A. Seasons and Finding Fulfillment

In recent weeks I have been thinking a great deal the various seasons that we experience in a career. It seems to me, as I complete my 31st year as a teacher, I have experienced 3 significantly different seasons in terms of how I relate to students and how students relate to me.

The initial phase is the first 5-10 years. For this article, I will call this “young teacher.”  The middle 15-20 years will be referred to as the “Advancing Professional.”  Finally, the 20 year plus teacher will be referred to as the “Seasoned Pro.” The transitions between seasons can be difficult and certainly have been for me to some extent.  I have realized that we must be mindful of the seasons and our role that we serve for our students and for our teaching community in each of these seasons.  If we are not mindful and reflective of these seasons, things can become difficult for us.

About 18 months ago I developed a conference session for the University of North Carolina at Greensboro’s Southeast String Teachers Conference. The session was created at the request of my friend, Dr. Rebecca McLeod, and centered around the topic of finding career fulfillment as a string educator. I presented the session in January, 2017 and it was very well received by college students and seasoned professionals alike. The session presented 7 different models for looking at career fulfillment and encouraged colleagues to consider which model resonated with them in the most profound way. I found the various models in books on the topic, on social media, through light research, and even created a couple of the models myself based on my life and experience, coupled with conversations with colleagues.

In May 2018 I was invited to give a session at the Music and Arts Directors Clinics in Fredrick Maryland. I was asked to present to a mixed group of music educators including orchestra, band, choral, and general music teachers. After thinking about it for a while, I suggested the Career Fulfillment session as one that might resonate with my colleagues from a variety of disciplines. I spent a good deal of time revamping the session and updating it to match with my audience and current thinking. As part of the updating process, I began thinking about how we find our fulfillment in different ways as we move through different seasons of our career. This grew from the knowledge that the college students at UNCG responded equally enthusiastically to the content of the session as did teachers of 25 years or more. My guess was that the teachers at the Music and Arts Directors Clinics would be of a variety of ages.  This, coupled my own experience of the past few years and, frankly, struggling with some fulfillment issues, made the preparation process challenging and enlightening.  For a look at the session handout and the 7 models, click here.

One of the models which I developed is called “The Journey Begins.” In this model, I ask teachers to consider their sphere of influence as it relates to their students and their professional community (colleagues at work and beyond). I ask them to consider what their sphere of influence is or what they would like it to be during each of their career seasons.   In the weeks since giving the talk, it has become more and more apparent to me in my transition from “Advancing Professional” to “Seasoned Pro,” I have realized that I have not been reflective about differences in how students might relate to me how I need to be comfortable with my current sphere of influence and skill set.  This reflection is certainly an important facet of career fulfillment.  Here is an example of the potential discomfort and transition:  I am now the age of my student's parents or older.  Lets face it. Kids relate differently to their parents and their parents' peers than they do to younger adults.  My role is no  longer Mr. Laird the "cool (hopefully) young"  teacher.  I really do think that was once me.  But, that really can't be me any more.  Now I aspire to be the compassionate parental influence in my students' lives.  But, in my conversations with young teachers and advancing professionals, I may have the opportunity to share some of my experience and provide information, inspiration, or insights to their situation.  I have walked in their shoes and come out the other side.  My role and sphere of influence has changed and will continue to change.  We must be reflective to find peace in that transition.  (Otherwise we might even become dissatisfied or bitter.  Did you ever know a teacher in that situation?)

I have been privileged to spend the last 4 days with a small group (30 or so) of string educators from around the country at the Conn Selmer Institute.  Is part of our time together, I have had numerous conversations with pre-service teachers from many collegiate programs, young teachers, advancing professionals, and seasoned pro colleagues.  Many of those conversations centered around career, career advancement, time management, and overall fulfillment.  All of us, in one way or another, are chasing fulfillment though impact.  And all of us are in different seasons and phases of our careers and personal lives.  What a rich tapestry of conversation and ideas.

