Today, I played for the final round of the BYU Concerto Competition. I had felt so honored to get into the concerto competition in the first place and thought this final round would be a great opportunity. I competed on the first movement of Khachaturian's violin concerto. In the past, I have often left auditions feeling like I didn't play my best. Well, I was determined for this audition to go well. I was confident that I had put in the hard work and preparation needed. Yesterday, as I was sitting in church I kept getting reminded of how much I need the Lord to be by my side in my endeavors.
So, today, as I was warming up for my audition I took three 15 minute breaks to read the Book of Mormon. It was a relaxing experience, helped me acknowledge the Lord. I also prayed sincerely to the Lord that I would play my very best in the audition today and that I would play the way I wanted to. When the audition time came, I was starting to shake, by when I stepped onto the stage of the Madsen Recital Hall, I started to feel relaxed and comforted. When I played the first opening section, my hands and fingers went where I wanted them to go. I was able to play loosely and with expression. I felt I was able to express the music the way I wanted to. I was allowed a ten minute slot in my try-out, but the three judges allowed my to play about 11 minutes of the 14 minute movement.
As I left the recital hall, I turned to my accompanist, Jayne Galloway, and said, I think that is by far the best I have ever played that concerto. Her reply was: "Jared! You kicked butt!"
When I called my Mom about my experience, she told me how the family prayed for me at 10:30 A.M. when I tried out, and as I write this, it brings tears to eyes to know that the comfort that I felt when I went on that stage was the spirit of the Lord not only in answer to my personal prayers, but to my family's prayers.
A few hours later, I went to check for the results of the concerto competition. I found out that I was not one of the winners.
Some could say that it was all a waste, because I didn't win, but that is far from the truth. I'm not upset about how things worked out, because I know that I played my best and that the spirit was with me. It was a good performance that I am proud of.
I want to thank all of you who kept me in your prayers. I know that they helped.
I have included a two part you tube video with the recording of David Oistrakh (one of the best violinists of the twentieth century) playing the Khachaturian violin concerto so that you can get a taste of the experience I just described. I will be playing it as my final number on my Senior Recital on Saturday, March 5th in the Madsen Recital Hall at BYU where I actually played it today.
Video 1 - the first half of the first movement.
Video 2 - the second half of the first movement
Oh Jared, I am a little sad and disappointed they did not select you. But I agree, it was still an amazing experience and worth every minute of all you did. I have a feeling it will pay dividends in other ways that cannot be seen now. Congratulations on a fabulous audition!
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