Three M's & One N: Nolan's Solo and Ensemble Contest

As a seventh grader, Nolan had the opportunity to participate in his first Solo and Ensemble Competition for orchestra this year. Two months ago, an eighth grader asked him if he would be their cello player, which is quite the honor, so he agreed. He has been working on his piece since December and he was finally able to perform with his group this past Saturday. The competition was hosted by Northwood High school and Nolan's ensemble group was slated to perform at 11:45.

Nolan and I arrived a little earlier than their recommended meeting time so Nolan found a seat on one side of the gym so that he could begin tuning and wait for his classmates. The cold weather is especially hard on instruments and so he was struggling to get his cello to stay in tune. One of the tuning pins kept coming loose and Nolan finally looked at me and said that he didn't know how to fix it and if he couldn't find the orchestra director, he may not be able to play. He was already nervous about performing and this was not helping. I tried to just sit quietly with him while we both looked for someone that he knew and finally he looked up and saw a couple of his classmates so we walked to the other side of the gym and joined them. One of the older high school players was walking around and helping the middle school kids tune and she was able to work with Nolan's cello until it was almost ready to go. Just as she was finishing up, Mr Spradling arrived and he helped to fine-tune it. Nolan was very relieved and we were definitely both thankful for their help. Now the group was able to run through their song a couple of times together and then relax for a few minutes before it was time to head to the competition room.

I remember my days in middle school and high school and the nerves that I felt while you stand outside of a competition room and wait your turn. These boys were definitely feeling it!!

When it was their turn, we were all able to file in behind them and to watch them perform. Their orchestra director was making his rounds from room to room and he made it just before they were called in. The judge introduced himself and tried to make them feel more relaxed and then they played their piece. I couldn't see Nolan during their performance... just his feet and the bottom of his cello... but I could hear him and he did a really nice job.

After they were finished, they returned to the hallway and waited for a couple of minutes while the judge finished his notes and then sent out the results. You should have seen their faces when they received their judges card and Nolan turned it over to reveal that they had received a gold rating!!