I encountered a pre-service teacher while at CSI who told me that he used to be an Environmental Science major and had changed recently to Music Education.  I asked how the change was going.  His response was that his life is now so much more fulfilling!  That  really moved me.  He, of course, had no idea who I was or that I was interested particularly in the concept of fulfillment. He was simply at the conference, soaking up all of the information he could from the expert faculty, and making connections with other folks that were interested in the same things ye was interested in.  He was seeking out the fulfillment that he was missing in his previous major.   I applaud him for chasing fulfillment and not reputation, money, or fame.  I assured him that with fulfillment in his sights as a goal, he couldn't go wrong!

What season are you in?  Have you been reflective about transitions from season to season?  Have you experienced any of the discomfort I describe?

My Dad spend over 25 yeas as a school superintendent and retired over 20 years ago.  I was telling my him about this line of thought a few weeks ago.  As part of the conversation he mentioned that it reminded him of some of the research he did on Maslow and Self Actualization as part of his dissertation in the early 1970's.  Come back to my blog in coming days part part 2 of this article where I take a look at Maslow's research and theories and attempt to superimpose them on this concept of career fulfillment.

Meanwhile, I wish you all fulfillment in your career and life as a music educator or in whatever you do!

Peace.
Scott

Immersive Experience

This past weekend was a busy one at the North Carolina School of Science and Math. We had a number of performances and the weekend finished up with the magnificent lecture by our current featured guest visual artist, Heather Gordon.

Heather Gordon is a magnificent, scholarly visual artist who's work centers around complex origami patterns based on a variety of data sets. Her lecture last night served to explain her current installation at NCSSM entitled "Elements." Her work centers around the concept of alchemy and features 4 large works which are made out of tape on two dimensional wall surfaces. They are titled, "Sun," "Moon," "Sulfur," and "Mercury." She explained the significance of these 4  "elements" as part of her lecture and went on to describe her creative process and the highly sophisticated mathematical equations that are required to complete this type of work.  The artwork is simply magnificent and inspires me every day when I walked into the building at the school. 

As part of her lecture, she introduced a couple of concepts that I can't stop thinking about today.  One is that "ideas + material =  transformation." The other is her commitment to what she referred to as "Immersive  Installation."  That is, that the consumer of her art is immersed in art. They are literally inside the art. This is achieved by creating an actual space that the consumer walks into. Obviously this requires large spaces and large artwork. The installation at ncssm is an example of this very thing. When viewing this exhibit, the consumer is literally in the middle of Sulphur, Mercury, Sun, and Moon.  The experience of being immersed in this exhibit is quite powerful. I was moved by her explanation and commitment to the immersive art experience.  (There is a great deal more to the implied metaphor here. I will stop short of explaining all of it now. But, if you are interested in it, there is much to learn about alchemy on the all powerful Google machine.)

Stay with me now as I draw a strong connection between these ideas and my experience of preparing for an orchestra performance and performing as part of an orchestra.

This past weekend, my Orchestra performed Mozart's "Jupiter" Symphony, No. 41. As we came to the end of the final movement, I found myself disappointed that the process was over. My students had been immersed in and in preparation for this performance for the past 3 months. To see it come to an end is certainly part of the process. Albeit, a somewhat melancholy aspect of the process.

As part of her lecture, Heather talked about the process of taking down her installations. She pulls this copious amount of tape off the walls of the exhibit space. Someone asked her what that process of tearing down the exhibit is like. Her response was,  "Well, at the end I have a big ball of tape." And that too is part of the artwork. It's part of the immersive experience.

This is not unlike the final release of the final note of a great musical work. In the end we have our memory of the experience. We have a "huge ball of tape," one that will last and stay with us forever in our memory and in our heart.

Another event of the past weekend was the University of North Carolina at Greensboro Southeast Honors String Festival. My youngest son, who is 15, participated in the ensemble as a string bassist. Now, it is important to know that his primary passion is not the string bass. Nor is it orchestra music. His primary passion is baseball. Given the opportunity to choose to do anything with his day, he would prefer to be on the baseball field. I love that about him. He is passionate about his sport and all of his activities. But, this weekend he was a bassist in a wonderful Honors Orchestra conducted by my dear friend Alex Jimenez from Florida State University. The concert was magnificent. They played works by Hovhaness, Kirk Mosier, and C. Armstrong Gibbs. On our way home from the performance, I was able to articulate to my son how important it is that he participate in this kind of activity. He, in fact, had the opportunity to be immersed in an artistic work. As a bassist he was part of the ensemble that created this incredibly beautiful sound. Sometimes that is lost on our students. The aesthetic opportunity to be immersed in a large ensemble making beautiful sounds is rare. Not everyone gets the opportunity to do this. I'm so happy that he has been exposed to these ideas and the materials and has this opportunity for transformation.  He will be a more complete human (husband, father, partner, teammate, friend) for having experienced this.

