I found this book from RD's primary school days. It is a collation of what the year 6 children wanted to be when they grew up.
Eleven-year old RD had written:
When I grow up, I want to be a pianist because I like playing it, it's fun, and I'm good at it.
I didn't take it seriously back then even if I knew that music ran deeply in his veins.
In his last years of High School, he chose to take English as a Second Language (ESL), the usual Math, Math Extension, Physics, Software Design and Development, Business Studies, plus Music. I remember accompanying him to school when he was year 11 to talk with his music teacher so that he could change classes from Music 1 to Music 2 because he wanted more out of his Music classes. I didn't realise at that time that this was a strategic move on his part. I just thought he didn't find Music 1 challenging enough for him. Music 1 was geared towards music performance while Music 2 is more theory-based, more serious and is oriented towards a higher study of music.
I knew he loved playing the piano but I didn't realise that he LOVED playing the piano. This reality sank in when the time came for him to choose a course for university and he announced that he wanted to go to the Sydney Conservatorium of Music (the Con), study Music Education, and become a music teacher.
I would imagine that people who go for the Con are those that have had continuous lessons on their instrument of choice since they were very, very young. Plus they would have their respective instructors around to guide them and train them in preparation for the Con audition. This was not really the case for RD.
MacGyver's mom is a piano major and a piano teacher. She gave piano lessons to all of her grandchildren, RD included. He could not have had a better teacher to start him off with the piano. RD had his first lessons in 2006 when he was eight. These would be given on weekends when we visited MacGyver's folks. MacGyver's mom would announce, "Time for piano lessons," and the grandchildren would promptly take their turn in front of the baby grand piano in the living room for their piano lessons.
We moved to Australia in October 2009. RD may not have had piano lessons but he still loved to play the piano. I sent out this message to my family in November
RD volunteered to play the piano at school for their week 7 "walk-in". Every Monday, as the children walk into the hall for the Monday morning gathering (and announcements), some other children perform. On the 2nd week of school, they were asking for volunteers to perform for the coming weeks and RD volunteered to play THE ENTERTAINMENT [sic]. He was slated for week 7 (which is next week). When we moved out of MumofFive's place (where they have several keyboards), MumofFive's sister lent us her daughter's keyboards. However, this was a temporary loan and MacGyver didn't want the children's interest in music to be cut-off by the loss of the musical instrument.
So after hours of trying to find a decent bargain at eBay, checking out websites and physical music stores, we finally decided to get the kids new keyboards.
That Welcome to the Jungle booklet came out in December 2009.
RD quickly outgrew the Yamaha NP 30 we had purchased in November 2009. In August 2011, his keyboard got upgraded to a Yamaha P95B. The P95B is also a digital piano but has 88 keys as compared to the 76 keys of the NP 30 he was using. The new keyboard feels more like a piano, having weighted keys, which MAcGyver believed would help RD develop the right technique in piano playing. We got him a decent piano bench in May 2013 and later on he got a good piano pedal c/o his pianist godmother.
All this time RD was practicing on his own and learning by himself. In 2014, when it was very apparent that RD was really serious about playing the piano, we got him started with piano lessons. His piano teacher had been his Music teacher in Year 9. He was an alumnus of the High School who had graduated from the Sydney Conservatorium. He lived nearby and was giving piano lessons part time. It was perfect for RD.
RD's piano lessons went on for almost two years until his teacher left for London in mid-2015 to pursue further studies. This left RD on his own as he took his Year 12 Music Assessments, the HSC (High School Certificate) exams, and the audition for the Conservatorium.
The 2nd of December 2015. RD had spent many hours practicing for this day. This was the day that would determine whether or not he would get started on a career in Music. This was the day of his audition at the Con.
His audition was held in the morning. MacGyver drove him to the Con and waited outside while the auditions were being held. RD had prepared three pieces to play. When the audition was over, MacGyver asked how it went. RD said he was not sure because he was nervous, he made a couple of mistakes, they had stopped him soon after he had started playing his pieces, and they didn't even ask for his third piece. In addition, he said he was a tad intimidated at the number of people that sat in his panel. His friend who had her violin audition the week before had a panel of four while he had at least seven.
The audition was only the first of a series of hurdles RD had to get through before getting an offer for his chosen course at the Con. He still had a music skills test scheduled for that afternoon and he needed to pass an interview to get into the university's Music Education program. If he didn't pass his audition, he would not get a call for an interview. RD also had to get acceptable HSC and ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) results to be eligible for the course. He had completed his HSC exams in Octoberr and was just waiting for the HSC and ATAR results due for release in the middle of December.
MacGyver and RD had an early lunch together after the audition. Since MacGyver had work that afternoon, he just dropped RD off at the Con before heading off. I offered to pass by RD after his sight reading test so that he would have company in the bus ride going home. Fortunately my boss allowed me to work from home. We want RD to feel that we are there for him in case he needs us.
RD and I met at the Botanical Garden right beside the Con. I asked him to pose for some pictures. I posted them last year under RD at the Sydney Conservatorium. I wanted to capture RD at this turning point in his life as he embarked on his journey in pursuit of his dreams. If you read the caption on the first picture, I had written "This is the first of many pictures of RD and the Conservatorium." At that time, RD had just finished his audition and although he was done with his HSC exams, he had not received the results yet. We didn't know his ATAR, we did not know if he would get an interview at the Con, we did not know if he would get an offer to study there, yet I was optimistic that RD would get in.
Today, eighteen year old RD said:
When I grow up, I want to be a pianist (still true) because I like playing it (still true), it's fun (still true), and I'm good at it (now I'm not so sure).
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