Klarinet Archive - Posting 000656.txt from 1999/02

From: "Kevin Fay (LCA)" <kevinfay@-----.com>
Subj: RE: [kl] Competition
Date: Tue, 16 Feb 1999 19:15:51 -0500

Rosie wrote:

<<<there's a high school musician I know of that practices so hard...has
such
discipline..it's amazing. but the thing is..when all state auditions roll
around, they don't get the chair they expected to get. They beat
themselves to death! They want to give up music, and playing all together!
It hurts to see young people with so much talent to deny it, and want to
quit just because of an all-state audition! I just tell them to take that
like a grain of salt. Here in Tennessee, the All-state auditions are so
unfair, it's unbelievable.>>>

It's very, very hard to see a student (or your child) that you love meet the
cruel reality of the world. While I won't quibble that All-state auditions
are "unfair" in Tennessee, I'll bet that they're no more "unfair" than
auditions to conservatories, or even professional orchestras. The way to
"win" one of these auditions is to play head and shoulders better than the
rest--so much better that no one can debate your superiority. Unless one is
really playing at that level, the sad audition is likely just a portent of
things to come. It's very much like basketball--there are very, very few
high school varsity players who make the NBA. I'd bet that more people make
their living in this country playing basketball than playing orchestral
clarinet, too.

It's a sad truth that the vast, vast majority of kids who really dig playing
in high school don't have a prayer of ever making a living at it. A case in
point on how fast the fast track really is--Ricardo Morales got hired at the
Met at 19; John Yeh in Chicago was not a great deal older when he got his
gig. If you go farther back in time, you may remember that Stanley Drucker
wasn't pushing for All-state when he was 16; he was already principal of the
Buffalo Phil. Sure, late bloomers exist, but that's who they are up
against.

Now, I don't advocate that anyone give up playing (after all, I'm on this
list). I play basketball, too. If this audition process helps bring a kid
to reality, though, I'm all for it. Better that it happens sooner than
later.

kjf

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