Which brings me back to that phrase, "Ideas + Materials = Transformation." Many of you know that I've been involved in KidzNotes, an El Sistema USA program in Durham, NC. This is a classic example of this concept of ideas plus materials equal transformation. Through the generous support of individual donors, kids notes provides both the materials and the ideas for underserved children in the area to be transformed. We have seen over and over that families and individuals, through the infusion of classical music and opportunities to experience and create art, are transformed.

Teachers do this every day. I think of my many colleagues around the United States who are providing ideas and materials to so many students who would otherwise not have the opportunity to participate in ensemble music. They are all experiencing the immersive art of the orchestral experience on a daily basis. They don't always realize this rare opportunity in the moment. But, as they move on to various careers, cities, family obligations, and environments, they will look back on their school orchestral experience as a transformative time in their life. I have seen it time and time again.

So today, I share with you these two phrases: the concept of "Immersive Installations and "Ideas + Materials = Transformation." I encourage you to consider these today and never lose sight of the fact that we are instruments of transformation in the lives of our students.

Peace.

Scott

Southeast String Conference 2017

Hi all!
This post is for all that are attending my session at the UNCG Southeast String Conference on Jan 21, 2017.
Thanks for coming to my session!  I have some links that you will find to be helpful.

Finding and Maintaining Fulfillment in your Career in String Education:

• Survey

• Handout:

Finger Patterns as a Vehicle to Major Scales and Upper Positions

• Handout

• Shared folder of resources

• Backtracks and playlists

Fulfillment Continued

It is Saturday, January 23, 2016, and I am sitting in my office at home thinking about the presentations I would have been giving at UNCG's Southeast String Festival and Conference had we not experienced this huge intersection with winter weather this weekend. Sadly, the conference was cancelled for this year and those of us that were slated to speak have been booked for the 2017 conference already. I look forward to that experience and to offering my session at that time. Meanwhile, I had solicited participation in my informal survey as part of my preparation for that talk. I promised that I would provide some information here regarding the session following today's conference. That said, I want you all to know that I also hope to present this session in the future at an ASTA conference, and continue to develop it for presentations at NAfME and perhaps Midwest Clinic conferences if proposals are accepted. My colleague, NCSSM Music Instructor Philip Riggs, and I intend to develop this further and add a few twists to it for future presentations.

With that in mind, I will simply outline a little bit of what I put together for the session here, and give a more detailed look at the model that I have created on Finding Fulfillment in Your Career in String (music) Education . For the session, I have pulled together six different models of fulfillment from a variety of resources. One of those models was a Venn diagram that made its way around Facebook several months ago. Another is detailed in the book Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. Still another is outlined in the book, Crazy Busy, by Kevin DeYoung . Another is drawn from the CNBC hit series the Profit. Finally, there are two others that grow from a variety of personal perspectives: one that I call the Organizational Model and another that I call the Teacher/Artist/Performer Model.  The Teacher/Artist/Performer Model is the one that I can really take individual credit for. So, let me outline that model for you here.

My life, experience, and career in string education has certainly been an interesting journey. I definitely feel that I have had one of the most fulfilling experiences that I could possibly have had. I don't know that I set out to be fulfilled in the beginning. But, I do know that over the years I've made a number of decisions and developed a number of philosophies that have led me to be able to look back over the past 30 years with a sense of true fulfillment. When I began working on this session, I sat down and thought about the areas of my professional and personal life that I find most fulfilling as a music educator. After all, if I feel fulfilled, perhaps there is a model here that I can share with others. I began jotting down various criteria of fulfillment that I have experienced. Over the ensuing weeks and months, I have tested this model out with my experience on a day in and day out basis. At this point I feel pretty confident that I can share the model that I've come up with as a sort-of personal story.

To set this model up just a little bit, I'd like to tell you a bit about my week last week. I came home on Friday night and said to my wife, “I just finished one of the most fulfilling weeks that I have ever had as a string educator.” How could that possibly be? It wasn't a particularly special week. There were no major performances. I wasn't given any awards. And, I really don't think there was any major recognition for me other than my own recognition that it was a great week. What could possibly have been involved?

On Monday I had taught my regular classes of two sections of Classical Piano and Guitar and my Recording Technology class. In each of these classes I felt like I was really connecting with students. They were meeting their personal goals and enjoying the interaction that we shared. As part of my Piano and Guitar class, I had encouraged students to consider the music theory assignments they were working on and apply the information to performance on their instruments. This became a catalyst for some wonderful conversation and interaction as well as some real “aha” moments. A number of the students thanked me for drawing their attention to this concept and I really appreciated their remarks. In my recording class, we were working on creative recording projects and there was a good spirit of energy in the room as kids prepared for this exciting assignment and sharing it with their classmates. On Tuesday, we had another round of Piano and Guitar with similar results and an evening orchestra rehearsal focusing on Dvorak’s Symphony No 8, 4th movement. everyone was in seats early for rehearsal , participated fully, and at the end of the evening we were ready for our performance scheduled for the following Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On Wednesday in rehearsal, I took some time to tell the students about this session that I was preparing and their reactions were very favorable. Then, I invited a student who had attended a master class the evening before, missing rehearsal, to share what he had learned with the rest of the class. This was a springboard to a wonderful conversation about the Alexander Technique and how many of the topics covered intersected with concept I had outlined in orchestra in the previous months. This again made for an amazing class. Finally, I shared this session with my colleague, Adam Sampieri, Drama Instructor at my school and he really affirmed my work.  We had a deep and meaningful discussion as a result to end to the day. Thursday was similar to Tuesday in Classical Piano and Guitar. My recording students presented their projects to the class and were involved in a really cool self-assessment activity. Then, after school I attended a teacher award ceremony and celebrated the accomplishments of several distinguished colleagues at NCSSM.  Following that, I was involved in a strategic planning meeting where we had an invigorating discussion about real world experiences and the future of our institution. Friday brought another wonderful orchestra rehearsal and some opportunities for me to finish up some paperwork in my office and reconnect with a colleague who had been out the previous week.  I also moved a ton of furniture and prepared for a variety of events that were scheduled that weekend in our facility.  I also heard several individual students play their regional orchestra audition piece for me prior to their upcoming audition on Saturday.  Incidentally, I spent all day Saturday at Regional Orchestra Auditions as did many of my colleagues.  There were many great collegial conversations and reconnections throughout the day.  I came home on Saturday evening exhausted but invigorated from a very fulfilling week of work.

As I reflected on my week, I realized that my week had encompassed all of the criteria in the model that I had created and had been sharing with students and colleagues. What an amazing revelation. I was living my model. So, what is involved in the teacher artist performer model of career fulfillment?   Fulfillment in this model is based on the following criteria:

•             Individual Relationships (with students)

•             Ensemble satisfaction (Team climate)

•             Ensemble satisfaction (Performance Caliber)

•             Professional Growth

•             Personal Artistic Satisfaction

•             Professional Relationships

Each of these criteria had been met during my week. My interaction with and relationships with individual students had been off the charts. I have built my Classical Piano and Guitar class in such a way that individual relationships are the foundation of the class. And, I realized many years ago that at my institution, individual relationships really have to come first. I was completely satisfied with the climate in my ensemble throughout the week. We had productive rehearsals, students were invested, and there was a real satisfaction in this for me. Also, the performance caliber of my ensemble was wonderful. I love the repertoire that we are working on and I believe the students do as well. I had numerous opportunities for professional growth, including working on this session. I felt really good about the work I was doing and the things I was learning, and how I can apply them to my classroom. While I didn't have any violin performances during the week, I was finding strong artistic satisfaction in my conducting throughout the week and knew that there would be conducting opportunity on Monday, right around the corner. Finally, through discussions, regional orchestra auditions, and celebrations, my professional relationships with colleagues were extraordinary throughout the week.  I felt fulfilled.  My model held up. 

