Blog Post #4: The Show Must Go On

This week I had the experience of battling through a sickness on a timeline. I heard once that you have a million problems until you get sick, and then you only have one. And I believe it. Tuesday I was in bed totally out of commission, and the problem at hand was that I needed to be back on my feet (piano bench) by Friday to play for my friend’s elective violin recital. Her program was entirely Mahler. Tuesday I laid on my bed feeling only slightly sorry for myself and watching a show I’ve been into recently. It’s a Chinese drama about two modern day high school students who (surprise!) become desk mates and fall in love. Classic enemies-to-lovers new girl in town storyline. It’s not often that I let myself sit down and watch a show, I’ve been getting through about one episode every weekend. Watching shows is a special event for me, full of warm feelings that I tell myself helped me recover faster. 

I made it to Thursday without practicing piano, until the inevitable truth of Friday’s recital was too large to ignore. When I’m playing by myself, it doesn’t matter so much if I make a mistake because I’m the only one performing. But if I’m accompanying someone else, the stakes are higher for me. The pianist serves as a backbone. If the pianist loses it, pray everyone else won’t fall apart as well. Despite the stakes, collaborating with other musicians is one of my favorite ways to spend time on this earth. Friday afternoon found me practicing the hours away, polishing my parts for the recital. When the recital time arrived, I walked into the performance hall, mask on, still slightly sick, hands washed, and ready to go. When I’m performing, time passes in a blur. Mahler’s Five Songs for Voice and Piano (arranged for violin) whizzed by. I didn’t play perfectly, but I kept going. Mahler’s Piano Quartet in a minor was a whirl of bright stage lights reflecting off the piano and the gold logo of the Kawaii piano. Finally, Mahler’s Adagietto closed out the night and we were done. Bows, photos, congratulatory words from friends and family. I’d made it through, and finally I could rest easy. I can’t wait for the next time I have a performance like that, minus the sickness. But hey, the show must go on.