SEVEN children, six days and 31 performances – this is a hectic time of year for the Kendrick family.
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Mother of seven Julia Kendrick has been a familiar sight at the 69th annual Bathurst Eisteddfod this week.
Across six days of competition, six of her seven children took to the stage for singing and musical performances.
“It’s lovely. They look so small on stage and it’s so nice being able to watch not only them, but all the other children perform,” she said.
Oldest child Elijah, 12, plays the violin and has enjoyed his three performances.
“I was very young when I started doing early childhood [music] with Max,” he said of his younger sibling.
“I enjoy it, it’s like a hobby. When I get spare time I play songs from The Lord Of The Rings.”
Second-oldest Maximilian, 11, topped the family for the most performances this week: 13.
“I don’t get nervous. I find it easy and I think about the song and the character, and I do facial expressions to tell the story,” he said.
Middle child Kateri, 8, plays the cello and has also hit the stage a number of times this week to perform.
“I said to Mum I wanted to play it and it’s lots of fun,” she said.
Mrs Kendrick said neither she nor her husband Paul are musical.
“It’s not from me and my husband, but there’s musical people on both sides of the family and they must have inherited that,” she said.
“Elijah asked to play the violin at three and Max wanted to do something ... it’s just snowballed from there.”
The lead-up to the eisteddfod was a bit “chaotic”, according to Mrs Kendrick, who made costumes and organised music sheets ready for the children’s many performances.
“They all play instruments ... they’re also doing quartets and duos,” she said.
“They are just all musical; it’s a lot of fun.
“Having all the music around the house is beautiful.”
Youngest child, Ignatius, 3, was too young for this year’s eisteddfod, but Mrs Kendrick said she is sure he will want to join his siblings on stage in 2015.
Their home-schooling was called off this week to allow for the family’s hectic performance schedule.
Mrs Kendrick said she would love if the children continued their interest in music throughout their lives.