This weekend Lynn’s Chronicles will be attending PraiseFest Branson!  This is the first year  to have PraiseFest held at the Mansion Theatre in Branson, MO, and I can’t wait – wish it was here already!  Artists like Greater Vision, Legacy Five, the Mark Trammell Quartet (yes, Pat, that means you!), Triumphant Quartet, the Hoppers, Tim Lovelace and inspirational speaker, Charles Stanley will all be there!  If you are plan on attending, I would love to see you there … if you can’t make it, just keep up with the posts over the weekend and the days following into next week and you can hear about everything that happened!  I’m hoping for posts, photos, and maybe a video or two!

Also, if you’re looking for some new posts – this is the week to find them!  I have some new articles that I believe you’ll enjoy coming in the next few days!  One is a hilarious video everyone just has to see!  There will be a book review and a concert review of the morning service Brian Free and Assurance performed at the Lone Oak Baptist Church the Sunday after the Truthseekers Homecoming.  Oh yes!  And I’m hoping to have a photo gallery of the Truthseekers Homecoming somewhere in the future too,  and there are some pretty special photos I just know you all are going to enjoy!

Celebrate with me!  This past Saturday, March 10th, I attended the National Federation of Music Clubs for their yearly competition with my piano instructor and her students.  This was my fourth year to compete and  I am happy to report I did very well!  Federation goes something like this:  my teacher, Mrs. Smith, (Yes, that’s really her last name), enters the students who want to participate sometime in December or January.  The student then chooses two compositions for their division (for me, that would be Piano Solo) – one piece has to be selected from a list that Federation provides, and the second song can be anything that the student wants to play, (As long as it is Classical and the appropriate level and all).  We have to memorize both pieces and be ready to play them before a judge on competition day.  This year, I played The Erl-King by Franz Schubert and Bagatelles 1. By Alexander Tcherepnin.  When that day arrives, we go to the location Federation is held (which is usually at one of the University or Colleges in Springfield, MO) and get ready to play!  What I really love about this event is that you don’t have to play in front of a bunch of people!  LOL.  You go to a professor’s room, and it’s just you, the judge, your music instructor and a family member.  Not too much pressure!  When you go into the room they like you to “announce yourself” – state your name and the titles of the pieces you will play – you can warm up on the piano with a scale, play when the judge tells you to, and you’re done!  So, you may ask, “If it’s a competition – who do you compete against?”  Well, that’s a great question! – and the answer is, you compete against yourself!  The judges rate you on a scale from 1-5: 1 being Poor, and 5, Superior.  They will watch you for correct posture with your instrument and make sure you play all the correct notes during the song.  Listen for correct dynamics, etc.!  When you’re done, you’re free to leave or hang around the scoring sheets to see how you did.  Scores are posted every thirty minutes.  By doing this every year, you collect points, and once you reach 15 points you get a trophy!  So, if you get a Superior rating every year, which equals 5 points, you can get a trophy every three years.  (I received my first trophy last year.)  And this year – drum roll please – I received another Superior rating!  Yeah!

Well, that wraps it up for now!  Hope to see some of you in Branson, it‘s going to be GREAT!

~Lynn