About six weeks ago, Emily started taking voice lessons. She has - to us - a very nice voice, but she is terrified of singing in front of people. She loves to sing in the shower and she loves to be part of her school chorus but no matter how hard her chorus director tries, Emily refuses to sing solos in the concerts. We asked her if she wanted to try voice lessons, as she will need to at least audition to make the better singing groups in high school - she agreed. She is working with a woman at the University of Hartford and we learned a few weeks ago that she has regular recitals for her singers. I told her teacher that it was her decision as to whether Emily could perform, I simply couldn't make that type of determination and if left up to Emily, the answer would certainly be no. Dr. Fiertek said that it would be good for Emily to get "the first" out of the way and that she was ready.
The recital was Saturday night and Emily was scheduled to go third in the program. She had a disastrous run through with the pianist for the dress rehearsal so she was even more nervous. When it was time for her to go, she completely panicked and said we had to leave - that she couldn't do it. Together, Dr. Fiertek and I convinced her that she could and I walked her to the stage - the pianist suggested that she stand next to her, rather than face the audience. And then she sang. The whole song. Without a single mistake or even an ounce of trepidation in her voice. She was very embarrassed afterwards for "causing a scene" although our convincing was all done at below a whisper so no one really knew what was going on. Plus, performing in front of other musicians is comforting, as they all know what it's like to be afraid. I won't say that she's looking forward to her next performance, but now she knows that she can do it.
Before....
After.....(there is no video, at Emily's request. We were all too busy hyperventilating and/or crying to take a video anyway.)