In the days following the week, I had several conversations with other colleagues about their level of fulfillment. It is been interesting to learn that I can pinpoint each of these criteria after talking with a fulfilled colleague. I can also pinpoint the criteria that are missing in a colleague's experience if they are less than fulfilled. How about you? How do these criteria resonate with you? Or, is there another criterion that I have missed? Think of your most fulfilling day, week or year of work. Have you met each of these criteria? Think of your least fulfilling day, week, or year of work. Which of these criteria was missing? Can you work to enhance that which is least fully met?  I do believe that I have built a career on this factors, albeit unknowingly.  These are the things that I care about on a daily basis and have pursued. (Obviously there are others, but these jump out.)

I value your reaction. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment. And, I wish you all a fulfilling day, week, year, career. I hope to see you at a conference in the future!

Peace.

Scott

Unscheduled Family Time

Sunday was my day off here in Michigan. So, we loaded the family into the car and headed North, to the Upper Peninsula and the Mackinac Bridge and Island. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the spot, it is where the Upper Peninsula of Michigan meets the mainland, connected by a 5-mile suspension bridge. The nearby island is an isolated bit of land where there are no motorized vehicles, plenty of bikes and horse drawn carriages, a magnificent state park, lovely hotels, and a variety of great shops and attractions. One can only get to the island by ferry. We had a wonderful day that included a beautiful 2-hour drive up North from Interlochen, A wet ride on the ferry to the island, exploring Fort Mackinac, sampling fudge in at least 6 candy stores, some great food, and beautiful views of the lakes, the bridge, and the terrain. We were also pleased to be joined by my music librarian for the week, Jacey, a grad student from UNCG who is working here for the summer.

 

I have been reflecting a great deal the last few days about how nice it is to have so much unscheduled family time while we are here. We had the opportunity to sign our younger sons up for classes while here. It is very tempting. The instruction is world class and the opportunities are all over the place for magnificent arts education. (Our oldest son is a day-camper and is having a fantastic time and a marvelous learning experience.) We, however, resisted the temptation to sign up for classes for the younger guys, placing more of a priority on the opportunity for unscheduled family trips, experiences, music-making, etc. I feel like such a huge percentage of our life is scheduled. We, like nearly all families that I know, have school, sports, church events, music lessons, and a variety of other scheduled commitments that keep us very non-spontaneous throughout any typical week.

 

The time that we are spending here, has been unbelievably refreshing as a family. We have spontaneously gone swimming, attended concerts, had jam sessions, run out to eat, gone sight-seeing, gone for walks, etc. At first, we noticed that it was a little hard for the kids. They had a hard time just getting up and going to do something that was unplanned. As the past week has worn on, they have gained some comfort in the process.

 

On Monday, we took the concept even a bit further. I had a morning rehearsal and the rest of the day was unscheduled. We decided to take a trip up the Old Mission Peninsula. This was quite possibly our favorite area that we have found here in Northern Michigan. A thin strip of land, surrounded on both sides by the Traverse Bay, the area is full of cherry orchards, vineyards, wineries, unbelievable bay views, a magnificent lighthouse at the northern end, and lovely homes situated on the water or on majestic farmland. Our day included a variety of impromptu stops, including wading underneath the lighthouse and picnicking and swimming on the western side at a great little public beach. Interestingly, our kids most enjoyed a little community park near Bowers Harbor Winery on the east side of the peninsula. They played soccer and created an impromptu game of tag that they could have played literally all day. My wife and I sat and ate cherries that we bought at a road-side stand, talked, and enjoyed the oncoming evening, watching our three guys enjoy each other's company. Life is good.

 

Yes – I believe that the unscheduled family time will go down as my favorite part of this experience. Don't get me wrong. There are lots of other great memories being created. We have seen superior concerts, I am loving my work with my orchestra, my son is having a great experience as a camper, and there are many others. But, the luxury of unscheduled family time is truly a treasure. I hope you all get a chance to experience it in your lives at some point as well. It doesn't happen often!

 

Peace.

