This is a re-post of Nicole’s post from her own blog, City Trombone Lessons. Please check out our previous posts for more about Nicole and her interview.
At the start of this month, I had the privilege to be a part of the 25th International Women’s Brass Conference. In addition judging some of the competitions, I performed with the Monarch Brass Ensemble. Every time I play with these incredible musicians I feel inspired and re-energized. The support for one another is palpable on the stage as well as in the audience. The way that we feed off of this energy is in our musical risk taking.
It is often the case that a performer expects the audience to be looking for things she or he does wrong. As if each audience member is actively ticking down marks for each missed note. After a lifetime of auditions to get into summer festivals, schools, competitions, and jobs, it’s not a surprising response. At IWBC, the overwhelming feeling in recitals is that people are there to hear what you do well. We want to know what we can like about yoour performance rather than trying to find things wrong with it, or trying to judge how we measure up to one another. I’m not sure why this is so strongly the case here and not as much elsewhere, but I do know that we should keep this in mind when each of us is an audience member in the future. Attend a performance to see what you can admire about the musicians. What can inspire or move you? Send thoughts of support and respect out into the world when someone is brave enough to put themselves out there. These acts will come back to you when you are the one on stage, and I promise you will be grateful for it.
For those of you who weren’t able to attend, here are some live videos of the evening performances.
Athena Brass Band:
Diva Jazz Orchestra:
Monarch Brass Ensemble: