Back to our Roots – Louise Pellerin à/in Montréal – Retour à nos racines

Rehearsing Christmas Carols is nothing difficult at all… unless you want to make them more interesting and while working 12 hour days at your “day job”… Not much time to go considering. Trying to cram into a few days what should be months worth of exploring ornamentations and variations to make repeating simple traditional melodies something people want to hear over and over again, without falling into the traps of just adding trills or modulating a tone like in waiting-room music. But this is a marvellous opportunity and I know this return to stage will be a really happy event!		Travailler les cantiques de Noël n’a vraiment rien de difficile… à moins qu’on cherche à les rendre plus intéressants tout en faisant des jours de 12 heures à l’ouvrage … Ça vient vite, tout considéré. Esseyons d’entasser dans quelques jours des mois d’exploration en ornementations et variations afin qu’entendre maintes reprises de simples mélodies traditionnelles soit agréable, sans tomber dans le piège des trilles et modulations par ton qu’on entend dans les salles d’attente. Mais c’est une occasion merveilleuse et je sais que retourner sur scène sera un événement joyeux!
Inspiring vacation in Montréal! Last week, Louise Pellerin (internationally renowned oboe soloist and chamber musician) came to Montréal to participate as jurist at le Concours de l'OSM (Montréal Symphony Orchestra Competition). The two major music schools there, Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal and McGill University's Schulich School of Music, did the very wise thing of inviting her to do masterclasses for their oboe students. Louise also got Marigaux to exhibit their instruments in both locations - they got a very warm welcome and results exceeded anyone’s expectations! Of course, I could not pass up the opportunity to weasel-my-way there to all events!	Masterclass Conservatoire de Montréal: Robin Tropper, Louise Pellerin, Lise Beauchamp	Vacance inspirante à Montréal! La semaine dernière, Louise Pellerin (hautboïste-soliste et chambriste renommée mondialement) est venue à Montréal pour agir sur le jury du Concours de l’OSM. Les deux écoles de musique principales de Montréal, le Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal et l’École de Musique Schulich de l’Université McGill, ont montré la grande sagesse de l’inviter à donner des classes des maîtres, pour leurs étudiants en hautbois. Louise a apporté la maison Marigaux pour montrer ses instruments et permettre à tous les visiteurs de les essayer – ils ont reçu un chaleureux accueil à Montréal dont les résultats ont dépassé les attentes de tous! Bien sûr, je ne pouvais pas m’empêcher d’aller écorniffler tous les événements!
This is the first time Marigaux came to Canada. It was well worth the effort: for Montrealers to try Marigaux was a rare opportunity and the instrument received a very warm welcome, impressing students and professionals alike. In fact, at least two professionals gladly converted to Marigaux. The way I see it, this is a great way to open the doors to a variety of makers rather than blindly following dogmatic standards. This should let oboists feel more free to choose what best serves their goals!		C’est la première fois que Marigaux vient au Canada. L’effort en a bien vallu la peine: occasion rare pour les montréalais d’essayer Marigaux, qui a reçu un accueil très chaleureux, impressionnant les étudiants comme les professionnels. En fait, deux professionnels se sont convertis à Marigaux. La manière que je vois ça, c'est la porte qui s'ouvre à une variété des fabricants, au lieu de suivre ‘a l’aveuglette des normes dogmatiques. Ainsi, les artistes peuvent se sentir plus à l'aise de choisir l'instrument qui voit à leurs buts!

Louise Pellerin's masterclasses were simply wonderful! The students from both schools clearly made good use of her time with them and their performance before and after her coaching showed clear benefit from the experience.	Les classes des maîtres de Louise Pellerin étaient simplement formidables! Les étudiants des deux institutions ont clairement fait bon usage de son temps et leur jeu et avant ses instructions ont clairement montré le bénéfice de son expérience.
Her ebullient and authentically kind and pleasant personality immediately puts people at ease and really opens their artistic expression with their oboes. As I listened to her and saw her effects on students, I felt her instruction touched more than stylistic aspects of the pieces performed; I felt she elucidated the very way we approach rehearsal and even our relationship with music itself.	Son rayonnement, sa gentillesse et sa personalité plaisante frappent par leur autenticité, mettant ses interlocuteurs immédiatement à l’aise et ouvrant les portes à l’expression artistique par le hautbois. En l’écoutant et voyant son effet sur les étudiants, j’ai senti que son instruction toucha plus que le style dans l’interprétation des pièces jouées; j’ai trouvé qu’elle élucida la manière qu’on approche la répétition et même notre relation avec la musique elle-même.
It would be very tempting here to list some of the key points she emphasized, but it’s really not the same without context. In our generation, it has become the habit to search the internet for “how-to’s” in the hopes of becoming a master at something. This does work (to some extent only) for computer development and technical skills, but it sure does not work for the arts: playing the oboe especially, requires human contact with someone how has the experience to touch what you need to improve and develop.	La tentation est forte pour élaborer les points saillants de ce qu’elle enseigna, mais ce n’est vraiment pas pareil hors contexte. Notre génération est accoutumée à chercher les réponses-rapides sur Internet, espérant maîtriser une discipline. Jusqu’à un certain point, celà fonctionne assez bien pour le développment informatique et autres habiletés techniques, mais ça ne marche vraiment pas pour les arts: jouer le hautbois, surtout, a besoin du contact humain avec quelqu’un avec l’expérience à savoir toucher ce qu’il vous faut pour avancer.