 

Scott

 

 

 

NC String Teachers: Southeastern Strings Conference

String teachers in the NC area:
January 21 is a state-wide in-service day for teachers. Please consider attending the Southeastern Strings Conference at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I will be giving a session on electric bowed strings and there will be many fine sessions throughout the day. During my session, we will have an ensemble of NS Design instruments set up for attendees to try. We will provide charts for the ensemble and we will simply all experience playing in an electric string ensemble. I will explain panning and the use of a PA system, monitors, and basic EFX processing. We will have an NXT Bass and Cello, a CR violin and viola, the new 5 string Wav, and many other NS Instruments for you to try out as an ensemble. It will be a blast! It is not too late to register.

Pre-Register by phone: call 1-800-999-2869 and have your Visa or MasterCard ready.
Conference Fee & NC Renewal Credit Verification of Attendance

There is a $40.00 fee for all instructors attending the String Teachers Conference. This fee will cover all instruction, handouts, clinician expenses, and refreshments. You may be able to obtain one unit of North Carolina Certificate Renewal Credit by attending this event. Please Pre-Register by mail or by telephone. To Pre-Register by phone, simply call us toll-free at 1-800-999-2869 and have your Visa or MasterCard ready. (Please Pre-Register!!) The on-site registration fee on Thursday evening, January 20, will be $50.00.



Here is a list of events.
Southeast String Festival Teachers Conference

Master Class, Dimitry Sitkovetski
New Music Reading Session, Lynne Latham, Latham Music, a Lorenz Company
Electric Strings, Scott Laird
Jazz Clinic for String Educators, Steve Haines
Upper String Pedagogy, Marjorie Bagley, Fabian Lopez, Scott Rawls
Old Time Ensemble Music, Revell Carr and Gavin Douglas
Lower String Pedagogy, Craig Brown and Alex Ezerman
Achieving an Artistic Vibrato in the String Class, Rebecca B. MacLeod
Incorporating Students With Disabilities In Your Orchestra Classroom, Jennifer Stewart Walter
String Instrument Repair, Melody Choplin

Thursday
Time Session Location
7:45 Introductions School of Music Recital Hall
8:15-9:30 Reading Session sponsored by School of Music Recital Hall
Latham Music, a Lorenz Company
9:30 Refreshments, student rehearsal ends Recital Hall Atrium

Friday
9:00-9:50 Electric Strings, Scott Laird EUC Auditorium
10:00-10:50 Jazz Strings, Steve Haines EUC Auditorium
11:10-12:10 Violin Pedagogy EUC Auditorium
Marjory Bagley and Fabian Lopez
12:10-1:15 Lunch
1:15-2:15 Viola and Cello Pedagogy EUC Auditorium
Scott Rawls and Alex Ezerman
2:15 Walk to Aycock Auditorium
2:30-3:20 Old Time Music Aycock Auditorium
Gavin Douglas and Revell Carr
3:30-4:20 Artistic Vibrato, Rebecca MacLeod Aycock Lower Level
4:30-5:00 McIver Quartet Performance Aycock Auditorium
5:00-6:00 Dinner
6:00-7:00 Observe Rehearsal Aycock Auditorium
7:30 GSO Chamber Concert School of Music Recital Hall

Saturday
9:00-9:50 Students with Disabilities, Jennifer Walter Aycock Lower Level
10:00-10:50 String Repair Lab, Melody Choplin Aycock Lower Level
11:00-12:00 Dimitry Sitkovetski Aycock Auditorium
12:00 Lunch
1:30 Dress Rehearsal Aycock Auditorium
2:30 Concert Aycock Auditorium

Miniterm 2010

Hi all.
Here at NCSSM, we just completed our annual "min-term." It is a 9 day, short session that permits students to focus on a single subject in an "in depth" manner. This year, I sponsored a course entitled "Eastern Regional Orchestra" The students that enrolled for the course were involved in the NCMEA Eastern Regional Orchesta, which I hosted at NCSSM this year. A few of the students were not able to perform in the group for various reasons and helped me with all of the administrative details throughout the weekend. For the first 2 days of mini-term, performing students were able to practice the literature to be performed and prepare for their seating auditions. The event itself, ran from Friday evening through Sunday evening. Then, for the remaining 5 days of the course, we attended a variety of concerts, watched numerous DVD's of famous symphonies, and studied the history behind the works that we were witnessing. The following are excerpts from the journals that students kept throughout the mini-term. I asked them to write thoughtful entries about the work they were doing and the music they were witnessing. I think you will agree that the expectations of the assignment were met with flying colors!

