I recently joined a really great New Music group, about which I had also recently been bitching because of the quantity of rehearsal time. We had a really great concert the other night, and for the first time in a long while I had a really great time playing serious music. The players all have "day jobs" (which many "pro" musicians look down upon, even though they were there at some point too) and yet they played with more sensitivity, vitality, and nuance than anyone I've played with in years, and that's saying something.
However, I was so caught up in the time commitment that I forgot to consider the caliber of players I was dealing with, not to mention their passion for the subject.
Until the following night.
The very next night I returned to a community group with whom I play. And OH OY VEY the untold horrors.
What's really scary about this? The level of player in this community group is much higher in some cases than that of the first group, and yet after the beautiful experience of the previous night it was like having your toenails forcibly removed with a pair of tweezers.
Why, you ask?
Because the professional musicians in that community orchestra don't give a flying sh*t. They perform like rank amateurs simply because no more is required and they're lazy, jaded, and too self-important to care.
I was incensed. I ranted, raved, and blathered to my husband about it on the way home. "What on earth is wrong with these people? Surely they know better than to do those things! How can they ignore the most basic tenets of music performance and still have jobs? Why do I waste my time on these things?"
"So why do you stay?" he asked quietly. *blink blink*
This marks my retirement from the amateur professional circuit. I prefer the professional amateurs.
