My First Instrument and Forever
By Andy
When I was a kid in school I played the trombone. I was the best trombone player in the band so I decided to become a trombone player. In high school I was still playing the trombone. In college I took a class for brass instruments. They told me that I needed to buy the instrument that I wanted to play. So I went to a music store. I looked for a trombone. When I found it, it cost $350.
I decided to run errands for my friends for money. One of my friends told me to run into an international store so he could make salsa. On my way there, I passed a pawnshop. In the front of the window was a trombone just like the one in the music store. It cost $150 so I just raised money for the trombone that was in the pawnshop. I worked for two weeks every day. I had $130. I just needed $20. So I ran back to my campus and got the money. Then I ran back to the pawnshop, went in, and gave the money to the owner. I said, “I want that trombone!”
He counted the money then gave me the trombone. Then I said, “What, no case?” He said, “Sold separately.” I asked, “How much?” The owner said, “Thirty dollars.” I said, “I’ll buy it tomorrow.” I went back to campus and when I left college I had a good career. I was a trombone player. I had a lot of money. My first concert was in
My First Concert
By Jose
One day I was walking on the sidewalk. There was a store that sold instruments. There were beautiful clarinets in the window. They were silver and black. It cost $5 dollars. We were poor. I was looking in the trash for onions to go to sell to restaurants. I had numerous onions. But I only sold five. They cost $.25. I have one dollar and twenty-five cents. When I was going to my house, I was tired but happy. The next day I found produce. This time I sold it for three dollars. Now I have four dollars and twenty-five cents. I ran many errands to my house.
My mom was out side on the steps. It looked like she was worried. I sat down with her. She was worried because today was my sister’s birthday and she didn’t have any money. She was broke. She asked me if I could give her a quarter. I gave her a quarter so she could make jambalaya bowls.
The jambalaya was so good that I ate five bowls of jambalaya. The next day I was outside on the steps. My mom came out and sat with me and she asked me if I was saving that quarter for something else. My mom gave me a dollar. That completed my $5 dollars. I went to the pawnshop running as fast as I could. I just threw the money on the counter. I told the man, “I want the clarinet.” I got a gravelly voice from the excitement. And I played. The first try sounded like ppphhh. The next try was a high “C”. The next day there was a concert. I signed in for the concert.
It was my first one. My family and friends were there. I played the song that my mom and dad loved, “Jingle Bells.” The rest were not that good and I won $1,000 dollars. I was so proud of my clarinet and family.
The Day I Was in the Symphony
By Oscar
The day I saw the symphony for the first time I was just sitting watching TV and playing video games at the same time. I changed the channel and saw my friend Javier on TV in a symphony as a conductor with a goofy suit and a goofy tie. He was playing the Nutcracker. He was really cool conducting it.
The next day I was my friend Javier saying to me, “Do you want to be my accompanist for the sonata?” Then I said, “Don’t you need to audition?” He said, “No, because I told them you played a baritone international so they said yes.” Then Javier said, “They also need a man with potential.” They were giving me a full scholarship. But Javier said, “You need to apprentice for the sonata.”
When the day of the symphony was here, I thrived when I saw it was a full house. Then Javier told me immigrants from around the world were here. I was very timid and scared at the same time. But I remembered with my flexibility I will calm down. Then when I got on stage I said, “I devoted my free time for this symphony.” That was the best concert ever.
The First Concert By Myself
By Gisselle
It all started when I was in band and I played the clarinet. My band teacher, Mrs. Hammel, told me that if I had permission to go to the Symphony Hall, I could play a song by myself. The song that she said I was going to play was the song Rite of Passage and I already knew it. She encouraged me a little.
So I was at home and I asked my mom for money to go to the pawnshop to buy some reeds for my clarinet and to go to the market to buy produce for the next day because that was the day of the concert and I want to be healthy. When I bought the reeds, they had numerous kinds to choose from. My mom told me to run errands and buy some eggs.
Last, I woke up and said, “Good thing I didn’t have a gravelly voice.” So we were at the Symphony Hall and Mrs. Hammel asked, “Did you know this is an international concert?” And I said, “Yea!”
Then they called my name to play Rite of Passage. So I was playing and everybody was quiet and I finished playing and everybody clapped. Mrs. Hammel said I did a great job. My friends were giving me balloons that said congratulations and little presents. That was the happiest day of my life.