Peace,
Scott

Today I began to appreciate our guest conductor more. Last night, I felt like it was harder to communicate with him in comparison to conductors in the past. I know that, especially after coming to NCSSM, I try to have good eye contact with conductors at Honors and ERO, but it wasn’t really happening. Sometimes, I didn’t even feel like watching him even helped. But today, things started to piece together. We actually started sounding better than yesterday. I particularly liked his method of “matching” our bows. We got a much better sound as a section this way, and it’s definitely something I’ll use in the future. I also really enjoyed how even when he talked to a certain section about one particular section, the whole orchestra could learn from what he was saying.

I also liked our lesson on sostenuto. I liked the idea of always having this strong tone, but just adjusting the bow speed according to the kind of note or sound we wanted (for example, just changing bow speed but maintaining that tone). I felt like our whole section sounded better after learning about this technique.

Tonight we went to hear Tuskegee University’s Golden Voices Choir at Duke Chapel. It was a wonderful concert! It had been a few months since I’d been in Duke Chapel, so I was once again blown away by how beautiful a place it is. And the choir further magnified that beauty. Every time the choir finished a piece, their voices lingered in the air, filling the room with the last remnants of the music. I feel as though I could have listened to that sound alone for hours.
In all honesty, one of my favorite parts of the concert was watching the director, Dr. Barr. It was so interesting to see him truly leading the choir. With his gestures, he was able to control dynamics, tempo, phrasing, etc. Every eye in the choir was directed toward Dr. Barr, and I could hear his motions directly translate into the sound being produced. I believe it was this unity, this attention to detail, that made the music so powerful.

Our concert was really, really fantastic. The Hanson was so moving, and the theme has been stuck in my head all day. And the audience apparently liked William Tell a lot. The cello soloist messed up a little in the beginning, I know I messed up on my English horn solo (even though we both had done better in rehearsal), and for some reason my tongue was feeling sluggish once the Allegro Vivace (after the English horn and flute solo ended) began…but at the end, even before the conductor had cut off our final note, the audience was cheering and standing up. It’s the first time at a concert like this one that I’ve seen such a great reaction. Usually, despite how good the performance is, the parents stand and clap mostly because they’re parents, but I felt like today, they were ordinary, enthralled audience members.

I remember playing the last page of the William Tell. It’s when we begin accelerating, and everyone is loud and exciting and teetering on the edge, but not quite falling. It’s moments like those that make me love symphony orchestra so much, and playing overtures like William Tell so much. The brass and percussion sounds just surround you, like a tsunami wave of boldness and brightness. The strings in front of you are doing something insanely fast, while the bass players to your left are rounding out the bottom with their strong, deep sound. And even though the piccolo is about to tear apart your eardrums, even though you can’t really hear yourself because your instrument is totally lost among the countless other instruments, you feel like you are part of something so much greater, something that thousands of musicians before you have experienced with that exact same piece of music. I’m waxing poetic, I know, but it was definitely a concert I won’t forget.


While listening, I got a strange impression of the performance. We sat towards the back of the concert hall, and the orchestra was on the small side. As a result, all of the pieces sounded small and relatively soft. In a way, I felt a bit of a distance between myself and the performers. I guess I am used to hearing orchestral concerts by large ensembles that fill the concert hall and surround the listeners with sound. That this performance gave an impression of smallness and didn’t fill the hall made me feel like I was a part of another world; I didn’t feel like I got into the music much. I think there are two types of listening – active listening and passive listening. The first is what happens when I am really engaged in what I am hearing and I feel like I am a part of what I am listening to. Passive listening is what happens when I feel like I am a disconnected observer in a different world. In all honesty, my experience at this concert was more passive listening than active listening.

