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Personal Narrative: The Nashville Youth Symphony Program

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The Albuquerque Youth Symphony Program holds a concerto competition in May every year. Only high school juniors in the top orchestra within the program (there are 3 groups varying in ability level) are allowed to participate. Two winners are selected who get to play their concerto’s with full accompaniment from the symphony. People who participate in the competition start preparing music a year in advance because it’s so competitive. I got into the program as a freshman and the challenge of orchestra music prompted me to start taking violin more seriously. As soon as I learned about the concerto competition I wanted nothing more than to win that competition. From freshman till junior year It was my dream to win that competition. The summer…show more content…
Months later when the competition finally came and all my stress and hyper fixation came to a peak; it was the other violinist who won. That day was devastating for me. The feeling of building something up to that degree and then losing is something I will never forget. What’s worse is I had no excuses. I knew the piece so well it felt like I’d known the melody all my life. I had practiced every section endlessly but that wasn't enough. My performance that day wasn't the best I’d ever played that piece but I hadn't made any major mistakes. My sound wasn't perfectly clear yet it wasn't awful, but to win that competition It needed to be perfect. The people who beat me, especially the violinist, had incredible technique. When she played she sounded nearly professional. I could put all my time and emotion into learning a piece, but without solid technique to back it up, that effort was rendered pointless. But that utter disappointment in myself and the frustration with my decisions dramatically changed the way I think about myself. In the weeks and months following I discovered the type of person that I want to
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