Saturday, March 06, 2004

High expectations

Recently at a concert I attended, my friend who was sitting besides me observed and told me this: You have very high expectations you know, I noticed that you clapped only after songs that you like.

This got me thinking, am I really such a stuck-up person with extreme standards who turn my nose up at sub-standard performance? Not to say that the concert wasn't good, it was not bad. In fact, it was an enjoyable concert except for the first piece, which I totally didn't agreed with the conductor's interpretation of it.

So, what do I actually expect? I don't play in such a world-class band that commands standing ovations at every single concert. I had played only one solo in my entire oboe playing career that I couldn't find any fault with. The rest all were in my own opinion, either just good or passable. True, I've had people coming up to me who compliment me for my "outstanding" playing. I don't doubt their sincerity but I somehow always think it's not what I want yet.

As some of my friends can testify: I'm not a person who is impressed musically. I think my idea of music had changed a lot since I started my music career. One thing for sure, my concert going had drastically reduced from an average of 10 a year to 2-3 a year. That's for local bands only.

I'm sure some people are just going to jump up of their seat and start protesting that I'm someone who supports foreign talents, etc... honestly, how many bands in Singapore are actually very good? Even the professional bands are just professional technically. Sure, the Central Band is much better than anyother band we have in Singapore, but I think there's still a long way to go before we reach our world-class vision. Most of the senior people in there are actually good workers who are committed to their profession. True enough, we need a good management in order to have a world-class band. These people are the heart and brain of the band. The players in the band are the voices. These 2 groups of people must work closely together to command a good performance.

There are good and bad players. I think I'm neither. I'm stuck in the gray area between the 2 standards. I'd just have to practise smarter and harder I guess. Wish me all the best!
fjozn at 3:13 PM