With something as intimate as the oboe, videos or lists of pointers just won’t cut it. Even for a seasoned player like myself, seeing a master like Louise Pellerin in person just does that much more than any amount of reflection on CD performances. So I really recommend people to go take classes with her, for example at the Orford Arts Center.	Masterclass 2014	Avec de quoi d’aussi intime que le hautbois, les vidéos et listes de conseils n’aboutiront à pas grand chose. Même pour un vieil habitué comme moi, voir un maître comme Louise Pellerin en personne fait bien plus que toute la méditation possible sur les CD. Alors je recommende vraiment d’aller prendre des cours avec elle, par exemple au Centre d’Arts à Orford.
Personal corroboration: Although I did not persevere to their professional levels, I am grateful for having learned oboe at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal with Bernard jean. Looking back on the experience, and absolutely no "lip-service" or fake-flattery here, this was quite a privilege: 4 years in a heavenly setting. Heavenly in 2 ways: a historical setting that cannot fail to inspire artistic excellence and also a social setting where everyone lives and breathes the pursuit of musical artistry.		Confirmation personnelle: Bien que je n’aie pas persévéré dans une profession musicale, je suis reconaissant d’avoir aussi étudié le hautbois au Conservatoire de Musique Montréal sous Bernard Jean. En rétrospection, et sans aucune fausse flatterie, c’était tout un privilège: 4 ans dans un contexte paradisiaque… un lieu historique qui ne peut faire autre chose que d’inspirer à l’excellence musical et un contexte social où chacun vit et respire la quête artistique.
Bernard Jean also taught Louise Pellerin and my first oboe teacher (after high-school), Lise Beauchamp, who now succeeded him as principle oboe of the Orchestre Métropolitain as well as teacher at the Conservatoire in Montreal. After her own studies at the Conservatoire, Lise went on to complete her musical training at the Julliard School of Music! She now brings the best of both American and European aesthetics home to Montréal. So many years ago, Bernard instructed me to get lessons with Lise in preparation for my audition for the Conservatoire: in only a few months, she clearly did quite well. Now, by the masterclass performance of her next-generation students at the Conservatoire, it is clear that she is passing Bernard's legacy along with her own impressive experience.	Bernard Jean My main oboe teacher. Mon principal prof. de hautbois.	Bernard Jean a aussi formé Louise Pellerin et mon premier prof. de hautbois., Lise Beauchamp, qui l’a succédé comme hautbois principal de l’Orchestre Métropolitain ainsi qu’en tant que prof. au Conservatoire de Montréal. Après Montréal, Lise a complété sa formation à l’école de Julliard à New-York! Elle rapporte maintenant à Montréal le meilleur des deux esthétiques (européennes et américaines). Il y a tant d’années, Bernard m’avait dit de prendre des cours avec Lise en préparation pour mon audition au Conservatoire: en quelques mois seulement, elle a clairement très bien fait. Maintenant par le jeu de ses étudiants au Conservatoire, il est clair qu’elle passe le flambeau de Bernard tout en ajoutant la sagesse de sa propre expérience impressionnante.
Trust in the system and persevere in your quest: I left the Conservatoire and went to McGill University (where I also had fantastic experiences and amazing teachers) but this had nothing to do with Bernard and everything to do with being a nervous wreck at the time. When I started playing oboe again, after 10 years of nearly total absence from it during engineering school, I finally began to understand the sense of what Bernard had taught, both by instruction and by example, and also just by his behaviour around me and everyone in our entourage.		Ayez confiance dans le système et persévérez dans votre quête: Lorsque j’ai quitté le Conservatoire pour aller à l’université McGill (où j’ai aussi vécu de merveilleuses expériences avec des professeurs formidables) mais ça n’avait rien à faire avec Bernard et tout à voir au fait que j’étais un paquet de nerfs à l’époque. Quand j’ai repris le hautbois, après un hiatus de 10 ans pendant mes études en ingénierie, j’ai enfin commencé à comprendre ce qu’il m’avait enseigné verbalement et par exemple et même par son comportement autour de moi et tout le monde.

His entire personal presence taught more than the oboe or even music, but also about how life and and being end-up showing in musical performance. It took me 20 years to appreciate what Bernard passed on… I hope I’m doing him justice now.

Je suis maintenant capable de comprendre ses leçons, qui outrepassent le hautbois et même la musique, mais incluent un optique de vie qui se manifeste finalement dans la musique. Ça m’a pris 20 ans apprécier ce que Bernard m’a transmis.

Witnessing Louise Pellerin in both masterclasses, I immediately saw the living aesthetics of our common teacher, Bernard Jean, as well as the energetic refinement of her subsequent teacher, Heinz Holliger, wrapped with a humanistic understanding which is all her own. There was quite a lot of artistic maturity in the rehearsal techniques she passed on and the expectations she held at both the Conservatoire and McGill University; maturity that cannot fail to move those very fortunate students greatly on their journey to a life blessed with the oboe!

