big performance saturday, HELP

[sarahliz]

okay so at my high school every year, we have an opportunity to play in front of a judge. at the end the judge decides who the best paricipants are and the top 5 get medals. it's pretty competitive and last year i played a solo in my comfort zone (gigue by leclair if you are curious). i got 2nd place in my category and i was REALLY happy. so this year i thought i'd challenge myself and pick a difficult piece (nocturne et allegro scherzando). when i picked this solo, i didn't realize i would be getting my wisdom teeth removed, so i lost 2-3 weeks of practice time. some of the runs are really messy and i am so nervous. there are other reasons im nervous, not just the technical part of the music. i have always had issues with my upper register tone, my lower and middle is fine, but my upper register is airy. lately i've noticed it's really bad on my expensive flute, but not as bad on my old flute i had in elementary/middle school. i've been practicing this solo on my good flute, but recently realized i sound a lot better on my student flute. any advice/tips would be very helpful, i know this is a lot of info :/

[SylvreKat]

Sorry I didn't see this sooner. I had an all-day handbells fest yest. And had a couple of busy work-days before that.

My advice if this happens again--if possible pick an easier song (no shame in that esp since you lost practice time!), if not have your parents listen while you play it on each flute (preferably out of sight/behind them/where they can't try to figure out which one's which) and play it on whichever flute sounds best to them. 'Cause you're hearing it differently from someone in front of you.

I hope your solo went fine despite your nervousness. Do you already know how you did, or do they announce it later?

>'Kat