Playing the National Anthem
Since I’ve moved to Eugene, I have been teaching eight violin student’s ages ranging from 5 1/2 to 14. I love teaching music and often my lessons are the highlight of the day. The way that people learn and absorb information is fascinating to me and is a never ending puzzle for each individual student.
One of my students, Genevieve, has been working on the national anthem. She auditioned for the chance to play the national anthem at Duck’s Basketball games this winter. We worked hard on shifting, hitting the high note, and making a dramatic statement. This was not something that I had known about, but something that she told me about during our lesson.
She auditioned on Sunday, and she must of made an impression, at least to the columnist at The Register Guard. On Tues, 10/11, Bob Welch wrote:
Then again, it was incredibly moving to hear a young girl, Genevieve Brandt, play a simple version on her violin.
I’ve always been really lucky and had awesome students. This trend is obviously still going strong.