Music and Traditions

There aren’t many music traditions I have been a part of.  I have been to a total of one wedding and one funeral in my entire life. I was five when I went to a wedding, so I don’t remember much. The funeral I attended was my uncle’s. He was a musician. However, no music was played at his service. I find that sad, but I had no part in the planning. We do have a few traditions that my family and I have kept up with over the years. 

My mom, nephew, and I started to go see The Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 2015. We didn’t plan on it becoming a tradition but after a few years of going you could it became one. I get a tour shirt each year we go.  It was my nephews first concert. He quickly fell in love with going to see them every Christmas. My niece was born in 2017. She loves music. I hope to include her in this tradition now that she is old enough.  

Every year I would go see The Nutcracker with my mom and grandma. I started taking dance when I was 3 years old. I loved watching everyone dance to the music. It was magical. I would get a nutcracker every time. We kept up with this tradition for some years. We eventually stopped going but I am not sure why. This year we decided to pick it back up and take my niece with us. She enjoyed every second of it. Hopefully we will keep going for years to come. 

Most of the traditions I can think of revolve around Christmas time. A tradition my family has always had is everyone getting together on Christmas for lunch. We would eat, talk, open presents, and all cousins would perform. My cousin Rachel and I would play piano while my cousin Becca would sing. This tradition started with Rachel and the rest of us quickly wanted to become a part of it. My cousin Corbin would sometimes join in with his guitar. One year we even made a cover of Rock or Bust by AC/DC to gift to my grandma. I sadly don’t have any videos of our performances. 

I haven’t been a part of many musical traditions, but I do think they are important. I hope as I get older and families grow, we can create more musical experiences. I try to include my niece and nephew in as many events I can.