string stravaganza

chanda had her end of year repertory concert today with third street school. all the string students (except for guitar, morgana would say) perform a play down of a few of the key songs they learn each year.

the littlest ones are always adorably entertaining to watch!


the teenagers always look so bored waiting for their turn!

chanda stands on the highest platform now.

her class played sonata in d major for two violins by j. m. leclair.

chanda's violin teacher's little girl is now playing in these concerts. she's very poised and confident, and lovely to watch.

chanda and i loved her dress and pigtails!

clara and her dad, jose.

chanda and her dad . .

saturday morning string stravaganza

this morning chanda and i were out of the apartment by 8:45 as she had a string stravaganza at third street music school.

handel's theme and variations in g major.

the twinkle theme . .

afterwards, she read the fellowship of the ring while waiting for me to finish talking with other parents.

the spring string stravaganza

chanda was at third street this morning at 9:30 am for the spring string stravaganza. it was especially poignant for me today as this was her last one. she's graduating out of it. next year she moves into the advanced orchestra prep class and no longer has a repertory class.

she's been participating in these string stravaganzas for seven years. she started out as one of the little twinklers in the first row, and advanced row by row to the one by the wall.

her class played a piece called "dueto #2" by micky aponte. (chanda is standing to her teacher's right.)

the performance ended with all the musicians playing the beginner twinkle variations and the song "twinkle, twinkle little star."

i managed to quietly sniffle my way through the entire performance.

chanda and her teacher, jose, who has just been so wonderful through these seven years . . 

 chanda and jose in . . 2005! it was his first year at third street, and she was his first pupil.


chanda the twinkler in 2005 . . 


can you see her in this picture . . right in the center?

string stravaganza

chanda was up at 7 am getting ready for third street's string stravaganza. the usual de rigueur for this event is black and white, with a splash of red.

the string stravaganza is held twice a year, in january and june, at st. mark's church in the bowery, new york city's second oldest church. it's beautiful inside, and i always love being here for the string stravaganzas.

when chanda first started performing in these events, korrina always had a saturday morning dance class and couldn't attend. today i asked if she would come along, since morgana and greg were on their way to sturbridge (my usual companions) and her dance class is now friday evenings.

usually chanda is hidden by fellow students. today she was hidden by a music stand.

hmmmm, maybe she should look just a tad more interested in what her fellow students are playing?

six years ago chanda was this little and stood in the twinkler line. they are just too cute!

third street has been a wonderful musical community for us, and i always find the string stravaganzas very moving. i can't believe that chanda has progressed to that last row on the stage. it means she will soon begin classes for the philharmonia prep orchestra, and will no longer be a part of the stravaganzas. her final stravaganza will be in june. we will still have friends playing here, though. olivia is the very tall young lady all the way in the back to the left with her curly red hair tied up in a high pony tail. her teacher this year had them play mozart's "tabletop duet." i have a short excerpt of it on a movie. korrina took the time before the concert started to show me how to use my movie camera. however, i have (so far) been unsuccessful at uploading it onto the blog. how beneficial it would be if i read some instruction booklets! well, something to look forward to.

afterwards, chanda went to sinfonia orchestra practice and korrina joined me to listen after we picked up coffee from the open pantry on second avenue, one of my favorite mom and pop coffee/deli stores.

string stravaganza

string stravaganza, orchestra concert and mark o'connor!

chanda had a string stravaganza today with her music school. it was a special concert in that the students presented violinist and fiddler mark o'connor's new music program, which has just been published. above, the cellists are rehearsing.

our friend zoe is the cellist i'm trying to film, just to the right of the little girl in the red and white striped dress. (morgana plays this on the guitar . . in my life . . it's one of my favorite songs.)

during the concert i was rather amused with the parents' and their cell phone cameras . . and me with my camera. i'm sure i looked much the same!

i could have taken ten more pictures like this, but i restrained myself.

chanda is in the white shirt and red headband, just to the left of little maya in her red sweater with a white headband.

this is a traditional piece they're playing, called el rancho grande.

fiddler mark o'connor . .



who is amazing!! you can view jim watkins' full piece that aired on channel 11 here.

chanda and i had two hours before she needed to be at the school for her orchestra concert. we ate our fried egg sandwiches, that greg had made for us before we left in the morning, upstairs on the third floor. then we walked a block to veniero's italian cafe.

chanda had a lobster tail (she always has a lobster tail) and i had a miniature cannoli.

(mom, will you please stop taking pictures . . )

preparing for the concert . .

the stands are so tall, you can hardly see the performers . . or the performers are so short . . .

i tend to sit in the back . . chanda is the short one in the center of the photo, with the red headband.

this piece is called noble dance, and was composed by sean o'loughlin.

string stravaganza spring 2010

this morning was third street music school's string stravaganza. it's always a moving experience for me. my little movie is not the best! i was in the third row and had quite a few heads in front of me, but i did have a good view of c. she often gets lost in the crowd when everyone stands up, but she was on the end today, and very visible.