Thursday, March 04, 2010

Piano Competition, 2010

The dreaded annual piano competition is behind us for another year. I say dreaded because as much as Madeleine likes the accolades she receives when playing for people, she also detests playing for two strangers, knowing that one is listening intently and grading every move she makes.

Still, though, she gritted her teeth and smiled before she and I left the house.



As always, she was intrigued by the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee's campus and looked around a bit when we walked up the stairs from the underground parking garage.



And, as usual, we arrived too early. This hallway where we waited was silent. And I mean s-i-l-e-n-t. We waited for Madeleine's turn, speaking in hushed tones about things she wasn't terribly interested in, as anxious people tend to do in situations like those.



Afterwards, sweet relief. It took Madeleine awhile to stop shaking. I am certain the Baskin-Robbins ice-cream stop we made on our way home helped calm her a bit.

4 comments:

Elephantschild said...

The music buildings at UWM are a nightmare. Absolute night. mare. Shudder.

Glad she survived.

Cate said...

EC,

We got SO lost the first year we went there. I think we wandered around being lost at least thirty minutes. Or longer.

At least now I know which section their competition takes place, but yeah, they're really, really hard to navigate.

Erin said...

I remember music auditions and competitions in that building. Your picture of the hallway brought me right back to being a nervous 15 year old.

How did she do?

Cate said...

She received a rating of "superior." She was pretty excited b/c she has now earned that distinction three years in a row which means she gets a trophy. She is pretty excited to get her first trophy and is already thinking about where to display it.