Last night was the annual Valentune’s Gala at the high school. This year Matthew is a member of both the jazz band and the vocal jazz choir, so he was doubly invested. Due to the popularity of this event for the past two years, they scheduled and sold out two night’s worth of tickets. Matthew said Friday night’s performance was pretty rough, but last night everything was fantastic!
We had a big group attend with us this year. Kevin, Malia and I were there, of course. Daniel, Tawni (his girlfriend), and Nathan came down from Logan. My parents came. Kev’s mom and her sister Gayla were there as well as Cory and his entire family including Roland, Michelle’s dad. In total, we had seventeen people who were there to support Matthew. And like I said before, it was fantastic! He did an amazing job on both sides of the performance. His vocal numbers were amazing and his trumpet pieces, including all his high, tricky parts, were spot on. I think this is one of the most important performances for him during the school year, and although he wasn’t particularly pleased with how the first night went, he was pleased as punch with how everything went last night.
Our family has kind of been key in the development of the Valentune’s Gala. Nathan was in vocal jazz his senior year in high school which was the second year the school was open. That year they did a combined vocal jazz/jazz band performance at the bandstand in a nearby city park. The band boosters were on hand, frying burgers and offering other concessions and it was a big hit. Two years later, when Matthew was a sophomore and the current band teacher was in his first year at the school, the event was changed to a more formal dinner and a show event. Matthew was the one who coined the phrase "Valentune’s Gala,” and it has stuck. So even though he will be graduating this year, he has left his mark at the high school.
Last night was likely the last time we will attend Valentune’s, which is a little bittersweet. It has been one of my favorite events since its inception. That is, unless Malia decides she wants to be in vocal jazz when she gets that far. But we’ll see. She still has a few years to go.
Oh, and as a sidenote, they served crème brulee for dessert. That means I got to make crème brulee yesterday so that Matthew and Malia could have some as well. And I got to use my new kitchen torch. Allow me to say that playing with fire has never been so delicious. 😊
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