Re: Re: ARMYTEC Review (long!)


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Posted by Rick Denney on January 29, 2001 at 15:21:18:

In Reply to: Re: ARMYTEC Review (long!) posted by Fred Johnson on January 29, 2001 at 07:48:10:

Ya know, I heard just about every performance at the Army conference this year. And you know what I discovered? Pros make mistakes. Every single performer, from Roland Szentpali and Patrick Sheridan on down (down to where I'm not saying, heh, heh), made mistakes. I heard them, so they weren't all that subtle. Even my wife could hear Roland's mistakes, and yet his playing excited me more than any I've heard in a long time.

Some players attempted music that was beyond them on that one day. I admire their courage. Did they collapse and run off the stage in humiliation? No. They kept right on going, and they made music out of the notes that remained.

Remember also that this was a tuba conference, where performers are encouraged not to walk in with the traditional literature, but rather to explore the new stuff that's out there. Skip Gray's performance is an example. He was playing a work not even a year old--a work that obviously stretched him as an artist and performer. Was it perfect? Of course not. But if he hadn't played it, nobody else would have, and we'd not know about it.

There's a final point, too. I personally will not complain about another performer's work in public. And the reason is this: Someday that person may be sitting next to me in a reading session or TubaChristmas or something like that. They will hear more to complain about in 30 seconds than I could complain about in hours of their playing.

Rick "who doesn't need those bad vibes" Denney


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