Black and White and Red All Over

On stage, behind massed poinsettias picture 12 grand pianos with flashy lids. 

Now picture three small children at each piano, plus a conductor dressed in black. The attire was red, black or white or a combination of the three ad lib, and you never saw so many  pretty little dresses and red hair bows or so many boys in white shirts and red ties.  Those little kids pounded and trilled and glissando-ed those black and white keys to a stand-still.

Over 300 kindergarten to high school students participated in this 25th anniversary Multiple Piano Concert.  The Skyline High School auditorium was as packed as the hockey rink for the Paul McCartney concert last summer. The children were accepted by audition, and the adults by invitation.  My friend Mary, aka Grandmary, played as one partner of a four-hand team.  While it was a concert and not a competition per se, I thought the two pieces her group played were the best.  Until the end, when a cadre of piano teachers edged them out with a rousing finale.  Just by a hair.