From My Seat on the Piano Bench...

...I couldn't see Josiah's face as he performed in the Suzuki concert yesterday afternoon.  But that was only a minor issue, easily compensated for by Jeff's use of the camera to snap a picture of Josiah's serious performance face...

...and to take a video of Josiah playing one of his pieces, Minuet 2 by Bach.  

Josiah has no trouble focusing and being serious and concentrating intently on the task at hand.  Flighty?  Not that boy!  :)  Even when he forgets to do the repeat of the first section and mistakenly begins the second one (around the 24 second mark in the video), he doesn't get rattled but calmly waits until he can join the group again.  I'm so, so proud of him.

From my seat on the piano bench, I enjoyed so many advantages.  I could...

~ watch Sharon and Maria's faces as they led the group in the Bach Double,

~ hear the advanced players up close and personal and really marvel at how talented they are,

~ look out at the audience and see the proud expressions on parents' faces,

~ feel the energy on the stage, especially as it began to be more and more crowded with students,

~ watch Megan's smile as she guided the youngest violinists to their places and helped them get their instruments and bows positioned just right,

~ and, best of all, I could savor the pleasure of being part of a wonderful music-making occasion, knowing that the notes I was playing were contributing to the beauty of the whole (well, most of the time...except for the times when I made mistakes!).

What a wonderful feeling!  What a lovely concert!  What an incredible opportunity Josiah has to participate in two outstanding musical groups in our area: the SVCC and the Suzuki program!  What a gift!

I do believe that, even though my bench was hard and even though I could barely see Josiah through the crowd of violinists (and when I could see him, it was only the back of his head), I truly had the best seat in the house.  :)