Today started off with a messy rehearsal. I felt discouraged by the fact that I did not have a good audition, but I understood that it was my fault for not practicing all of the music. Our conductor put the most effort into the Steel City Strut. By the looks and reactions of everyone in the room, I could discern that I was not the only one who struggled with this particular piece. The orchestras rehearsed from 9 AM until lunch. When lunch time arrived, I met up with some of my old Governor’s School friends and had a wonderful meal at Bali Hai. We took advantage of every second together and got back just in time for sectionals. The person in charge of coaching the cello section did not come on time and we wasted almost half an hour. I was beginning to feel irritated, but she finally arrived, and we began rehearsing right away. When we got started, my opinion of her changed almost right away. She was very efficient and had great strategies planned out. We worked quickly and her way of coaching got our heads to click. The improvement we made in less than an hour was mind-boggling. I was amazed by how much we accomplished in the little time we were given. Another break was given and I stocked up on some snacks and refreshments. Rehearsal resumed at 3:30 and I thought the orchestra was a hundred times better than what we started with. Instead of working on just getting the note and rhythms, the conductor actually began to work on dynamics and details. She said that we played too loud, as if we were “smashing baby chicks”, and that made my day. Things were looking much better and I began to feel a little better about everything. After rehearsal was over, I took a nap to rejuvenate myself and went to the pizza dinner. The food was great and I met many new people. The final session of rehearsal for the day resumed at 7 PM and continued until 9 PM. By this time, everyone was exhausted and sick of the music. It was a long day of music from 9 AM to 9 PM, but it was worthwhile. I gained a lot today and also had a great time with friends. I went to bed feeling happy and excited for the next day.

Today was a very long day. I have participated in many other clinics such as All-District, All-State Jazz, and so on, but this clinic seemed to last all day (which it did). I guess what separated this clinic from all the rest was that there was a considerable amount of resting for the brass sections. When we were asked to play, we asked to play in a really unusual style that I had never played before. Always I had been told to properly attack the note and be in time, but what he asked us to do was really follow the sound and not so much to the beat. We were to have a “horizontal” style of playing in that our phrasing and rhythm would stretch over the sounds of the strings, which was necessary for us to be coinciding. After a few trials and error, I think the brass really adapted to this style of playing and made the sounds of the ensemble sound that much better. We were all watching the tips of the string player’s bow to visually watch the beat and play off that instead of counting in our heads. I think this was one of the most valuable things that I will take away from this experience, as I will be able to apply this style of playing to future works with the orchestra.

Today, we took our trip to the Ludwig drum factory!

I found it interesting how so much of the work was still done by individual people rather than automated robots. Like the guide said, they aren’t exactly mass producing many generic products, so that plays into it. Still, it was touching to see local people putting on the parts and working on each portion of process by hand.

Even though I don’t play drums, I felt like I got a real treat going to the factory. It was amazing to see how much detail and care was put into creating each part of the drums, from treating the veneers in the climate-controlled room to the gluing and painting process. Like Mr. Laird mentioned to us all, it was interesting to see how all sorts of sciences contributed to making these drums. Right now, my plans are to continue with a degree in either general chemistry or chemical engineering, depending on which school I end up attending. That said, the science behind the glue and paint was particularly interesting to me (I found it really interesting that they used UV light to activate photoreceptors in the paint to finish the painting process!). Chemistry appeals to me in that its involved in everything, from the food we eat to the clothes we wear. All sorts of things you’d expect to be pretty simple involve lots of chemistry… and these drums have a lot of chemistry behind them too! It was awesome seeing the science involved in creating these drums.

The piece we studied today during our afternoon meeting was called Fantastic Symphony by Hector Berlioz. I really enjoyed this piece because it was interesting to imagine during the different movements what the conductor was thinking as he wrote it. The article definitely made the piece a lot more interesting because we knew the background story. I also noticed how in the beginning of the article it mentioned that Berlioz was “suffering from unrequited love for the Irish actress Harriet Smithson” and then later in the article when describing the Shakespearean actress it said “by this time had become his wife.” I couldn’t help smiling at those details.
The concert we attended was a graduate recital of Yooju Han. Although I do not personally play the flute, I had a fantastic time listening to her performance. The first piece, Sonata in G minor “La Lumagne”, Op. 2, No. 4 by Michel Blavet was interesting because of the interaction between the flute and the harpsichord. I was looking forward to hearing Peter Schickele after hearing that he was an interesting composer and I was not disappointed. I loved the performance that they gave of having Yooju Han play off stage on the left and then off stage on the right and then in the dark in the middle of the stage during the piece Spring Serenade. She was very talented.