Dear Alma, My kid wants to smash her violin

From our agony aunt:

Dear Alma,

I am mom to a precocious 11 year old violinist who is moving from a 3/4 size to her first full size. She has a talent show at school and she wants to play Meditation from Thais on her old violin and then smash it on the stage. As a classical musician this really rubs me the wrong way, but she is intent on it. The old violin is not expensive but also not cheap.

Mom to a Future Rock Star

Dear Mom to a Future Rock Star,

Historically, she would be in good company, from Pete Townsend’s legendary guitar smashing (deemed by Rolling Stones Magazine to be one of the “50 Moments that Changed Rock & Roll”) to Jerry Lee Lewisand Charles Mingus. Your daughter sounds pretty fun to live with, you must be a good mom.

I say go for it, with a couple of parameters. First – the instrument. I would suggest calling your local public school and asking who supplies/repairs instruments for them. Contact that person and see if they have a burner she could use (she could play her regular violin and do a secret swap out on stage). Secondly, I would practice and choreograph with her pianist, maybe adding a “ta-da” chord or something fun. I would also have a surface other than the stage to smash it on, maybe someone could wheel out a tool bench or she could even use a big rubber hammer. Lastly, not sure if you would like to alert the talent show people – it would be a shame if they put the kibosh on it, but it might also be tricky if they don’t know.

Mom to a Future Rock Star, this has all of the makings of a pivotal moment in her life. Help her succeed in this venture and you may truly have born a star.

Questions for Alma? Please put them in the comments section or send to DearAlmaQuery@gmail.com

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