A Musical Mayhem

23 - Arielle

"Let's go on my laptop," Bree said as soon as we stepped into her room. She had invited me over to her house after school, and I was excited to see the Phoenix Piano Quintet audition video. We had filmed it today, and even though we had recorded several takes of the piece, in the end, we had all decided that the first take was the best one. So, here we were, getting ready to edit the video and submit it. Oof, it all sounded so scary. Clicking the "Chamber Group Video Submissions" button would contribute largely to the final decision of whether the five of us would end up going to Paris together and having the best summer of our lives. It was almost too much to handle.

"Okay, so, I'll just cut off the end when I get up to stop the recording," Bree was saying. "And then we can pretty much submit it."

I sighed. "I can't believe this is really it." I wanted this opportunity to participate in the summer camp more than ever, and I couldn't believe that the audition process was really happening.

"I can't believe it, either," Bree said, her eyes focused on the screen of her laptop, typing and clicking away. "There, I've cut off the part. I'm submitting it now."

We both looked at each, smiled weakly, and took a deep breath. Bree looked back toward the screen and plugged in all of the other background information we would need in order to submit the video. She attached the Phoenix Piano Quintet video, and looked at me one more time. 

"Here goes nothing," she said. She clicked on the "Submit" button. I could have sworn that I held my breath during the time between Bree's click and when the "Approved" button appeared on the screen.

"We did it," Bree sighed, giving me a small high-five. She took out her phone, went on Messages and into Flynn, Claude, Bree, and my group chat (we had started one a few weeks ago), and typed, "We submitted it. We're halfway there, guys."

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~ A Week Later ~

Today was the day that I did my first few solo takes for the Eiffel Tower Summer Camp auditions. I wasn't fully ready yet, obviously, but I had to admit that I was honestly kind of tired of practicing. And sometimes, I did better when I prepared less. It was kind of all based on skill and talent, anyway.

I took a deep breath, readjusted my phone on my tripod, and pressed the "Record" button. I would edit that part out later. I raised my flute to my lips and started playing the first of my three audition pieces. Some notes were too shrill and didn't sound good at all, and I made a few mistakes throughout the whole performance. But it had gone kind of well, so I guessed that if I didn't do any better in any other takes, I would just send this one.

I did two more takes, and after listening to each one, I decided that the second one sounded the cleanest. I transported the video onto my laptop and edited some parts. After watching it again one more time, I filled out all of the information required on the audition page and attached my video. This was really it now. After I clicked the "Submit" button, I would officially become a candidate for the Eiffel Tower Music Festival Summer Camp Program. It was kind of a lot to take in.

After I checked that all of the information I had plugged in was correct, my cursor hovered over the "Submit" button until I said a silent prayer and pressed it. Even if I didn't get accepted into the program, which was probably the more likely possibility, it had still been a great experience, and most importantly . . . I had found new friends. And each and every one of them was outstanding in their own way.