14 Comments
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Helen Spielman's avatar

Required reading for all middle- and high school musicians. Relevant for other auditions beside All-State. Required reading for (some) overly competitive HS teachers, too!!! Print a bazillion copies and drop 'em down from drones everywhere!!!!!!!!! :)

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Emily Gaberman's avatar

This is a great piece and should be given to anyone who auditions for anything - music. dance, drama. The enjoyment is in the process as much as the product.

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Still Learning's avatar

Really great post. I agree that it should be shared widely with students, teachers and so on.

I never made it to All-State; friends did and some of them went to fancy music schools. Oddly, 40+ years later, I'm the one who is still playing regularly, still taking the journey to be a part of making the best music I can. We don't know how our lives will turn out.

Katherine's message is right on: pursue YOUR dreams and please don't make them about fancy titles or where you are in a pecking order. I hope you figure that out now and not decades later, which is how long it took me.

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Sarah H's avatar

Perfect response. And I love the mac and cheese reference !

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Nadina Mackie Jackson's avatar

Beautifully stated.

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Lee Zimmerman's avatar

This is the most beautiful thing I have seen written about art and growth. Thank you

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Jim Lurie's avatar

Wonderful! All young musicians (and athletes or any other students) should read this.

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Steve Kirk's avatar

I especially loved this piece. You are conveying important and heartfelt information that a lot of musicians do not get to hear.

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Vid Smooke's avatar

I love this post so much! I had a teacher who used to tell us that "competitions tell us more about the judges than about the entrants," which was by far the best advice he ever gave me. Your story (which is incredibly generous of you to share) will hopefully inspire many talented people from the next generation to continue pursuing their artistic dreams.

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Martin Tousignant's avatar

I remember my all-district and all-state band experiences, but the auditions weren't the highlight! At least the Michigan all-state auditions had a logical process: 50% prepared solo, 25% prepared scales (all 48 diatonic plus full-range chromatic), and 25% sight reading. The sight reading usually determined who got in.

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Michiko Singh's avatar

Amazing post.

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Ann, NY's avatar

Katherine's comments are sweet, supportive, and true!

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David Silberberg's avatar

Well said!

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Jim Peter's avatar

Thoughtful and encouraging!

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