glasses on the wood. All of his energy went into playing every note, unaware of his left leg which tends to fly around to aid in weight distribution for those fortissimos. Jbird is a true lightweight for such a hefty instrument.
Thank you for describing Justin's performance of the Saints-Saens Annabel! We would love to have been there! We'll be looking forward to the recording with the orchestra in a couple of weeks! It took us back to the days when he represented nz with that concerto over in Perth, when poor old Justin didn't stand a chance because of the terribly biased adjudicating!!
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