Concerning Concerts and Concerti

Just call me Captain Alliteration!  Monday is our winter concert, which we hold annually at UTSA.  The full orchestra is performing the Rachmaninoff Second Piano Concerto.  The pianist is a young lady who is our Concert Master, and my principal oboist.  She’s also a three-year All State violinist.  My band is performing "Salvation is Created" and "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."  My students are going to sing the Alleluia section of the chorale in parts and resume playing after the last timpani roll.  That piece has stretched my kids musically, and I’m pleased with their progress.  My trumpets are struggling, but I am hearing improvement.  

My school is a medical magnet, therefore we directors emphasise the parallels between music and medicine.  We constantly remind our students that to make music, one must see beyond the surface down to the very soul, just as in medicine one must see beyond symptoms and Mercedes payments and be mindful of the humanity of the patient.  We also teach music as a meditation, which requires the performer to be completely present and mindful during the performance, as a doctor must be completely present and mindful with a patient for true healing to take place.