I want to relay a story to younger musicians out there, and it may be for some older folks like me as well... About a month ago, I was at a function that had some background music going on. It was a young violinist playing. She was very good. I mean REALLY good. I admit, I was guilty of treating her as background music. I was actually having a conversation with someone; but, through her playing, she FORCED me to stop my conversation and listen. She played with such passion, such conversation WITH her audience. I had no choice. And then, a short while later, I heard a more well-known musician, playing technically perfect, beautiful sound, etc; I listened for about 2 minutes, and then I turned it off. It was completely uninteresting. There was nothing this player was doing that I hadnt heard before. So I implore all of you - especially in this age of technical advancement, when musicians can even be replaced by computers - lets use our human-ness to speak with our audiences. Draw them in. Yes, maybe even make some mistakes as you take chances in telling YOUR story. I know this has been said many times, but Im going to say it anyway. Make music!! Do it passionately. Make that person in the crowd stop their conversation to listen to you. Theres nothing to lose. I will never forget that young violinist I heard. Play so that no one will forget you. End of quasi-rant. Apparently, jet-lag has me feeling a little emotional. Forgive me!
Posted on: Tue, 15 Jul 2014 17:43:27 +0000