Right, Its the BFS performance plus competition tomorrow and Ive started to panic a little.

Piece is ready to be performed....I think, doesnt sound great in the acoustic of my room.

What shall I wear? Playing Le Merle Noir ( The blackbird) so going for an all black theme. Shirt + trousers. Shall I wear a suit jacket over that as well?

Any tips for dry mouths or spitty mouths? You never know what youre going to get!

What about shaky knees? My experience with this is awful vibrato! Cant have vibrato ruined in this piece when ive spent so much time choosing the right type of vibrato for each bit I play!!!

ARGH!

Hmm, i suggest that u remain calm!!! just think as if u r performing for yourself.

I will suggest that u wear the jacket as well...u will be looking good!!

Dry mouth? what bout some chewing gums? Chew it when necessary as it is rather impolite to chew in front of a crowd of people.

Please do not PANIC!! everything is going to ruin if u start to panic....

All the best!!!

OK, firstly calm down! You're thinking too much at the moment!!
Wear whatever's comfy. The jacket would be cool if you're going for an all black theme (what a good idea!). Drink water if your mouth's dry or spitty- take a bottle with you. Not sure about shaky knees- would eating a banana help you stay calm? Don't concentrate on how nervous you are, use the nervous energy to make a great performance! Good Luck!

Luckily I wasnt too bad, only had shaky knees but nothing major!

I got a runner up prize which is ok, but not chuffed seeing as I have done SO much work towards it, even neglecting my dental studies for it!

The 1st and 2nd prizes went to 2 girls from Chethams School of Music......to be expected I guess!

well done sags_3, a goodly result !

I am playing in a competition in march and I know that two of the other competitors are both female student of Chethams

Well done sags_3

well at least you were a runner up! It's better than having a nameless position! lol, you did better than I could ever do - Cos i could never (well never say never I suppose) enter a competition like the BFS one!

Well Done! That's great!

by the way what did the other girls play out of interest?

1st prize - played Gade Tango Fantasia (VERY HARD!!!!!!!!)
2nd prize - Enesco Cantabile and Presto
3rd prize - Great Train Race

Other pieces played in this class were
Messiaen Le Merle Noir
Ibert Piece
Taktishivilli sonata
Muczyinski sonata
burton sonatina
berkeley sonatina
prokofiev sonata
copland duo
poulenc sonata
harty in ireland
reinecke ballade
widor suite
doppler fantasie pastorale hongroise

a good selection then...I should think it was good to hear such a wide selection of pieces!

Well done sags_3. Sounds like the standard was extremely high this year.

A few years ago, the finalists had to choose a piece from a list of only two or three. I was at a BFS Teachers' day at the same time and venue as the competition, and we all became heartily sick of the Faure Fantasie after hearing it issuing from warm-up rooms throughout the day.

Ah yes i remember when it was like this. I remember the Chaminade and Mower Sonata Latino Being part of the 3.
The piece does however play some part in the performance.....some pieces are just better than others, and this has been stated on BBC Young musician of the year, where they are trying to compare the Mendelssohn violin concerto to some random percussion concerto.
At least with a set choice of pieces the competitors are able to be compared in a better way.

I love the Mower Latino sonata it's amazing!

I would have loved to have been in the audience listening to all those pieces - what a varied list - it would have been a joy.

Congrats to you though.

Well done sags_3