Finally! It's over! :D

So, for the past month, I've been stressing out about presenting my first student showcase recital. As many of you know, I teach viola, violin, cello, and piano at a private performing arts school. Because we are the premiere arts school in the area, there are certain aspects that put us a cut above the rest. One of those things is showcase recitals. We are required, by signed contract, to put together a showcase of our students and present them to the public. Since the quality of the recital is something that can affect your future pay scale (as well as be a vehicle for getting fired), it was extremely important for me to show the school my worth as both a teacher and performer. And as the "new kid on the block", I had to prove myself to the other faculty as well.

I've spent the last couple of months preparing my students for this recital. From picking out repertoire to teaching them recital etiquette to polishing their pieces and so on. It's important to have your students play well because they are representing you as a teacher as well as your effectiveness as a teacher. So, needless to say, I've been very stressed out.

Well, the recital was this past Saturday, and I have to admit it's all a blur to me now. I messed up on my intro speech, the kids forgot when to leave their seat to come perform next so I had to ask the manager to help me micro-manage them, and in my performance, there was a huge page-turning blunder... BUT it all went well and reasonably smoothly! I got complimented many times on my performance, as well as my students' performances. The dean of the school was very pleased at the professional quality that my recital had. She specifically noted how nice it was to sit there and just see students do everything like clockwork without prompting. So, I hope this reflects well on my record, and now, I'm sure I'm not going to get fired! ;)

Now to start thinking about my next recital in December! :P

P.S. After the recital, I enjoyed a wonderful sushi dinner and then got really, really buzzed. Talk about stress relief hehehe :P