Vanessa has had a wonderful start to 6th grade band. She was chosen to play in a holiday ensemble and travel to different elementary schools to perform. She learned 5 or 6 new songs in 3 weeks and did an amazing job with it all. She's already been told she'll probably need to plan for a spring ensemble too. :-) She was also awarded a scholarship to work with an instructor for extra challenges. As I told her band director, we are just thrilled to see this side of Vanessa blossom in a way we couldn't have predicted, and I so appreciate Mrs. Brocke insightfulness and encouragement along the way!
Vanessa loved doing the bass drum for at least one song. If she had it her way, she would have chosen bass drum for every song, but her ability with the bells and the snare drum resulted in her playing those for most of the songs. She had a snare drum and bells solos and was quite nervous about those, especially with the snare cause it can be so loud, but she didn't miss a beat.
It's diff'rent strokes than what we would have thought for her, but everybody finds a way to shine, and she's finding hers basically all on her own. I'm glad I'm alongside to watch her move her world. :-)
*Sorry for blurriness but these are screenshots from the live feed the instructors shared -- how awesome we watch from the comfort of our own home!
