When You Wish Upon a Star

Van got a new piano book for Christmas - "Easy" Disney Songs.  His teacher, Mrs King, thought When You Wish Upon a Star would be a great number for Van to play for the Spring Recital in April.  We had lots of time to work on it... which was good.  This was a challenge for Van.  He's very good at his piano practice, but this had some new notes, dynamics and was just a little more complex than anything he'd done before.

It took a LOT of practice and commitment!  He got up there, did an amazing job on his duet with Mrs King (Ode to Joy, another challenging piece for him), and went into his solo piece, the Disney song, and nailed it!!  He worked on building that piece from January to April, and even at home the night before the recital he was still stumbling a little bit.  But, just as his teacher predicted, he got up in front of all the parents and family and friends and didn't miss a note or stumble at all.

I can't tell you how proud I am of him.  Not just for nailing the piece during recital, but for never giving up.  It was hard - there was whining and lots of tears of frustration (from him and me) between January and April.  He was committed and persevered.  Mrs King was a saint through it all, too - so encouraging, never disappointed with his progress.

He still likes to belt that number out for fun every now and then... and I love hearing it more than he'll ever know.

Mrs King and Van, Spring Recital 17