On Friday, June 11th, our eldest had her first ever Trinity Guildhall piano exam. The exam was offered through Trinity College London. Her examiner, Mr. Mark Eager, was in Gaborone for three days conducting exams. Mr. Eager was a fascinating and wonderful gentleman to meet and speak with. He is also the conductor of the Welsh Sinfonia (Please go to his website and learn a bit about him.)Our daughter first learned of this exam in January, and began practicing immediately. She has practiced many, many, many hours these past several months, and has persevered - which is difficult when you keep practicing the same pieces over and over and over......
The exam was nothing at all like any piano exam she has ever taken in the US. The exam required playing various scales, arpeggios, exercises, theory work, aural testing as well as having prepared three (3) different pieces to be graded on (from a total of 9 possible pieces).
The three pieces she chose to play and be graded on were:
"Menuet" by Johann Philipp Kirnberger; "Old French Song" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and "The Piebald Circus Pony" by Felix Swinstead.
This was taken outside the exam room. Signs were posted on the doors and the area was roped off to encourage others to "Be Quiet - Examination in Progress".
After the exam was over our daughter said, "That wasn't so bad. I think I might take the exam again next year."
R has been blessed with the ability to play the piano. And, she has a wonderful piano teacher here in Gaborone. This teacher has really challenged our daughter and helped her achieve more than she thought possible.
To top off this wonderful experience, today we found out R scored 93 points out of 100 total! She was awarded the level "Distinction". We were told this level isn't frequently attained. It wasn't attained easily, that's for sure. Much practice and work - done willingly (most days) to do her best. Her official certificate to commemorate this achievement will arrive some time in the near future. Yes, we will indeed have that professionally framed. Yes, I'll post it on the blog!
Now that the exam is over - what will R do in her 'spare' time? Enjoy being a kid!
