The Heart of the College

Last Tuesday night was a delightful evening of music with the Primary musicians. During the evening, Di Schmidt, our amazing Primary music teacher gave the below speech. It beautifully sums up the heart of the College in seeing our students thrive. I trust you will enjoy reading her speech.

Paul Valese

A Night With the Primary Musicians

Well, we have almost come to the end of another night. The Primary Musicians have done well, very well in fact. I always enjoy these nights. The nights where our music students come together to share their work with you, to share it with each other and to celebrate the gifts given to them by their Creator ….and they praise Him in this process.

When the flower flowers it praises its Creator, when the tree stands strong and tall it praises its Creator, when the rock sits in the dirt it praises its Creator. How can a dirty rock praise you ask? Well, God made it to be a rock, He made it to sit in the dirt, He made it to hold the soil together, He made it to be a firm foundation and when the rock does what it was made to do – it praises its Creator. The same is true for our students. These students have been made by God to be musicians and when they “musician”, they praise their creator.

Music has been given to these students, it has been pressed into their hearts and minds and it makes them them.  So, its all of our jobs – yours as parents and ours as music teachers – to help them see how God created them, to help them understand they are known by Him, they are valued by Him, they matter, their music matters, and their skills in music will and do contribute to life and community. We want to give them every opportunity to grow and thrive and be the best musicians they can be, because in doing so – they praise their Creator and there is no greater joy.

At this beginning stage in their music careers, however, we all have to hold fast, we have to stand firm and NEVER GIVE UP because music takes sacrifice. Technology has to be put aside and hours of practise need to build up over the years and Mums and Dads I urge you to make this a reality for the musicians in your family. They need you to take charge of this for them. They will thank you in the years to come. I have never heard an adult musician say “I wish I quit”. Adults are always remorseful that they did quit. So Mums and Dads when there is tension and fights over practising – stand firm. When there is fear and anxiety about performances – stand firm. When you are frustrated about hearing  Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for the  7,000 time, be like the tree stand tall, stand strong and stand firm. Don’t give up on these little tunes or your budding musicians because the sonatas, concertos and symphonies are only a few short years away.

The musician in your family belongs at Mueller. They are valued and they matter to us, we want to help grow them into the musician that God has created them to be because when musicians “musician” they praise their Creator.

Di Schmidt