Moral Quandary

[av8rmike]

Last week, I told the concertmistress of the one orchestra with whom I was sitting in that I may or may not come to rehearsals. I want to help the group out, but the music is stuff I played back in high school, i.e. painfully easy. The season finale of Lost is on tonight, too, and I don't want to have to watch it after the fact or search for places to download it. Also, my wrist has been bothering me again. I probably shouldn't even be typing. What to do??

Comments

[blumunk.livejournal.com]

Hm... tough one. On the one hand I completely sympathize, but on the other hand, orchestras are about playing in a group, and each person is instrumental (ha!) in helping each other person. Rehearsing isn't just about each individual learning the piece, it's about developing a musical relationship with the conductor and the others in the group, and about everyone working together. If the song is really easy for you and not really easy for everyone else, they probably don't just need you for performances.

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

If the song is really easy for you and not really easy for everyone else, they probably don't just need you for performances.

So that's one vote for "go", is it? One of my other friends voted "go see Star Wars", but that doesn't solve the problem of me getting to see Lost.

[blumunk.livejournal.com]

Heh. Now Star Wars is a different story all together. ;)

Yeah, it's a 'go' vote from me, at least as far as the 'moral quandry' goes.

I just know one of the more frustrating things as a conductor is knowing the group could be so much better if the really talented people would show up and help to bring the others up to their level (just by their presence), instead of sending the message to the group that they don't need to be there/are better than them/whatever.

I can't count how many times someone who's really great has blown off a group I've been involved in because they didn't 'need' to be there, only to show up for the performance and either stick out like a sore thumb because they haven't learned where/when the conductor is giving cues, or show the group up and make everyone feel frustrated that the person thinks they're so wonderful they can just show up and play.

Anyway, yeah, I've had some experience with this, can you tell? ;)

But, on a more practical level, it's frustrating to be the one who really on a personal level doesn't need to be there all the time. I'd do this: figure out how many rehearsals you have before performance time. Figure out an appropriate number to miss, and stick to it. Then you can prioritize your days off, instead of just coming to that day and finding a convenient excuse to not be there.

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

Thanks for your insight, Nate. Yeah, I've seen plenty of the behavior you mentioned. My old stand partner in the group I just quit was a professional ringer hired just for the performances, who'd expect me to educate her about everything she missed in the rehearsals, then call me unprofessional when I didn't. My stand partner in the recent ballet orchestra came in about 3 rehearsals before the show, but that wasn't out of ego, it was because the director had a hell of a time finding people willing to play. At least he made more of an effort to learn cues and was humble about his own limitations.

Generally, I'm pretty dedicated when it comes to rehearsal attendance, which is why I hate to think that I could skip for TV.

[av8rmike.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I went. I'm such a good person. =) Too bad there weren't many others there; I think they were all at home watching AI or Lost.