Musings on Performance

So, last night was opening night of the Middle School Musical, and tonight is the closing night. Incredible. We started rehearsing for this in November. Months of work, and it will be over tonight.

I've been thinking about this a lot, actually. See, music is a Fine Art, and within the Fine Arts are 2 groups: Visual and Performing Arts. And then there's Language Arts, and lots of others arts. An artist works on a painting, or a photograph or a sculpture or what not, and (barring fire or other disaster) that work will survive forever. A writer's novel or short story or essay can be preserved for generations. These works can be visited again and again, re read, re-appreciated, re-discovered. Often, it's a solitary experience for the creator. Not so with music or drama or dance - the Performing Arts. (And I realize that I am speaking in great generalities.)

We rehearse in class for 3 months for a concert. 3 months of work for 20 minutes of music. And when we're done, it's over. We'll never experience it again. Sure we can record a performance, yes the music is written on a page, but it can never be performed the same way again, and often, there's only one performance. If we perform the same song on two concerts, people wonder what we do in class all the time - they've heard it before. In one way, that's what makes live performances so exciting - you never know what's going to happen. Sometimes that's a good thing; others, not so much. It also makes a concert or a performance that much more special - doing programs with different grade levels, I was always flabbergasted and puzzled by students who would tell me they couldn't come to the performance because they had baseball practice, or soccer practice. My response: how many baseball practices and games will a child have in his life? Numerous - lots and lots. How many third grade programs? Only 1.

The more you perform (supposedly) the easier it gets. This is true in some cases - well, in a lot of cases. With my middle schoolers, soloists in class are nervous the first few times in front of the class, and then it gets easier. Well, in performance there's a whole new dimension added - the audience. That throws them for a whole new loop. We do a lot in class to relax and loosen up - moving, smiling, having fun, etc. but in concert, they suddenly freeze - wooden expressions, stiff bodies, constricted throats. It's confusing and a bit disheartening, yet totally understandable.

I mean, singing is such a personal thing - you are your instrument. If someone doesn't like your voice, they don't like you. Separating yourself from your singing voice is such a hard thing to do. And then having to sing in front of others is also somewhat distressing - because of course you know that the audience is judging you.

Anyway - teaching choir is an interesting mix of the academic and the performing - I want my students to be musicians first and foremost, with the voice as their primary instrument. Not all musicians perform, but we show what we learn by performing.

I'm just rambling, pondering what I do for a living.