Piano

Tonight was Brianna's Piano Recital and she did a beautiful job. She played with expression and her young hands were so strong as she played each note. It was a real treat to watch.

This was the first year that Kelsea did not perform and I must admit it was sad for me! She is such an amazing pianist, but a couple months ago she decided to quit taking lessons. She does not want to be a competitive pianist anymore even though it comes so natural to her. The amount of hours that go into practicing take away from other areas of her life and she does not want that anymore. She went back and forth on her decision for quite awhile, but when it was apparent that the fire was not there anymore, we decided to take her out.

She was SO sad to leave her teacher, Janae Williams!!! She loves Janae and really did not want to let her down. As part our agreement to take her out of lessons, Kelsea committed to still continue practicing the piano every day for at least 20 minutes. The difference is that she can play whatever she wants. As a result of this, we don't argue about piano anymore, she has discovered that she loves playing Jon Schmidt and William Joseph pieces and she loves to write her own music. She seems so much happier now so I feel like it was worth it to let her quit. It was hard to see all those amazing pianists, though, tonight, because I knew Kelsea would be right up there with the best of them, but I really want her to love the piano and if quitting piano lessons is what will do that, then I think we made the right choice.