Some people perform better under stress, I seem to self-destruct!
On Sunday we went to a mind blowing concert produced by this over achieving doctor who is a first violinist in my orchestra. She assigned the task to 7 Northwest composers of writing symphony pieces featuring a solo instrument that he/she did NOT play. So, the solo instruments included bagpipes, drums, the didgeri-doo, cembalo, tar, and even a flamenco dancer (that was the piece composed by the doctor herself!) It was really fun. My favorite piece was the bagpipe one. It started with some other sort of Scottish pipes (Uilleann) playing with the symphony a very pastoral sounding piece, and then in the third movement a soloist playing the Scottish bagpipes marched on stage in full regalia with his pipes playing at fortissimo. I started crying at the pure awesomeness of it.
