Concert · Tuesday April 3, 2007 by Lily
Rupert played today with the South Cheshire Youth Sinfonia in the “Youth Presents Music” Rotary Club competition at the Royal Northern College of Music.
We set off at 12.30, having booked seats for ourselves as well as ds on the coach. On arrival, dh and I went to spend the afternoon in Manchester and the Sinfonia sorted themselves out and prepared for a masterclass after lunch. At 7.00pm, the concert started. There were 5 groups playing and the standard was extremely high. We didn’t, as ever, get placed but received a highly commended award and certificates for everyone in the group. They had lovely feedback and appreciation from the adjudicator, and indeed the group played at its best. I wouldn’t have liked to adjudicate, they were all so different. It is always difficult for our group that has younger string players as well as older, to compete against school jazz bands etc, but it’s highly enjoyable and is such a wonderful opportunity to play in a major concert hall.
R is a quiet and reticent but happy member of the group, he has gained so much confidence playing with them and made some nice friends.
The RNCM is familiar territory for us as our dd was a member of the Saturday Junior School.
Dh and I were discussing how R has a better social life than we/our other 2 children had at school, and indeed the freedom from peer pressure, bullying and friendship battles as well as freedom from what we feel he would have experienced….lack of self esteem, underachievment, distress with sensory overload, etc have made him the quietly self assured young man he is today. Gone are the days when he was deeply miserable and disinterested in anything but flopping in front of the TV.
