A scary performance

The kids had another violin performance today, and they were especially thrilled since they got to wear their Halloween costumes to play for residents of a retirement home.

Mary Kate dressed as a witch--of the cutest possible kind; Jimmer is a [slightly] undercover spy--he probably didn't realize that his gun and holster were so obvious (too hot for his spy jacket); Mikey is an adventure guy; and Kathleen is a navy sailor.
We already had Mary Kate's witch costume, and the other kids created their own costumes from things they already had in their dress-up hamper. They're going easy on me this year. Thanks, kids!

Here's a clip of them playing a Halloween song one of the students created. All of the students like this song because they get to make their violins "shiver," "moan," and "screech." (Disclaimer: They only practiced this song once as a group, so it wasn't their best song--but it is timely and festive, so I'll post it.)


Mary Hattersley, who started the Blazing Bows group 20 years ago, has been nominated for Texas State Musician for 2009-2010. She teaches children both Suzuki violin and fiddle, and she's been a fixture in a number of active bands that play some popular local venues...as well as performed with Willie Nelson, the Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, and Mothers of Invention. Mary is on the far right in this photo.

The kids visited with a few of the residents.

The residents kept thanking them for playing.
Our kids enjoyed themselves.
We all had a fun (and spooky) morning!