Call to Action: Personal Relevance October 28 2013

 

This week, the instrumental music business was given two incredible gifts:

 

  1. In a show of support for their Baseball Teams in the World Series, the Brass Sections of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra collaborated to produce an hilarious and brilliantly played medley of tunes including “I can do Anything better than You” and “Take me out to the Ball Game”.

 

  1. The Ohio State Marching Band did an astonishing job on the field in two different shows.  In a tribute to Michael Jackson, the entire band “moon walked”.  Later, they formed two battle ships, one representing OSU and the other University of Michigan, and the Ohio sunk the Michigan.  All this while playing their instruments at a very high level indeed.

 

Here we have two organizations who know how to make their art forms personally relevant to millions of people.

 

I had to ask myself, “What am I doing to make this art form relevant to the community at large?”

 

Hmmm…well….

 

So I am issuing a challenge to me and all of us in the world of instrumental music, regardless of genre: what can we do to make this art form personally relevant to one person each day.

 

Some examples:

 

  1. Share the video of the Brass sections supporting their baseball teams on Facebook.
  2. Share the video of the OSU marching band in the same way.
  3. Share anything that is universally appealing involving instrumental music.
  4. Talk about why you love to play your instrument to absolutely anyone who will listen.
  5. Involve family members and friends with your progress, new challenges, new and exciting music.
  6. Form a club that goes to concerts, operas, and ballets.
  7. Consider commissioning new work based on ideas that are currently relevant. There are few things more exciting than this!
  8. Take a friend to a concert.  If you are a musician, point out what is going on, give some back story, and let them know who you know on stage.
  9. Start a new instrument, or simply change your equipment and write about it in any of the social media outlets.
  10. Join the board of any performing arts organization.

 

Let your passion for our art form show, act on it, bring people into the joy and beauty and power of instrumental music, and you know what?  Your world will be a better place, and so will ours!