As soon as we arrived (and before we checked into the hotel), Mark wanted to head to Briarwood Mall. He loves that mall, and always wants to visit it when in the area. We actually got a lot done: we replaced Hannah's watch battery at the fossil store, bought six new lip glosses and one salve (I'll leave it up to your imagination which were for me, and which one was for Mark), and ordered Batman Converse for Mark at Journeys.
Too, we were able to drop off Johannah's new viola at Shar Music company. We had bought it from them six months ago, and it had a tuning problem. I was nervous, taking it there, wondering what they would find, but they had it all fixed up in minutes. Yay!
(As a side note, the president of Shar is Haig Avsharian. He went to high school with me, and in fact, we were in the same English class in 11th grade. His father (who is a skilled violinist and who went to Curtis) heard me play the organ with the high school orchestra in 10th grade (it's the work by Albinoni for anyone who cares). He liked my playing so much that he hired me to babysit Haig's younger siblings. The best part was always the car rides to and from my house when Mr. Avsharian would ask me what I was doing with my music. )
We then headed to the hotel and called John's mom, Kathy, to see if she wanted to go to dinner with us. We had the most delightful time eating good food at Olive Garden and talking to her about all of Mark's grand adventures and asking her what she thought about the Grammys. I think she has a secret crush on Eminem!
At 8:00 p.m., we just made it to a faculty recital at U of M. I can't tell you what a "blast from the past" it was to be in that recital hall again. I watched many a concert there when I was a high school student, and the hall hasn't changed a bit! It's still intimate and beautiful.
I am firmly convinced that there is absolutely no way to express the joy music brings to the heart in words. No matter of nouns and verbs would adequately describe what we heard that night. It was truly unbelievable. A huge variety of selections and really just total perfection. What a talented group of faculty members. Mark and I both could have listened for several more hours (even though the concert was 2 1/2 hours long). Mark saw one of his closest friends from Interlochen (and walked right past Adam Unsworth without saying a word!)
It's really no wonder why Mark is constantly tired lately, is it?
Speaking of Mr. Unsworth, wow. Can I say it again? Wow. He was one of the performers (yes, I snuck a photo before he began playing), and we couldn't take our eyes off of him.
We found parking, got Mark registered, and headed to the practice rooms. Again, a trip down memory lane. The last two years of high school, I had lessons in those practice rooms. Mark was grateful (I think) that I knew where everything was because it's a big building. I could tell Mark was feeling pretty relaxed when he had me take the following video:
Then, "for the blog" as Mark puts it, he took a photo of me in a standard position during all of this. In a cramped corner of a practice room, giving him support when he asks for it, but otherwise, holding all of his crap...I mean papers...while he practices. I'm usually checking my email on my phone, or playing Boggle, or reading the paper that I took from the hotel. I told Mark that it looked like I was asleep, but really I'm like a duck on the water. Calm and collected on the surface of the water, but underwater my feet are churning.
Mark likes to put some time between his initial warm-up and the warm-up before he auditions, so we headed to the information session. The woman was talking about applying to the school, and I thought, "Really?" It seems to me that everybody there who is auditioning is probably pretty set in finishing their application since it must be done before an audition is even granted. Oh well.
Next we headed up to the studio. As we came out into the long hallway that leads to Adam Unsworth's studio, we were hit with an overwhelming feeling: STRESS! Seriously, there were kids lining the hallway with parents also there, and it seemed like at anytime, one of them could hurl, collapse or give up. As is customary with instrumentalists, everybody was checking out Mark's horn case, figuring out what instrument he played. We just joked down the hallway, trying to lighten the mood. When we finally got to the end of it, Mark handed me his horn while he got something out of his case.
Seriously?
I'm not a brass player, and I always worry that I will break that darn horn. Mark, again, wanted to record me "for the blog". We were laughing the whole time, and I was glad to see some of the kids laugh. What in the world were their parents doing, if not helping them stay relaxed? I don't know.
 |
| Notice that I'm still holding all of the "papers" |
The audition went really, really well. I could tell that Mr. Unsworth was happy to see Mark again. When he came out, he actually told me that Mark played "beautifully" and I knew things were looking up!
I try not to be a helicopter, and I didn't want to ask "How'd it go?" even though I did want to ask "How'd' it go?" I waited until we got in the stairwell, and Mark piped up with the run down.
The audition didn't go perfect, but it never does (and I say that from my own experience). Mark is learning to look at his auditions from the perspective of fulfilling goals, not playing every note perfectly, but it's still hard for him to let go of the perfection idea.
After telling me that he missed a few notes, he told me that Mr. Unsworth had told him that he would match any money that Northwestern offered Mark.
What??
Yes, Mr. Unsworth wants Mark so badly that if the scholarship offer isn't enough to "make" us choose Michigan, he will give us more. In fact, he told Mark that he hasn't lost a horn player that he has wanted in the four years that he has been teaching there.
WOOT!
I just don't think it gets any better than that, eh? The official offer will come through in four weeks, and honestly, we can hardly wait.
What a fantastic two days. I must admit that Ann Arbor just feels like the right fit for Mark. I could so see him attending the University of Michigan and being very happy there. The one and only thing that Mark could think of on the way out of the music building (in its very parking lot, in fact)?
We made one quick stop at the M Den downtown for one final souvenir for Mark,
and our trip to Ann Arbor wouldn't have been complete without a stop at Great Harvest Bread Company. 2 loaves of Farmhouse White, 2 loaves of Chocolate Cherry Bomb, 1 loaf of Cinnamon Crunch, and 1 loaf of Raspberry Cream Cheese Swirl. As Mark said, if Armageddon happened while driving home, we would be set!
Right before the turnpike, I spotted my very favorite eatery in the world...
Right before the turnpike, I spotted my very favorite eatery in the world...
Mark saw the craziest sight, driving out of Maumee, Ohio...
and it was back to work, practicing for PMEA Regional Chorus....
When we got home, Mark's official acceptance to the University of Michigan (College of Literature, Arts and the Sciences) was on the counter. I just love the envelope--no guesswork, no stress:
For the past two days, here's Mark's spiel:
Hey Mommy, guess what?
What Mark?
I'm one of the leaders and best. :-)
Now just four weeks to hear from the School of Music! I'm thinking it will be good news. Good job, Markie-Boy!
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