Great Expectations

Today I want to share some thoughts about expectations.

I have always believed that my students will rise to expectations.  If too little is expected of them, they get bored.  The don't feel as proud, they don't work as hard.  Why work hard when the expectation is that you only achieve what's easy to achieve?

I have always found that my students WANT to be pushed.  They want to achieve.  If I give them the right tools, and they achieve skills they thought were just outside of their limits, there is growth and pride in our product and process.

I still hold onto the belief that I need to have high expectations, even of my top auditioned choir.  On Thursday, I had my first "serious" conversation with Chamber Choir.  It was brief.  I didn't want to linger on anything.  The previous three rehearsals had been too casual.  There was not enough commitment to the music, to focus, to good musicianship.  So I told them that.  Then they had an awesome rehearsal- perhaps the best one yet.

I can't pretend the effect is going to last.  It's up to me to remind them, through words and through my own actions,  that they have high expectations put on them.  I plan to move a little faster on the next set of music.  I plan to push them even further.  All the concepts I plan for them to reach?  It is never out of their grasp.  I may be able to find a better way to teach or present a concept, and I constantly think about that.  But it is also their responsibility.  I cannot make them focus or work.

The good news is that they know when they kick butt (musically speaking).  They hear it.  I always point that out- "Why would you want to sing that any other way?" or "That is the direction we need to go.  Every time, we build on what we just sing.  Write down what you need to remember this."  Or some variations.

I am going to hold myself accountable.  I am incredibly encouraging of my singers, which I believe is a good thing.  However, I never want to give them impression of "That's okay if you didn't sing it the best today.  Next time..."  No, we are to think inside our rehearsal space- we should always be on our game NOW, not next time.

This may sound odd, but I am attempting to smile less.  I have always run into this issue, since my first year of teaching: Students sometimes confuse my smiles with acquiescence to the level which they are performing.  No- my natural disposition is full of smiles (much like my mother's- she is constantly smiling.  It's warm, it's genuine, and I wouldn't want to trade my disposition for the world), but I want to be very clear about what I am communicating.  I attempt to remind myself that just because I do not smile does not mean I am not being encouraging.

And expectations are a great thing.  My expectation of myself is to always have expectations, and to stick to them.  My expectation of my students is to reach the expectations I and the music has for them.

How to Connect by Disconnecting

Sometimes I think the best way to reconnect to music is to reconnect with something other than work.    I become more inspired to make music by taking a step back from the analysis, the gesture, the rehearsal planning, the administrative "stuff" of music...

I have been working very hard.  And almost non-stop.  This weekend is a work weekend, but it will include things other than "work."  I hope go hiking (if the ground allows me to after all the rain we have had recently).  I will bake pumpkin muffins (and eat far too many of them).  I may watch a movie.

And after I spend time doing other things, I will work on my dissertation, write my paper for the presentation I am giving at an upcoming conference, rehearsal plan, and start preparing Winter Concert music.

I'm twenty-one pages in to my dissertation.  I now need to start smoothing out the edges of the first chapter and fill in a few holes.  I go back-and-forth with trying to decide if I want to continue dissertation writing or if I should write my presentation paper.  Both cover the same topics, but I would love to write my dissertation and then take my presentation from that.  However, I do not know if it's practical to get as much writing done in the next week as I would like.

I don't always know what is reasonable anymore, at least regarding the amount of work I do.  I would love to be done with my writing, so I'm left with doing a job I enjoy and being a human being trying to enjoy life.  In less than six months, my time will not be my own anymore.  So, there is not much time to relax if I want to get stuff done.

I think my goals need to be: Decide on the next steps for writing my dissertation and then write my presentation.  And go hiking, eat pumpkin muffins, and watch a movie.