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Kirkwood High School Students Selected as Finalists in Regional St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Essay Contest
Kirkwood High School sophomores Jacob Poole and Graysen Sturdy were announced as top 50 “Prose Finalists” in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's Express the Music essay contest senior division. The contest collected some 585 submissions from 45 schools. Jacob Poole submitted his prose titled “The Journey to the Eternal Flower” and Graysen’s prose is titled “Well Played”.
For this recognition, Jacob and Graysen are invited to be recognized at the Express the Music Awards Ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, March 19 during a concert of the St. Louis Symphony Youth Orchestra at Powell Hall. The students wrote these essays in Katie Meyers' Sophomore Literature and Composition class.
The Express the Music program, now in its 26th year, celebrates student poetry and prose. The contest invites students in grades 6-12 to discover an orchestral work and respond with poetry or prose that expresses creative thought and emotion inspired by the music. This school year, students explored “The Great Gate of Kiev” from Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition (orchestrated by Maurice Ravel). Students first listened to the selected piece of music in Mrs. Meyers’ class, wrote prose or poetry inspired by it, and edited and refined their compositions before submission into the contest.
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Well Played
The first thing that came to my mind when I was listening to “The Great Gate of Kiev”, was the feeling that I get when I play a baseball game. You may think that the only thing you need to focus on is making the play, hitting the ball and winning the game, but there is so much more and this musical selection takes me through all of it.
The smooth quiet tone of the music in the beginning reminds me of the preparations that start even before I take the field. The honor and excitement of putting on my jersey, mentally preparing for the game, thinking through all the different plays and what we need to do as a team to play our best. The music captures all these feelings right from the start.
As the music begins to build for the first time, the feeling of taking the field with my team and putting all of our hard work to use is captured in that moment. We know we have skill and determination to win, but the other team also feels the same way. As the music gets louder and faster it makes me think of the battle that is ahead of us. The excitement of the music continues just as we do when the umpire shouts “play ball” and the first pitch is thrown.
The music begins to transition back to a more quiet sound and this makes me think of how serious the game really is. How all of our coaching and practice will be put to the test, but then out of nowhere the music changes to something loud and forceful. It is at this point that it makes me feel as though a struggle happens and then a victory. Which is how a baseball game feels as well. The quiet, smooth sound gives you the sense of hope and confidence that victory is yours, but then with one big crack of the bat everything changes. You find yourselves fighting to get back what you lost. During this small section of the music I am reminded that you can't be too confident while playing this game because it has a way of taking it all away with one pitch or swing of the bat. So many emotions come through at this point in the piece that it makes me realize how special this game really is.
You must give everything that you have to the game and even then that may not be enough. But the game must go on like the music. As the music continues my thought goes to the fact one person can not play this game on their own, you have to work together as a team, just like an orchestra. You have to work together to accomplish not only the possibility of winning the game or finishing the piece, but you must trust that everyone else wants the same thing. If not the game and piece will fall apart.
Yes the game of baseball is played on a dirt field and the idea of winning is the goal, but the other side of the game is friendship and trust. You have to know that you can trust your teammates to be there for you and as the music continues to the end it gives you that sense of comfort. I have won and lost many games, but the real win for me is playing the game and being a part of a team with some of my best friends on it. This musical piece really made me realize how lucky I am to be able to play the game I love and make lifelong friends. Well played!
The Journey to the Eternal Flower
Johan was a 19-year-old Swedish boy who lived in the modest town of Soglio. It was a village with mountains in all directions. He grew up here. After his homeschooling, Johan would explore the area. His favorite spot was a waterfall that created a beautiful river. He named it Rainbow Falls. No words would ever be able to describe it.
One day after camping, he went home to his family of 5 where his younger sister Alice met him on the edge of town in tears. After asking what was wrong, Alice said, ” Father got sick.” They both run back to their cottage and upon entering their father's room, a doctor stands up to greet them and tell them the unfortunate news. “Peter has a stomach infection. A very rare one where only an estimated 1 in 500,000 people survive. I give him another week to live.” The doctor leaves and Johan refuses to believe this. After talking with his father and planning goodbyes, he goes to crazy old Eric who went insane years ago talking about eternal life. The village shut him out and Johan too wished for his downfall. But with no hope left, he went to talk to him to see if eternal life was really true. Eric claimed there was an Eternal Flower that brought endless amounts of life to the world. It was rumored that whoever ate its petals would receive immortality. No one knew its location as it was hidden deep in the mountains.
With the mountains being Johan’s home he figured if anyone could find it, it would be him. So he set out on a journey to find it. He figured it would be located where the most luscious areas were as it gave endless amounts of life to the world. So he set out to the prettiest location he knew, Rainbow Falls. As he arrived he realized that from here on out he wouldn't have a familiar understanding of his location, but growing up he knew to leave trackers so he could find his way back. On his second day of journeying, he followed the area that seemed to grow in size, feeling more alive than the rest of the mountains. Four more days followed. Johan was losing hope knowing that even if he did find, he wouldn’t make it back in time. But as he hiked over the peak of a mountain he saw it: a meadow of flowers and in the heart of it, the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, the Eternal Flower. With his spirit returning he regained his energy and ran to the flower.
No more than a foot away, he began to grab his shovel to dig it up, but paused. He realized this flower was giving life across many mountain peaks. Taking it would most likely mean this meadow would disappear, Rainbow Falls would disappear, and the luscious mountains he grew up in would soon become dull boring rocks. As tough as it was, he knew he could do no such thing. He hoped one day another young kid would grow up like him, adventurous and living their life in the mountains. With mixed emotions, he hiked back to Soglio. The week passed and he expected to return to grief and sorrow, but walking into his cottage he saw his dad smile and realized that the Eternal Flower had reached out and touched him.