The orchestra and I got along swimmingly; they seemed to like me, and I certainly liked and respected them. But it became increasingly clear that, at points when I would give too much energy and motion, they would reflexively respond by holding back. It was as if they were saying: “We’re with you, but we can’t allow ourselves to make sounds that are less than beautiful, so we have to pull back a bit.” What those wonderful professionals rein- forced in me was, in part, something I already knew: that my students at home were amazing, and that they always “give their all” to try to honor any musical request. How- ever, my students aren’t yet professionals and, because they haven’t yet developed that sense of knowing when enough is enough, they are always willing to try to follow me to the “top of the mountain,” no matter the cost. It became clear that, perhaps, I had been musically leading them to places that were not always in their best interest, and, at times, less than beautiful sounds were the result. In other words, to quote a great teacher I once knew: “Be careful…the group might actually be watching you!”
OCTOBER 2017
It appears that this “old dog” still has many “new
tricks” to learn, and it has been both a pleasure and a challenge for me to try to incorporate a more refined, focused, and balanced use of energy while on the podium during the past academic year. Thanks to my 10 days in Bulgaria, I am no longer “stuck.” In fact, I’m more excited then ever to get back to work! I will forever be grateful to all those wonderful teachers, students, and professional players during my short time there. It’s easy to become comfortable, even complacent,
about how we music educators work. After having lived in several places across the country, I have observed that it’s particularly easy for that to happen in New Jersey. I have grown to love New Jersey, though our state is di- vided into 584 different school districts; most with their own school boards, administrators, and educational stan- dards. It can be quite safe and comfortable to simply re- main in our own, small worlds, ignoring most of what happens beyond them. Because our state is so fractured, it’s particularly here in New Jersey that each of us must constantly strive to expand and deepen our view of mu-
35 TEMPO
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76
