Skip to main content

The 21st Century Musician

When you are preparing for a performance there comes a point at which you need to change from preparing for perfection to preparing for performance. Until I make that change I don't feel that I'm even close to being Prepared.

I've been working on the Rouse Oboe Concerto for months now. Maybe a year. But working on it in the abstract way that you do when you have all the time in the world and you want to really do it right.  Small passages, striving for perfection. Analysis. Looking at the score and the part and listening for tiny details in the orchestration. Contemplating the exact shapes I want to make in my slow movement, both big picture and small.

I love this abstract work, but there comes a point at which you have to bring your focus out a little and start to make the real compromises that live performance will require of you. Endurance becomes a factor. Real world nerves and the temperature on the stage. The actual reed you are actually going to play is almost certainly one of the reeds in your case right now.

I made that change very intentionally earlier this week - started doing full run-throughs instead of obsessing about detail after detail after detail. Started forgiving myself for small technical errors in the context of the big picture. Started focusing on the overall arc of the performance rather than on perfection in every detail. Started organizing the reed case.

And somehow, it didn't quite help. I still didn't feel comfortable or ready for my recitals, and they start THIS VERY SUNDAY. I couldn't figure out what I was missing.

And then I realized it. There's a lot more to a 21st century recital than the quality of the oboe playing. And I've finally gotten to the point where these extra-musical details are obvious to me, and second nature. I didn't feel comfortable and ready, because I hadn't done my other work!

I found myself with a free hour and some wifi, and I got around to making Facebook events.  I sent blurbs to the newspaper's entertainment calendar.  I sent a note to my email list, letting everyone know that the event was happening.

I bought a new dress.  I prepared my program and bio information and sent it to the venues.  I've begun the scripting process, in which I attempt to figure out what the heck I am talking about and how I intend to frame the performance.

And NOW I think I am about ready to start this craziness.  I'm truly a 21st century musician, at last, and I can't wait to show that off in these four performances!

Please come on out and hear one of these events:

Do Not Fear the 21st Century Oboe Music!

Sunday, March 13, 4:00 pm EDT, Howard Performing Arts Center, Berrien Springs, MI
Tuesday, March 22, 7:30 pm CDT, Duesenberg Recital Hall, Valparaiso University
Friday, April 8, 7:00 pm CDT, First Presbyterian Church, Michigan City, IN - NEW RESCHEDULED DATE!
As Musicians for Michiana: Sunday, April 10, 4:00 pm EDT, Church of the Savior Christian Reformed Church, 1855 N. Hickory, South Bend, IN


Comments

  1. Hi Jennet

    I'd love to come, but I probably can't...as usual. But Saturday is April 9, not the 10th. Did you mean Sunday? Could maybe make that one...

    Nancy

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are absolutely right. I meant Sunday and I've corrected it in the post.Thanks, Nancy!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Knife Sharpening

I've gotten a lot of questions on this topic, and the most recent querent prompted me to make a video to demonstrate.  You can find that  HERE . Knife sharpening seems to strike terror into many hearts.  And it's little wonder.  Many famous oboists have gone on record as saying that a sharp knife is the most important aspect of reed making. People have entire systems of stones and strops and rods set up to sharpen their knives. And it is important, of course it is - but I don't believe that you need your knife to be razor-like, or objectively the sharpest blade of any in your home.  The reed knife has one job - scraping cane off in precision ways - and it has to be sharp enough for that, and sharpened optimally for that purpose.  More than that is overly fussy for my taste. This is not to say that I allow my knife to be dull.  A dull knife forces you to put too much pressure on the reed and can cause cracking. Obviously it can lead to terribly inc...

Exciting Upcoming Concerts

The South Bend Symphony has a great concert this weekend that I've been really excited about. If you are in town you should definitely try to attend, as it features Prokofiev's thrilling Symphony no. 5 AND our marvelous concertmistress, Zofia Glashauser, playing the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto. However, I will not be there. This Friday and Saturday I am playing Strauss's Ein Heldenleben with the Milwaukee Symphony , and loving every single minute. This orchestra sounds spectacular, and here's why. They rehearse. They have plenty of time to really listen to each other and get things right. This morning, our service was a wind sectional, which blew my mind. Almost 2 full hours with only the winds and brass, just on this one 40-minute piece. The conductor worked with us on every detail. Intonation, articulation, ensemble, balance, style. And still we have another full orchestra rehearsal tomorrow as well as the dress. I haven't sat in a winds-only rehearsal...

Beauty of Sound

In our dress rehearsal Saturday afternoon, the conductor did exactly what I often do to my students - he asked the violins to play more beautifully, and they did.  He didn’t tell them how, or give them a flowery expressive speech, he just asked for more beauty of sound, and they immediately gave it to him.  To a great extent the sound we produce is set, based on our equipment and the shape of our mouths and our bodies - but it can be altered, too.  Adjustments in reeds and instruments can go a long way, but the key change we can make is in our own minds. I don’t know how to explain it physically, but if you determine the sound you want to make you can produce it.  Or at least you can lean in and approach it.  This is something I’ve been paying a lot of attention to lately in my own playing.  As I prepare the Saint-SaĆ«ns Sonata to perform on our Oboe Studio Recital (tonight at 7 - details HERE ), my approach is largely about beauty of sound and vibrato....