What Now?

"You're Wonderful!" This was most likely the best part of my day; not only did everyone shout this at me, we got to shout it at everyone else. I truly think as a musician this can be at times, because we won't get every job we audition for and our sprits my be crushed at little. But the work we have done in this class has truly made me become a better musician.

The idea of "musicking" was difficult at first for me to fully understand. I mean how could the guy selling tickets get the same amount of credit when I am singing my heart out on stage? But when I take a step back I see that if he was not selling tickets, then I wouldn't have an audience to perform for. This idea has honestly help me realize that there is so much more to music than just the performer and the stage. I think this idea will help in to better connect with the people that I work with; know this will help be become a more appreciative person, which might get me more jobs in the long run.

I think the idea of "what a concert is?" is somewhat of a different idea for me that I haven't fully understood yet. I know the goal of the concert was to get people our age to come and enjoy classical music, but I felt like in order for us to do that the only way we could was by bribing them. Instead, I wanted them to come to enjoy the music and not just because we bribed them. However, I do think in the future that classical music will need to adapt to its surroundings so it can survive.

As wonderful as all these ideas are, the one that has affected me the most, is being a citizen musician. This idea is so important for every musician to hold on to. Yo Yo Ma has really shown us this, and helped us to understand why it is important to share our gifts with the community. When I was working with the kids at the preschool, I just loved their faces when we were playing our instruments. They had this wonderful glow on their faces that I just can't forget. No matter what I with my career, I will always make sure that I make the effort to be a citizen musician.

So, for the time being here at DePauw, I can use the skills we learned in class with improve and keeping the beat with a drum, to help me become a better musician for better opportunities for jobs. I can also use one of the most useful things we have learned in class; when I get stressed about something or finances are tight all I will need to do is "Release."

...