Okay. Okay. Okay. *tries to calm down*
Jestar's already heard this story, so he knows why I'm so excited.
Let's start from the beginning.
One of my mom's dance classes went to perform the ribbon dance at the Long Center for some Asian American Cultural thing. So my friend Care (her sister danced) and I were just roaming around backstage while they were rehearsing. I realized that I absolutely LOVE everything backstage, especially when I'm running around barefoot, which I don't think I was supposed to do. But I did anyway. I just really like the feel of being BEHIND something that most people think they're a part of by just going and watching. I loved everything about it, seeing the stage empty, being the only one on it, being alone backstage, just... everything! This has got to be at least some part of my future.
So Care and I wandered down the stairs to the dressing room, all the while pretending to be secret agents. The setting was PERFECT, the perfect stairs, the perfect echoes, the perfect setting. After a couple of minutes in the dressing room the rest of the group came it and started to get ready. While they were doing that, I played Angry Birds for the first time on Care's phone.
Then we went back up for their performance. Backstage, I saw this guy name Charles Yang who plays the violin and is really famous (he goes to Juliard, America's most well known music school). I met him before at a violin shop, and he tested out my violin for me. Anyway, I saw him and didn't say anything cause he probably wouldn't have remembered me.
So Care and I watched the different performances from backstage. It featured this singing group from Mongolia who had really wierd mandolin/cello instruments. Let's just say... some of them shouldn't have been singing. Maybe their voices are considered good back in Mongolia, but... Two of them had really scratchy, ugly voices that... I don't know, no one could hold a straight face.
And I liked how after they came off, they were just... well, it just reminded me of how these people were actually people.
Like when Charles, great and famous, came off, he just kept his cool and was a person. Somehow it surprised me.
Our dancers did really well. After they performed we went downstairs again to get our stuff, then headed back up to watch.
We saw more of the Mongolian music (it was the closest to rock you could get from classical music) and the other Chinese dance group from Austin. That... That... No competition. When they were done we just sat there, raising our eyebrows. That was it? What's the point?
Then Charles (who, by the way, was dressed in black jeans, a black t-shirt, and a suit jacket, a little casual unless you don't notice it) came back onstage with the Mongolians and they played America the Beautiful. I'm guessing the Mongolians saw it differently, so it changed to a swing-typed style. It sounded really good.
After the performance we (as in the dance group) took a picture with Charles.
He said, "Yeah, Asians! Let's all say 'ASIANS!!'"
"ASIANS!!!!!"
*people staring at us as if we're crazy, then they recognize Charles and leave us alone to do as we like*
My mom wanted another picture, so she said, "Now say 'Charles!'"
Um... no. NO.
So Charles said, "CHARLES IS ASIAN!!!!!!!!!"
Then my mom reminded him that we met him at the violin shop, and he said, "Oh, yeah! Did you get that violin?"
And I say, "Yeah."
"Cool. Hey, want to play mine?"
"Uh..."
"Come on. Here." And he holds his violin out for me. And get this- this is no ordinary violin. This is a $200,000 violin, yep, two hundred THOUSAND bucks.
"Uh... you sure?"
"Yeah. Here. Just play something. Play a scale. Go, scales!" And he hands me this violin!
"Whoa... okay." I play a scale, and this thing. Is. AMAZING. I mean, it has the perfect, round tone with, still, a strong feel. I just thought the bow was a little to flexible, for my tastes. And his shoulder's different from mine (obviously) so his shoulder rest (which was actually three skinny red sponges tied to the violin with a rubber band) was a little off and too much in the middle. But after the scale I LOVED the thing.
"Play some more. Play a piece."
So I start of with Concerto IV, de Beriot. And this thing, once again, is ABSOLUTELY EPIC. It's the best violin I've played, no doubt.
I'm just standing there, playing Charles Yang's two hundred thousand dollar violin on the stage of the Long Center. Once in a lifetime opportunity. I mean... do you know how big this is? No, you don't. Okay, then I'll just tell you, this is a BIG DEAL. I can't even believe he let me do that!
I think a little crowd formed behind me, but I don't know, cause I was facing the back. And the thing was, I wasn't even nervous. He even joked that I would be his carry-on back to Juliard and he said, "Hey, someday we'll have to play together." I played the first two pages of the song from memory, but my mom made me stop.
Truth is, I didn't really want to hand the violin back, but it was his, so... yeah.
That was amazing.
I'll never forget that, never in my life.
