Reprinted from the Rutgers Music Education Newsletter, Spring 1995 issue
Who Wins Anyway?
by
Peter Boor
This seems to me to be a reasonable question, retrospectively, as I review the many wonderful, and some not so wonderful, moments during my recently concluded 34 year career as a public school Music Educator. One might editorialize here that sometimes it's the conductor, sometimes the performers (students), sometimes the parents and/or administrators, and once-in-a-while the COMPOSER AND HIS MUSIC! Ah, now there's a thought!
"Winning" to most Americans connotes a competitive event of some kind. You know what I mean--I Win, You Lose; My dog's bigger than Your dog; I get the trophy, You get the participation plague, etc. In the world of School Music, at least here in New Jersey, this has boiled down (or up, depending upon your perspective) to the Autumn, football season and the unfortunate emphasis on the activity known as (dare I utter the words?) competitive marching band.
During the past 15 or so years I have both observed and participated in this activity as it has grown to dominate the hearts and minds, to my way of thinking, of excessive numbers of High School Band Directors. To be more succinct, we as Educators have allowed this ancillary activity to rule our lives. I suggest that at this point in time it is completely out of control. I submit that this is neither healthy nor desirable, either for the Director(s) or for the students.
Some of us believe that we are serving the needs of the students; or the needs of the community; or justifying our existence (as if we should have to); or maintaining our employment, enrollment, generating motivation or whatever. Unfortunately in some instances the primary goal seems to be to feed the Director's ego. Sorry! I just can't accept any of those as justification for all the time, effort and energy expended. There is so much music and so little time: so little time allotted to us during each day, week, month, year, that it seems to me a shame to waste so much of it so flagrantly. And here I speak of not only the Director's time, but also that of each student. If you believe that this is insignificant, multiply the number of hours spent by the number of participants and you'll start to get an idea of the amount of time invested. And to what end?
One of the finest High School instrumental ensembles I ever had the pleasure of hearing was the Ithaca "Little Red" Band under the leadership of Mr. Frank Battisti. Those young musicians made music that was simply stunning--and without ever participating in competitive events of any kind, either individual or collective. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we too could appeal to the intrinsic value of the musical experience rather than of relying on questionable extrinsic factors.
Now I realize that there are copious rationalizations for this plight, and frankly over the years I've heard and used them all. Yet I always seem to return to the title question. Why, in fact, should we be competing in the first place?--and with whom? World-class soloists do compete for honors and recognition as they forge their careers; a life's work of making music at the highest levels. So do Drum Corps, but that is their clearly acknowledged purpose. Whoever heard of the New York Philharmonic, the Goldman Band, any College, University or Military Band, or any other major musical ensemble, for that matter, entering a competition? Why then should we emulate this practice without students and public school-based ensembles? Especially when the competition involves so many non-musical aspects. Lynn Harrel, world-renown cellist and conductor, has shared with us one of the important lessons imparted by his mentor, George Szell, legendary conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra. "The key is simple. Life isn't a competition; it is only about yourself, one day after another, forcing yourself to understand that you never understand it all."
It seems to me that it's about time to amputate his overgrown tail from our musical "dog." Instead let's spend our time on musical endeavors and truly be (or become) music educators rather than competitive educators. I'm sure you agree with me that making music is one of life's highest callings. Isn't that why we share our art and talents with our students? But all youngsters eventually grow up--and those who have been burned-out from the endless repetition, tiresome rehearsals and over abundant weekend events eventually turn away from this most satisfying of lifetime activities and are lost in the shuffle. It is not expected that the star high school athlete will play his chosen sport professionally, or even participate in that activity after graduation. Yet we have the opportunity to provide for our students the basis for an ongoing experience that will serve them throughout their lives. That of making music. But enough with judgmental general effect, marching and maneuvering and all the rest of what makes winners (and more often losers) of your students. So when you consider whether or not to compete, ask yourself the title question. And remember when students turn away from music we all lose BIG TIME.
During his 34 year career in Public School Music Education, the author, Peter T. Boor, has been Director of Bands in Flint, Michigan, Johnson City, New York and Whippany, New Jersey. He served as Director of Bands and visiting lecturer in Music Education at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Madison, New Jersey. He is Director of the Mt. Tabor Summer Band School, co-founder/co-conductor of the newly organized Metropolitan Brass, and Founder/Musical Director of the highly acclaimed Hanover Wind Symphony. He has taught courses in music education at Rutgers.