Introducing Otto

 This kid couldn't wait to try out an instrument in middle school. After considering his options, he decided to go a route that nobody in the family had taken before. He'd waffled back and forth between brass and woodwind, but upon hearing that his Pap, his Uncle Kelly, and his Uncle Rob had all done the trombone already, this kid decided to play the saxophone. Good luck, buddy- you're on your own. None of us have done anything with instruments requiring reeds, haha!

Here he is, headed into his first public performance, which was aptly named the sixth grade band demonstration.

Incredible kudos to his new-to-our-district teacher for teaching them how to read music, including clefs, rests, all that jazz, assembling their instruments, cleaning said instruments, and how to make recognizable sounds all within the first quarter. There are a lot of jobs I'm glad I don't have, and boy, middle school band teacher ranks right up there. God bless her.

Anyway, I thought the three teachers did a smart thing by dividing the groups of kids up and showcasing what they could do before putting them all together on stage for the songs. I'd imagine some of it was Covid-driven since we couldn't all pile into smaller rooms together, but it was really neat to see where they have class, watch the assemblage of instruments, see the kids interact together musically, and then all return to the auditorium for the rest. 

Here he is on stage, below. I tried to give other kids Snoopy sunglasses as I don't know if their parents are okay with them being featured online. Allow me to introduce Otto, the saxophone in residence at our house. Thankfully, he has enough air or power or control or whatever is required to actually sound musical as opposed to a duck being trod upon. And I was delighted to confirm that the last song of the concert was indeed recognizably the band classic, "Hot Cross Buns."