UVYSO Fall Concert

In the fall, Lincoln tried out for and made the Utah Valley Youth Symphony Orchestra. I'm pretty excited about it because it gives him the opportunity to play with a group, something that a homeschooled student only taking private lessons doesn't come by naturally. A friend of mine recommended UVYSO, she and her kids had played with them previously. I contacted the person in charge of tryouts, and he never got back to me. Then I had Oslo and things sort of got crazy, the try outs were that week and he hadn't prepared anything. Also it was $400 to play with the symphony and money is always tight. And Aaron had just made it very clear to me that he wanted to keep Saturdays open, he was tired of being busy. So I figured maybe we'd just have to figure things out next year. But I kept feeling like it would be such a good opportunity for Lincoln. And I kept thinking that the point of playing an instrument like the trombone was not to be a soloist. So I prayed about it. I told Heavenly Father how things had gotten crazy trying to juggle everything and a new baby, I told him how we'd been trying to simplify and save money, and I also told him my concerns that if Linc didn't get to play with a group he might not be able to get all the benefits out of playing the trombone and that it would be time and talent and money wasted. And I asked Him to make it really obvious if having Lincoln try out was the right thing to do, if it was important for Lincoln. Over the course of the next few days, UVYSO was everywhere. Suddenly the director was texting me and emailing me to remind me of tryouts. It would pop up on my facebook feed. I kept seeing how the tryout days stood out empty on our calendar, and knowing that nothing was coming up to stand in the way of trying out. So I finally sat down and talked to Aaron about it. I told him about my prayer. And I asked what he thought we should do. Aaron agreed to let him try out. He said we could probably come up with the money if we ended up needing to, and that he wouldn't complain about rehearsals on Saturdays. So Lincoln tried out, and he made it! I was so proud of him. And it's been such a great experience for him every since. He's made some good friends. He's grown a lot as a musician. The orchestra has gone on retreats, and they have service projects and fund raisers planned for the future. Tonight was their first concert of the season. Linc had to wear a bowtie and a cummerbund. He looked so handsome and grown up. They played at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo and charged $11 a ticket. I hope he's making memories that will be positive for him for the rest of his life. I hope he plays in many many more concerts, and I hope I get to be there to see every one of them. I think being a part of something bigger than yourself is such an important experience for kids to have.