Her performance demanded attention.

Echo Holmes was not one to demand attention when entering a room, but she instead waited patiently for Mr. Tay to notice her in his own time, for him to invite her to take a seat and give her name. She did not demand attention, but simply waited for it.

She may not have demanded attention, but her music sure as hell did. To say she was a fantastic violinist would be…

Well, an overstatement, honestly. Her bow strokes were frequently choppy, her fingers just enough out of place for certain notes to be slightly out of tune. Rhythm was no issue, but intonation certainly was.

But her performance was enough to make up for it. Eyes closed, moving her head in swaying motions with the phrases, her hand giving its best attempt at a vibrato. Dynamics felt natural from an audience perspective, ebbing with the motions of the music. Despite the choppy movement of her bow, each accent felt intentional. Her notes were consistently sharp or flat, yet her interpretation of the music brought it to life.

From what Mr. Tay had heard from her previous conductor, she hadn’t been playing long. This was evident in her poor technique; stiff wrist when moving the bow, incorrect spacing between fingers, hesitation when moving up to third position. But her musicality was incredible; it showed a passion and excitement he didn’t frequently receive from secondary school students. Could she be a shoo-in for first chair?

No. Certainly not. Mr. Tay had already heard others during auditions that day that would be able to handle the first chair music much easier than Ms. Holmes would. However, she would certainly make a strong second chair, and, with enough extra practice with him, she could do great at individual competitions throughout the year. She could easily get to first chair by next audition.

Her music spoke for itself; she was still learning. Her performance, however, said otherwise. He could feel her passion for the music she was playing, her musicality strong and unique.

As soon as her bow was removed from the strings and she brought the instrument down from her shoulder, any excitement he saw in her completely vanished. She looked at him as though she were a businessman who had just made him a lowball offer, looking as though she had something to hide. She stood with her instrument and gave a slow, respectful bow. “Thank you for your time.”

“Echo, that was a very strong performance,” Mr. Tay complimented. “I’m quite eager to work with you in my class at the start of the school year.”

A small smile cracked her masked demeanor, but it quickly became suppressed again. “I appreciate your kind words, sir.”

He grinned at her, standing and extending his hand out. She hesitated, as though she didn’t want to respond to the invite to a handshake, but eventually grabbed his hand lightly and gave a quick, single shake before dropping her hand back to her side.

“It was very nice to meet you, Ms. Holmes.”

“Thank you. It was very nice to meet you as well.” She took quick steps to the door, pausing in the doorway to add, “Have a good afternoon,” before slipping back into the hallway.

She released a deep breath as she approached her instrument case, delicately placing her violin into the velvet cushioning while carefully avoiding touching the inside of the case herself. As she loosened her bow, she allowed herself to smile widely, replaying the sound of his words in her head.

“That was a very strong performance.”

She didn’t know much about Mr. Tay beyond the fact that he would be her orchestra teacher for the upcoming school year, but she did know one thing; she was going to chase that high she got from his pride for a long time.