Just listen folks....

I am always amazed at what teachers assign students to perform. Do they not listen to the student to ascertain if they are capable of playing the piece or do they just hear what they want to hear? There is a major concerto competition coming up with the auditions on the 24th. I am playing for 4 students. There is Adam that will do just fine, maybe fine enough to win a place and maybe not, but he will not embarrass me or him. Needless to say, he is my student, I started him with his first 1 1/2 reed and still work with him on Stamatz concertos. Then there is Zoe, plays a very competent viola but practices the art of Sorta-pitch when things get moving. Her teacher doesn't seem to notice that so I just try not to notice too. She should do well, probably getting a seat because she is a really good young violist, albeit a little pitch handicapped. Next we have Wyatt, not my student, playing the extremely fast Quantz Concerto. He is very good but he has not mastered the art of tonguing at that fast tempo. So would it not be better to play the slow movement and show off his remarkably good tone and control? Nope, we are going with blazing fast that shows off all his weaknesses (thank heaven's there aren't many). Lastly there is Jacob, a trombone from the north end. He really knows his instrument and he gets from note to note with speed and accuracy. Intonation is remarkably good too, but he has one volume and it is loud. On and on it is loud with no contrasts at all. And he is playing a transcription where the instructions so no transcriptions. We will see if they honor their own rules because he really is very good. And last of all, a mid-island clarinet that is trying to get some scholarship money from WWU. She is doing the slow movement of a Brahms Sonata and refuses or has no clue as to how, to count. The accompaniment offers no support to the solo and she is all over the place with her notes. It will never hang together unless I just throw the music out the window and improvise around her random notes.

So why do teachers do this to students and why do students do this to accompanists? No answer, only I hope I never do it to the students or to myself in that I do all my own accompaniment work. I think we get our egos too involved and somehow think that the student playing a more challenging piece makes us look better. True, but only if they can pull it off with authority.

Meanwhile I will continue practicing those hard runs and go out there to showcase those I am working with....and maybe guide the one young lady away from Brahms.