West and I went to the finalists concert this afternoon. Judges were there listening and would decide which one of them would go on to play with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (in this concert they were accompanied by a pianist).
There were five violinists, a viola player and a cellist who made it to the finals. They were all very impressive players. The cellist played a movement from Dvorak’s cello concerto. He was amazing – his playing was very exciting and musical. We hoped he’d win and he did.
Seeing the finalists confirmed what I suspected – that Ben was up against very stiff competition. I’m sure he will be again next year when he enters on piano.