This past week has made my heart so incredibly full. My ears have been swimming in beautiful melodies and kind words while my days have been spent surrounded by some of the most genuine people I have ever met. It has been such a long time since I have been inspired to write about my experiences and while I do have some blog plans in the works, I felt compelled to share these experiences. I have struggled with putting my feelings into words before and I feel as though this blog will definitely feature some of this. Please bear with me because I promise the content is worth this struggle.
My university’s music department had the privilege of working with Madera Wind Quintet last week through a variety of activities. I listened to rehearsals, masterclasses, and concerts. The Adams State University’s Winds and Percussion Ensemble even had the pleasure of recording a piece with them. Most importantly, I observed and remembered. I was able to watch and listen to their passion for music and was instantly reminded as to why I want to go into the music industry. Musicians are humans who ooze with passion and this group was no different. Anyone within close proximity could their passion for performing and teaching. They treated not only each other with the utmost respect but everyone they came in contact with last week. And this environment, the one of safety and passion, is one I crave to be a part of the rest of my life.
Instead of going over every detail of the week, and believe me I could, I’m going to try and condense it down into just a few impactful ideas I picked up through listening and watching these incredible human beings. These ideas are ones that should not only be implemented or thought about in the practice rooms, they are relevant in everything we do as humans.
- Be respectful. This seems so simple and I think that is why we sometimes can forget about it. I was fortunate enough to watch one of their rehearsals and it was so incredible how they made five voices and opinions all have the same level of importance. Everyone’s ideas were heard and even differences could be dealt with because of the respect they hold for each other. As I listened to their podcasts and talks with students they reiterated this idea but on a much broader sense. The world is a really small place and you never know how things will come back around so it’s vital that you are nice to everyone you come in contact with.
- Teach from experience. I think too often we look at professional musicians as if they are immune to mistakes and while they may be less prone to them, they’re just like us. The struggles we deal with every day as musicians are ones they have already gone through. As I performed multiple times for masterclasses last week, I was blown away at how advice was delivered. We were not belittled for mistakes but were guided toward successful practice strategies on how to prevent these mistakes in the future. After playing as a group for years, and playing their instruments even longer, they filled with my brain with so many ideas on how to just be better, and for that, I am so grateful.
- Human characteristics are exactly what makes music so great. This is my favorite thing to write about and by far the one I struggle with the most. Listening to them was spectacular beyond words and it wasn’t because they were flawless. It was because they conveyed what the music was trying to portray. As musicians, it is our job to feel what the composer wants us to tell the audience and then commit to communicating it to them. Madera did exactly this and watching them and feeling their music was one of the most inspiring aspects of the week. Music, as I was reminded this week, is one of the purest forms of experiencing emotions and all of our unique quirks help us portray these feelings. I’m so grateful to have had an experience that made me want to be a better musician and better person all within the span of four days.
So, to cap this all off, I want to say a huge “Thank You” to Madera for spending their week with us. For blessing us with their music and their knowledge. Most importantly, thank you for sparking that fire that’s been missing for far too long in my life.
Emily K Johnson 