Wednesday, August 5, 2009

“Sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children.”
―Marilyn Penland

I LOVE this quote! It brings to mind the idea that what parents show as important will be important to kids too. (Or bosses, or teachers, or anyone in "authority") There is a dying of the arts in our culture, and it saddens me. People don't attend concerts much anymore, or even know how to behave when they do. I was horrified to be at Severance Hall to see the Cleveland Orchestra and saw people in casual clothes - not quite jeans, but not dressed up by any means. To top it all off, people clapped after the 1st movement of a concerto! For the non-musical, this might be no big deal, but it's a big no-no in the music world, and luckily, it didn't happen again, since they got the message. At my recitals, I try to instruct people up front how it all works, and seat the wigglers and noisy ones in the back so as not to distract the performer. In the school-age world, people are in the habit of getting up and walking out after their student's performance, and I find it RUDE to the rest of the performers. It doesn't help, though, when the schools have a habit of putting all the band, choir and orchestra concerts together in one day. I understand the audience's impatience.

Anyway, this was a rabbit trail if I ever saw one. Sorry for that. I guess it's my soapbox to get on and off, so hopefully I'll still have a reader or two after today. Moral of the story; make music a part of your lives, and participate enthusiastically! (Just not too loud as concert-goers!)

BTW, http://www.bw.edu/ has a schedule during the school year of scads of concerts by faculty and students alike - all for FREE - and fairly kid-friendly, as far as having a large enough venue to leave gracefully if someone has to go. (But please sit in the back, unlike the mother with the little boy who threw toys, yelled and ran up and down the aisle who chose the FRONT ROW as her spot.) Oops, sorry, another rant.

Have a wonderful day.