What genuine musicians do...

The busiest day I have had as a musician through the whole year has been Solo/Ensemble Festival: a full day of students singing and playing pieces of music prepared for a judge and possibly a small audience. I participated in eight events, overall learning 13 pieces of music. I had five acts as a vocalist, four collaborative pianists, three acts as a violinist, two lovely directors, and a partridge in pear tree–it was overwhelmingly awesome and beautifully exhausting.

As my day at Solo/Ensemble was about halfway over, all was well until I came across something that not only didn't amuse me but also broke my heart. I ran into a student from a different school whom I had known from various other music events; the only thing–after years of "only" perfect ballots–this student was concerned with was getting a "Best of Center" rating for their solo (an honor distinguished to only one act during the day by the judge–this student hadn't achieved this yet). This person is considering doing music in college, and this person had a very competitive state of mind about music. I knew that my friend's thought process had been poisoned to believe that music was to be won or lost with a prize of glory or scholarship money. Nothing else mattered to them. 💔

I was brought up in a cornucopia of amazing musicians, many of them brought up by the choral legend Weston Noble. One of the many things people admire about Weston's legacy was his satisfaction coming from a beautiful sound made from passion and artistry. "Stay humble," he always said. 

Has this student I've come across never been given the all-important spiel of "This whole process is subjective, and full satisfaction can never be achieved when music is made for a measly score?

If anyone is a victim of a goal to be "holier-than-thou" principle, I'll tell you–as someone with quite a few "honors" and "prizes"–what the satisfaction of music came from for me during Solo/Ensemble:
- Playing a beautiful, challenging solo on an instrument that is not of my most comfortable skill 🎻
- Feeling the sounds and emotions of an ensemble blending to become one 🎼
- Admiring the skills of another instrumentalist that I had never thought of before 🌟
- Keeping up when the going gets tough on a piece 💦
- Observing growth on the technical skills from previous performances 👍
- Appreciating the beauty of a different kind of choral music 🎨
- Making an audience laugh with the performers because the pieces exude fun 😂
- Resting after a passionate final performance 🌹

This event was an opportunity to learn about one's self as a musician and as a collaborator, both with fellow students and music educators. I am appalled for anyone led to believe music to be merely a competitive ground to spill blood on and to be taken for granted. Music is a gift, a feeling, an art, a language; use it with passion. Remember, Weston said, "Stay humble."