During the week prior to the event, stories and photos appeared about our group in three newspapers. Two of the newspapers used my press release and a phone interview with me to write their pieces. One paper sent a photographer to our second rehearsal, but she arrived just as fourteen flutes had been cleaned and put back in cases. All the players were more than happy to take the flutes back out and play our pieces again while the photographer snapped away. A reporter came on a different evening, and some of my students drove back to my home yet again to participate in the interview.

My students were beside themselves with excitement. They came to the concert early to help distribute the free issues of Flutewise magazine to flute-playing members of the audience. They surprised me with a big, lovely flower arrangement. None of my students have ever given me a group gift before, and as they crowded around, so unexpectedly, to present the flowers to me, I was overwhelmed with love and gratitude.

The students gave Jimmy a gift, too. Each of them made or wrote a card, and I tied them together with a big blue bow. I gave the stack to Jimmy before the concert while he was rehearsing and I was setting up music stands. He seemed genuinely pleased. Jenna made a glittery gold star on her computer, Elsa handpainted notes on a music staff, and Rachel pasted the words "The Magic Flute" in Chinese into her card.