A Child’s Dream

Elmire’s song was ready! As soon as she confirmed that the required physical and digital files were okay (after checking them for the 11th time), she raced outside to mail the physical ones: a copy of the license with her and her parents’ wet ink signatures.

Because carefully checking the addresses a 12th time wouldn’t hurt, she checked the envelope once more to be 99.998% safe.

Her recording of her song!!! was going to be played in public starting with a morning show!

---

An MPR representative was coming to Elmire’s house to discuss her new song and interview her as part of their program featuring musical teens. The morning of her interview she was exploding with nervous excitement and couldn’t sit still.

Cadence introduced herself and jumped right into things.

Cadence: Tell us about your song.

Elmire: My song is a piano sonata titled “A Child’s Dream.” There are three major reasons that it’s called this.

Elmire (cont.): First, it has been my dream for an extremely long time—almost since I learned what a piano was—to compose and release a piano sonata. Second, the song is a musical representation of the dreamlike stories I used to imagine and share with my father.

Elmire (cont.): My father can be extreme and the two of us used to create the wildest stories. Sometimes, we changed classic tales and other times we created completely original stories of vampires and princesses. If people listen to “A Child’s Dream” carefully, no matter who they are, they can understand and visualize at least the best parts of our stories like the dramatic fights (WHAM! POW!) and uplifting moments. Third, I partly wrote the song for myself, so it’s a dream to play. It’s fantastically fun, especially the fast second movement with its dramatic dynamics.

Cadence: Yeah, the song is really great. When I listened to it, I enjoyed every moment of every movement and definitely imagined an adventure story. What does it feel like to compose such a long piano piece so young?

Elmire: Well …

Elmire paused.

Elmire: I honestly don’t feel that young because I am a teenager and will be starting high school soon.

Cadence: Wait, you haven’t started high school yet?

Elmire: Not yet, but I will very soon.

Cadence: I see. I see, but from my point of view and probably most people’s points of view, you’re absurdly young.

Elmire: Okay. That’s fair. Then, I would say it feels challenging because I honestly don’t have that much life experience. At times it can be hard for me to understand pieces, much less compose one. I am also trying to progress as a pianist while going to normal school and learning about complex numbers, polar curves, and other high school stuff.

Elmire (cont.): And, to be a little TMI, I have a little stress from puberty. I have to put acne cream on my face and do other things I’ve never had to do before. I guess it is what it is, but I also hear that puberty can change your personality and turn an extrovert into an introvert, so my personality also might change. I don’t know.

More questions were asked which Elmire thought she answered fairly well. Then, the interviewer did a round of rapid fire questions:

You last ate? / Elmire: A slice of sugar-free carob coconut cake. It was … The cake probably should have had more sugar and less coconut.

Willow Creek or Oasis Springs? / Elmire: San Myshuno?

If you weren’t playing the piano, what instrument would you probably play? / Elmire: Violin.

If you could play anything, what would you play? / Elmire: Harp—No, I take that back. I want to play a carillon! They’re in towers, so I would get to climb up super high and the sound of the bells would travel through the entire surrounding neighborhood—it would be absolutely amazing, unbelievable, marvelous, everything

Elmire (cont.): and even though I’ve never played one, I would 10 out of 10 recommend playing a carillon to everyone who has the chance!

Food or drink you want to try but haven’t yet? / Elmire: Coffee. My family went on vacation to Mt. Komorebi and it was such a beautiful snowy day, the perfect ambience for drinking a warm cup of coffee. I went to buy one to try, but the vendor wouldn’t sell it to me because I was too young.

Favorite emoji? / Elmire: The musical score, treble clef. 🎼

Cadence: Thanks, Elmire. That was fun. I think everyone got to know you a little better. Let’s end the interview by having you play a small part of your song.

Elmire: Yes, I would love to play the opening theme from the first movement for everyone. Thank you for having me! This has been great.

Elmire hoped that her interview would be well received when it finally aired, which would be around the time she started high school. Things seemed to have gone decently and everyone had put in a lot of effort.

---

Extra (Video): Elmire’s happy dance after mailing the contract. These videos are only meant to show minor moments, so please forgive their imperfections.