Musical

Courtney has from an early age had more of an appreciation or gift towards anything musical. Maybe her abilities are something she gets from me, as I played in orchestra from 4th-12th grade and played violin and viola. She has always loved singing, performing, and dancing. She is easily the best dancer in the family, and for the past year, she has been involved in the music program at her elementary school.

Here in middle Tennessee, its different than in Clovis Unified where I attended. Music classes with instruments aren't offered until middle school. Back in the day when I was in school, we were able to play starting in the 4th grade. So that stinks a bit, but its what it is :) So what they do at Courtney's school is something called Orffestra. No that's not a typo, its from composer Carl Orff, which devised a way to help younger children develop musical ears and have a positive musical experience. They use a lot of percussion instruments and recorders to perform these songs.

Courtney has been playing her recorder since the 3rd grade and has been in Orffestra since last year. Its an honor to be in this group because the music teacher selects the students by invitation only. Courtney practices after school with the group and works at home on her parts.

This past month, she has had two performances. The first, she played a big drum for families and kindergartner's at their Open House and then she played her recorder for the 1st grade play for Thanksgiving. Courtney did a great job at each performance and we are looking forward to more!