Just for the joy of it
Before I get started, Happy Tax Day! (OK, fine, it's not a happy day for the vast majority of us, but now at least we'll be done with it for another year.)
An interesting article in the New York Times today ; it's a slice-of-life piece on a young violinist in central Ohio and her decision to attend nursing school ("Everybody gets sick", she says) rather than going away to college to become a music teacher (noting that arts in schools are often the first to be affected by budget cuts). Blame for thwarted dreams is placed on our uncertain times, when virtually-assured employment trumps pursuit of one's passions. The article follows her to a high school orchestra competition in New York, and it's the final line that caught my attention:
What role music will play in her life, she doesn’t know. But for now, at least, she is on a New York stage, wearing a borrowed black gown, playing a borrowed eBay violin, and Tchaikovsky holds her.
What struck me was the "either/or" assumption here; either she attends college to become a music teacher or she gives music up completely to pursue nursing.
I've taught a great deal over my career so far - everything from theory and eartraining classes to conducting lessons and chamber music coachings, to all levels of students. I don't assume my students will pursue music as a profession; I certainly would not encourage a musical career, and I urge even my most gifted students not to take the leap unless they absolutely could not imagine life otherwise. In fact, I can think of few better scenarios than a talented musician entering a different field professionally, making a good living, and enjoying music on their own terms, on their own time, for their own pleasure. Why not be an active amateur musician and have the best of all possible worlds?
My father, a lawyer by trade, was an enthusiastic amateur pianist, and my most cherished childhood memories are of gathering around the piano to sing as he played, or sitting next to him and playing four-hand duets (at some point in the history of leisure time, pre-TV, such a scenario was undoubtedly more common!). His skill as an organist was what helped him fund his college education, so he must have been really good back in the day; but he was practical about the difference between making a living and having a lifelong passion separate from one's career.
One of my first jobs post-conservatory was as music director of a community orchestra - some professional musicians, but mostly amateurs - an ensemble good enough to play all the big repertoire pieces, which was fantastic for me. What struck me about this orchestra was that despite fairly disparate skill levels, the level of commitment and enthusiasm at our weekly rehearsals was astonishing, and consistent. In fact, I remember that one of my very first rehearsals with them (the group was based in Princeton, NJ) was on September 12, 2001 - and the single member missing from that rehearsal was the second trombonist, an FBI investigator, who was needed at Ground Zero.
Amateur music-making can be of incredibly high quality, but really, near-professional quality is not necessary for the deep enjoyment of simply making music. I believe we've mentioned the Really Terrible Orchestra on this blog before - the "cream of Edinburgh's musically disadvantaged" - clearly, skill (or lack thereof!) is no impediment to relishing the experience of making music.
And then there is the "Rock Choir" which has become something of a sensation across the pond. All proof positive that there lies within all of us a fundamental creative drive, a desire to make music; not because we have to, but just for the joy of it:
An interesting article in the New York Times today ; it's a slice-of-life piece on a young violinist in central Ohio and her decision to attend nursing school ("Everybody gets sick", she says) rather than going away to college to become a music teacher (noting that arts in schools are often the first to be affected by budget cuts). Blame for thwarted dreams is placed on our uncertain times, when virtually-assured employment trumps pursuit of one's passions. The article follows her to a high school orchestra competition in New York, and it's the final line that caught my attention:
What role music will play in her life, she doesn’t know. But for now, at least, she is on a New York stage, wearing a borrowed black gown, playing a borrowed eBay violin, and Tchaikovsky holds her.
What struck me was the "either/or" assumption here; either she attends college to become a music teacher or she gives music up completely to pursue nursing.
I've taught a great deal over my career so far - everything from theory and eartraining classes to conducting lessons and chamber music coachings, to all levels of students. I don't assume my students will pursue music as a profession; I certainly would not encourage a musical career, and I urge even my most gifted students not to take the leap unless they absolutely could not imagine life otherwise. In fact, I can think of few better scenarios than a talented musician entering a different field professionally, making a good living, and enjoying music on their own terms, on their own time, for their own pleasure. Why not be an active amateur musician and have the best of all possible worlds?
My father, a lawyer by trade, was an enthusiastic amateur pianist, and my most cherished childhood memories are of gathering around the piano to sing as he played, or sitting next to him and playing four-hand duets (at some point in the history of leisure time, pre-TV, such a scenario was undoubtedly more common!). His skill as an organist was what helped him fund his college education, so he must have been really good back in the day; but he was practical about the difference between making a living and having a lifelong passion separate from one's career.
One of my first jobs post-conservatory was as music director of a community orchestra - some professional musicians, but mostly amateurs - an ensemble good enough to play all the big repertoire pieces, which was fantastic for me. What struck me about this orchestra was that despite fairly disparate skill levels, the level of commitment and enthusiasm at our weekly rehearsals was astonishing, and consistent. In fact, I remember that one of my very first rehearsals with them (the group was based in Princeton, NJ) was on September 12, 2001 - and the single member missing from that rehearsal was the second trombonist, an FBI investigator, who was needed at Ground Zero.
Amateur music-making can be of incredibly high quality, but really, near-professional quality is not necessary for the deep enjoyment of simply making music. I believe we've mentioned the Really Terrible Orchestra on this blog before - the "cream of Edinburgh's musically disadvantaged" - clearly, skill (or lack thereof!) is no impediment to relishing the experience of making music.
And then there is the "Rock Choir" which has become something of a sensation across the pond. All proof positive that there lies within all of us a fundamental creative drive, a desire to make music; not because we have to, but just for the joy of it:
Labels: contemporary culture, music education, the business of music
posted by Sarah at
5:08 PM
3 Comments:
What made this story so heartbreaking (at least as it was reported – and it may be in the telling as much as anything) was not so much that a talented musician had decided to pursue a career in medicine instead of music. Rather it was the impression given that life circumstances had caused this young woman to relinquish dreams and to take on a pragmatic view of life and the world at an age when we should still be able to entertain everything the imagination can suggest.
I contrast it with a very talented high school friend of mine. A fine pianist who went on to be a doctor. Being a doctor was her dream, music was her passion. Both existed together (and continued to do so). But she was lucky not to face the challenges raised in the Ohio story and so there was never any sense of thwarted dreams in her attitude or of hard pragmatism taking over from youthful passion. Never did she give the impression that choice had been taken from her (it wasn't), and that's the thing about this NYT article: its underlying message is about the removal of choice.
Let's hope this young woman (who is clearly intelligent, very resilient and an incredibly hard worker as well as being talented) does discover the role that music will play in her life after high school.
As Sarah says:"; I certainly would not encourage a musical career, and I urge even my most gifted students not to take the leap unless they absolutely could not imagine life otherwise. In fact, I can think of few better scenarios than a talented musician entering a different field professionally, making a good living, and enjoying music on their own terms, on their own time, for their own pleasure. Why not be an active amateur musician and have the best of all possible worlds?
I express this idea as: music is a wonderful hobby and a not-so-wonderful profession.
I'm not good enough to be a pro, but I can't imagine my life without involvement in music as a player and as an audience member. (We DO pay the bills, after all!)
Bill in Dallas
What I found so sad about the story was what struck me as the penny-wise, pound-foolish conundrum the young lady finds herself in, and through no fault of her own. Never mind music; not going to college will simply rob her of nearly any chance of career success or even a middle-class life (Though if she becomes a RN she'll make a better, and much more reliable, living than most musicians). I am fortunate that when I was 18 I had the parental support to ensure that there would be many years years to go before I had to worry about supporting myself, and didn't have to worry about throwing away the future to survive in the present.
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