The Pianist

Wit at her piano recital. This one was posed after it was over because I didn't want to distract her with the flash on my camera.

Wit before her orchestra concert.

From the time Whitney was a baby people would occasionally comment on her long fingers and say she had pianist hands. My Mom really wanted Whitney to have her piano. At the time we were living in Alabama and my parents lived in Nevada so getting it to us was a bit problematic. Chris happened to mention it to someone and they told him the Army would pay to move it. Chris looked into it and found out it was true! Whitney promptly started taking lessons in January of 2007 right around her 8th birthday. She has been playing for almost 4 years now. Her first teacher was Georgette Robinson and she was a very talented teacher. When she was in the 4th grade she played keyboards for her school's 5th grade jazz band. Whitney has been blessed throughout her life to have the best teachers.

Once we moved to Tucson she started taking lessons from a lady in our ward, Sister Hancock. Sheryl has been teaching piano for over 20 years so when she told me Whitney was truly talented and needed a top notch teacher, I took her advice. Her newest teacher (Linda Johnson) recently asked me if there was a lot of musical ability in our family. I laughed in response. I had just always thought that her high IQ coupled with her strong work ethic and competitive spirit had allowed her to excel. I said something along these lines to her teacher. She informed me that Whitney is musically gifted. I have absolutely no knowledge or background in music so sometimes I think I really don't get how talented she is. Though I love having her fill our home with beautiful music!

She also accompanies her school's orchestra. Come to find out this is also pretty impressive. When I went to the music store to get the books she needed the employees were skeptical and then extremely impressed when they heard Whitney was accompanying her school's orchestra. At the concert her orchestra teacher, Mrs. Zurley, thanked Whitney for her help and said it was the first time she'd had a student fill that role.

At her piano recital the students were required to memorize their music. Whitney played "Winter Wonderland" and "I'll Be Home For Christmas". We arrived early so Whitney could do a run through on the church's piano. She made several mistakes and I started to get really nervous for her. I thought the teacher just challenged them to memorize the pieces so I said maybe she should use her music. Then Whitney told me memorization was required not optional. I was then even more nervous for her! Somehow I forgot that Whitney is her father's daughter and unlike myself does best under pressure. She got up there and knocked it out of the park with a flawless performance!!! I had never heard her play them better. I could tell by the look on her face that she was pleased with herself as well.

Her next performance will be this Sunday in our ward's sacrament meeting. Sister Hancock asked her if she would play a Christmas song. I requested her to play my favorite Christmas song, "O Holy Night".