Great Expectations

I worry about the disconnect between what orchestras now expect of their musicians and support for these expectations. Sufficient preparation for life in today’s orchestras will necessitate difficult decisions both at the music school/conservatory level and within orchestras themselves.

From my observation, expectations of orchestral musicians, whether stated or implied, include donor relations, board membership/leadership, artistic decision making, education services in all shapes and sizes and broad knowledge of technology. The challenge here is obvious: what are reasonable expectations on entry and on an ongoing basis.

When Eastman began its Music for All Program, in which all students registered for chamber music are required to give two community performances each year, we mistakenly assumed that all students could effectively engage their audiences in the same manner. Over time, however, we saw that the real challenge was one of shaping each student’s individual talents. For example, in any given string quartet, one or two players may have public speaking skills (and charm) while one may have organizational skills and one may simply be a fabulous viola player. Yes, we found that all students can learn and grow, but found also that students excelled in this area when focused on what they enjoyed, on those enhanced skills for which they had motivation and talent.

As such, orchestra management and boards of directors need to understand that their orchestra musicians possess as many different skill sets as there are musicians and that requiring enhanced skills will require supported professional development.

At the preparation level faculty must make some difficult decisions. For a number of reasons, all well-founded at the time of their birth, the undergraduate curriculum in music schools/conservatories is overloaded. Faculty find impossible to decide to eliminate something to make room for something else, perhaps now more important. The result of this curriculum inflation has been a reduction in the number of real hours students have for practicing. To add additional preparation courses will mean making tough choices (almost impossible for tenured faculty) or further reducing practice time.

Only through real dialogue between the profession and faculty and administration of schools will change evolve. Leaders from both sides need a summit to address these critical concerns.