Klarinet Archive - Posting 000236.txt from 2005/12

From: Patricia Bandy-Smith <patricia.ssmith@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Pieces that Drive you Nuts (was Nutcracker)
Date: Fri, 30 Dec 2005 13:21:47 -0500

KEVIN J FAY wrote:
> 1) What makes you a "professional"? Is it because you get paid to do what
> other people do for recreation - like clarinet or golf?
>
> . . . or is it that you had better be good at it next Tuesday or you don't
> eat? Does making one's "play" into "work" suck all the joy out of the
> endeavor?
>
Wow. This is a VERY good question, Kevin. Thanks for posting this.
I'm glad to be back on the klarinet list, after a long "sabbatical" -
I'll post about that later. Anyhow...

For me, being a professional means I give my 100% each and every
performance, each and every lesson, regardless of who is in the
audience, or who I'm teaching. I don't look at the results; I look at
the process, and I "stay in the now". (Yes, David N., I am FINALLY
learning the lessons you worked SO hard to teach me so many years ago!
*VBEG*) When we focus on the results of what we are doing, we rob
ourselves of the pleasures of what we do, whether it is work, or play,
or both.

> 2) What single piece of music would you most hate to play again? You know,
> the very last one on your list. For Dan, it appears to be the Nutcracker.
>
>
You know, a few years ago, I would have said the Mozart Clarinet
Concerto once upon a time. However, now, I doubt there is ANY piece of
music or anything else I am truly tired of performing. I'm a lot more
annoyed by telemarketers and politicians than I am by playing the same
piece of music that I did yesterday. Maybe, oh, the national anthem got
tiring, or "Anchors Aweigh", or Stars and Stripes, or "This is My
Country" a few years ago, when I was in the Nav. But... well...other
than that...yeah, I think I'm gonna concentrate on wiping out
telemarketers...ALL OF THEM.

P. Bandy-Smith

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