Poetry In Motion

First Band Concert

When a student becomes a teacher, there is great satisfaction for the instructor who has inspired the youngster to pursue a particular interest that has driven them through 4 very long years of a private institution in a very particular field.  In this instance, I watched as a Band Director videotaped his former student conduct her very first concert as a Music Educator.  The pride was apparent through the great big smile as he watched his young student interact and prepare this youth band for their very first band concert ever.

Music Student becomes Music Educator

• A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love of learning. (Brad Henry) 

While it is up to the parents of the band students to brag about the concert itself, it gives me great joy to see this young lady, the music teacher, fulfill her dreams.  For she was once the clarinet player in the 6th grade band performing in her very first concert not so long ago.  And it was her 6th grade band teacher who found her that first clarinet.  All through middle school she worked hard to be the very best that she could be through private instruction, faithfully, with a clear goal in mind.  She continued on that same path into High School where she was mentored by a husband and wife music duo who just happened to attend the same music institution as her 6th grade band teacher and his wife.  It is at that very same music school where she would obtain her degree as a Music Educator.

• Music is the movement of sound to reach the soul for the education of its virtue.  (Plato) 

I, as the parent of this beautiful young woman, could not be more proud as I sat in the audience with tears in my eyes witnessing her own personal joy.  This is just one more accomplishment of many more to come.  For she is a very strong-willed individual, and knowing she has come full circle from music student to music educator, is truly a feather in her cap.  This will undoubtedly give her greater strength as she continues on her path to inspire the youth of today with her passionate love of music...just as her own music teachers inspired and encouraged her along the way...including the one who made his way out of town, after a very long day teaching his own students, to witness and videotape his former student in her very first concert as a music teacher herself.

And we all know that music is truly a universal language...