At Greysen we’ve just finished our 2014 residential summer school for Conducting and Musician Management. We were fortunate enough to host 5 musicians/music teachers from far and wide, and gain a broader insight into the state of musicians and teachers in their existing roles in mentoring institutions.
So I’m going to climb up on my soap box for a couple of minutes to expound on how it is up to YOU to create the right environment for your students. I’ll start with the mantra “excellence does not require perfection”. Settle for excellence. Strive for it. Every program will have its strengths and weaknesses; every program will have players who come and go, but you need to keep your sights focused on creating an excellent environment for your students.
In many cases you could be the first time your players/singers have been exposed to music. They ummed and ahhed about joining choir, and finally they plucked up the courage to join – so put yourself in their shoes for a moment. Imagine you plucked up the courage (for example) to finally try skydiving (and let’s face it, for some music students playing music in front of others is equally scary). To embark on your skydiving expedition, you ring the school, you make a time, maybe you fill out some paperwork and buy some suitable clothing for the occasion. You’re excited. Scared, but excited. Finally the day arrives and you rock up at the school, only to find the instructor faffing about with the parachute. Or maybe he has an off-sider doing that role for him, but he still looks like he’s not 100% sure of the ‘backstage’ operation (forgive my showbiz speak). He tells you he’s jumped thousands of times, so you’ll be fine. Would you go ahead with the jump? If so, would you take a second go? I wager you probably wouldn’t, and it’s the same for your band kids. They don’t care how many kickass gigs you’ve done if you look like a newbie up on the podium.
This issue is addressed in our courses at Greysen, although we refer to it as “asset management”. Once you realise that your players are assets who need managing, you realise that if they’re not managed, they’re not maintained. And if they’re not maintained, they’re not musicians (or at least not musicians in your program!) We talked about this a lot at the summer school, and some of our participants hadn’t yet considered this as a train of thought.
This is particularly poignant at the moment, with news headlines plagued with cuts to the funding of orchestras (click to read about funding cuts to QYO) and musicians struggling to find a valued place in the industry. Just recently it was announced that players in the Minnesota Orchestra ended a 15 month dispute over pay cuts, and I can’t help but wonder if we would still be reading these headlines if their management and more of their audience members had received a quality musical exposure in their formative years. We’re seeing it too in the Army – Australia’s #1 employer of professional musicians – which has had to cut some bands back from full time musicians to reservists, and re-structure other bands from full military wind ensemble to a big band, in response to a combination of funding and what’s popular.
Remember, the first exposure to music is what could make or break someone’s life in music. It’s up to you how you help steer their musical endeavours, and whether you turn out James Morrison the trumpeter or James Morrison the plasterer.
Whatever you do, enjoy your music.
GG
PS we all had a ball at the summer school. If you’re thinking about coming out for a course, check out some of the feedback we’ve received!
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