The Joy of the Season - Elementary School Holiday Concert

Ethan on the Cello

The pace of life is increasing to match the reduced time until Christmas and it seems that more and more activities get crammed into every evening. Last evening it was the annual Holiday concert at Waugh Chapel Elementary School in Odenton, Maryland, where Ethan and his cello were front and center.

The concert was short--because the school has wisely separated the ban and orchestral concerts due to lack of space and fire marshall concerns for overloading the cafeteria/auditorium. OK, maybe it was a bit too short--the orchestral concert was over in 25 minutes and it takes longer than that to drive to the school in traffic and get prepared for an evening of music.

But, the concert was fun and it was great to see "E-dawg" play his cello, he is a second year cello student, and enjoy the attention he received. 

Being his second year with the cello, he was ready for and seemed to revel in the chaos that is an elementary school music presentation. I was excited to see that the cello's, there are three, were situated front and center in the orchestra. Not only could I see him, but during the one piece that contained a cello solo I could even hear him. 

Note: I did not shoot the video, the person who took it forgot that movies need to be taken in the horizontal and not vertical direction. 

I enjoyed the serious look on his face as he strove to create music in a less than perfect environments followed by the smile of achievement when it was over. 

It was a great evening and a great celebration. Good job to all of the young musicians!

-- Bob Doan, Elkridge, MD