Musical Christmas Family Get-Together

That's Abigail at the baby grand piano and Mrs. Vold with the blond hair seated near the lamp. Read on to learn who Mrs. Vold is and why a roomful of people are watching our daughter play piano!

This post's clunky title refers to tonight's event, which we thought was going to be a piano recital for our daughters and the other students of their piano teacher, Mrs. Vold. Instead, it turned out to be a decidedly religious program during which, yes, Mrs. Vold's students played solos and duets as in a recital, but during which several of her students' families also performed group numbers and the large group sang Christmas hymns and a narrator dressed as a Biblical shepherd introduced each performance with connecting material from the story of Jesus' birth, and which Mrs. Vold herself opened and closed with wishes for a blessed, holy, Christ-focused Christmas. It was all fine by us, but it was much more church-y and less recital-y than we were expecting.

The event was hosted by two of Mrs. Vold's students (siblings) in their parents' home just northwest of town. It was a quick drive to their two-story house, decorated beautifully inside and out for Christmas. They had cleared out their living and dining rooms and set up rows of chairs there and on the second-floor landing at the top of their stairway; each chair faced the baby grand piano near the bay window at the south end of the room. Attendees brought Christmas treats to share, delivering them to the lovely, recently remodeled kitchen before taking a seat for the program.

Abigail and Suzanna joined other students on the floor near the piano where Mrs. Vold and the shepherd sat, and Susan, Hillary, and I took seats at the other end of the room beside the Christmas tree in the corner of the dining room. The classy decorations, the dim lighting, the smell of apple cider in the kitchen, the sight of the polished black piano, and the soft background music of instrumental Christmas songs from the CD beside Mrs. Vold set the proper tone for an evening of truly beautiful musical performances. Mrs. Vold's students are great musicians, no matter their ages; they play with a good sense of tempo and dynamics and the ability to interpret the music rather than just to pound the notes at an erratic pace but consistently loud volume, as we have heard pianists-in-training do at recitals held by our daughters' previous piano teachers. Maybe Mrs. Vold is pickier about whom she accepts for students, but I suspect the better quality performances reflect her approach to teaching and her high expectations of her students.

A late-arriving mother pulled a kitchen stool beside the chairs where Susan and I sat and then offered Hillary a spot on her lap so that Hillary would have a better view of the pianists all the way across the room (Susan and I peered between rows and rows and rows of people's heads). The thoughtful mother didn't even say anything when Hillary delivered an extended and clearly audible outburst of flatulence directly into the unsuspecting woman's lap. Susan and I, on the other hand, experienced a keen sense of combined embarrassment and amusement. Hillary, however, thought nothing of it and continued to enjoy the solo in progress (the pianist's solo, that is, not Hillary's own).

Abigail and Suzanna each played a solo tonight, and "the musical Mobergs" were one of the family performers: Suzanna, Abigail, and I played a three-hand arrangement of "Silent Night" on the piano while Susan accompanied on the flute. Afterward, while people milled about and enjoyed treats from the kitchen, all Mrs. Vold's students took their turns at the piano again playing more solos as background music while the adults visited. It was a terrific evening enjoyable not only as a showcase for our talented children, whose musicianship at the piano makes us proud, but also as a pleasant Christmas concert featuring great musical performances all around. We (the girls as well as Susan and I) are so pleased to have Mrs. Vold teaching Abigail and Suzanna. [Hillary will begin piano lessons next year.]

This was the view immediately to my right. Branches of the Christmas tree rested on my shoulder as I sat beside it in the corner farthest away from the piano.

While attendees enjoyed treats afterward, the girls took their turns playing more solos to provide background music. Here's Suzanna.

And here's Abigail. Mrs. Vold is visible in the background looking on.

Here are Abigail and Suzanna waiting their turns to play after the formal "program" portion of the evening.

Abigail, Mrs. Vold, and Suzanna!