Voyant Louise Pellerin dans les deux Masterclass, j’ai immédiatement vu l’esthétique vivante de notre prof. commun, Bernard Jean, ainsi que le raffinement de son prof. subséquent, Heinz Holliger, le tout enrobé d’un sens humaniste qui est propre à Louise. Il y avait là considérablement de maturité autant dans les techniques de répétition qu’elle enseignait, que dans ses attentes au Conservatoire et l’université McGill; maturité qui qui ne peut manquer à émouvoir ces chanceux étudiants dans leur cheminement merveilleux avec le hautbois.

A book by its cover / l’Habit fait le moine

On forums and Facebook posts as well as simple ordinary conversation over the past 30 years, there is a belief that a competent oboist will end-up sounding the same on any instrument s/he plays. This makes a certain amount of good sense because there is so much more than the instrument in the sound: reeds, embouchure, air stream (general body physique) and even hall acoustics play a huge role in how the instrument will sound. Moreover, I do believe that spending lots of time with an instrument will attenuate the differences, leaving personal style shine through. But I think people exaggerate when they say the a different instrument makes nearly no difference at all. Also, maybe spending more time with an instrument will allow a musician to aim for a different sound by letting go of old habits, necessary for one instrument, but not another	Ol’ Faithful / Vielle Branche (Lorée) Dr. Jones (Pan-American – Conn)	Des discussions sur les forums et messages Facebook, même des causeries depuis 30 ans laissent croire qu’un hautboïste compétent sonnera pareil sur n’importe-quel instrument. Ceci a un certain bon sens: le timbre est affecté par l’anche, l’embouchure, le souffle (le physique du corps) autant que par l’instrument; même l’acoustique affecte le timbre. De plus, je crois qu’à la longue, on s’habitue à l’instrument et les différences s’atténue, laissant le style individuel du musicien transparaître. Mais je crois que le monde exagère lorsqu’on dit qu’un instrument différent ne fait presqu’aucune différence. De plus, peut-être que passer plus de temps avec un instrument permettra de viser des buts différents en permettant de lâcher prise de mauvais plis qui étaient jadis nécessaires pour un instrument, mais pas un autre.
Meet Dr. Jones and Ol’ Faithful! Ol’ Faithful is that Lorée I’ve been using for my You-Tube recordings up to now. I’ve had it almost all of my oboe playing life and seems to me much better than new Lorées I’ve been trying. While I had it rejuvenated and revoiced by D. Teitelbaum (half of Laubin inc.) in 2010, I got a 1921 Pan-American (Conn) oboe on e-bay, just so I could blow some notes and work my fingers. It is a beginner model, but it’s sound opened my horizons on what is possible and made me realize that my struggles for tuning and dynamics might not be entirely my fault: even though Lorée is a very respectable professional instrument, nothing guarantees that it will actually help performance, especially because a great instrument for one person does not always “mesh” with another.	Computer Speakers, mobile devices or cheap ear buds might not allow you to hear the difference in tone colours. Les haut-parleurs d’ordinateur, téléphones ou tablettes et les casques d’écoute bon-marché ne permettront peut-être pas d’entendre la différence de timbre.	Dr. Jones et ma Vieille Branche! Vieille Branche est le Lorée que j’utilise jusqu’à maintenant pour mes You-Tube. Je l’ai depuis presque le début de ma vie hautboïstique et il me semble bien mieux que les nouveaux Lorées que j’ai pu essayer. Lorsque je l’ai fait remettre à neuf par D. Teitelbaum (la motié de Laubin inc.) en 2010, j’ai acheté sur e-bay un Pan-American (Conn) de 1921, juste pour que je puisse souffler un peu et faire marcher mes doigts. C’est un modèle débutant, mais il m’a ouvert les horizons sur ce qui est possible et que mes épreuves avec la justesse et les nuances ne sont peut-êtres pas de ma faute. Mon Lorée est un instrument professionnel très respectable, mais rien ne garantit que sa qualité m’aidera, étant donné qu’un excellent instrument pour une personne ne l’est pas nécessairement pour une autre.
Recording Wreck! I know at least one instrument vendor who was asked to make recordings for clients who did not want to make the long drive to his store without knowing if it would even be worthwhile. He declined to do so because it is REALLY hard to capture the different tone colours on a recording. In fact, I spent a whole week playing with recording settings on both my microphone and computer software as well as different layouts in the room – the 2 instruments always sounded nearly identical in the recording! Also, trickery does not work: normally a recording is passed through a “low pass filter” to remove the distortion from room reverberation: when I do this, even my best contrast recordings end-up making the two instruments sound the same.	Summer 2010 : rebuilding my oboe mouth and fingers while Ol’ Faithful got overhauled in New-York. (Lunch time at work every day!) Été 2010 : refaire ma gueule et mes doigts pendant que ma Vieille Branche se faisait mettre à neuf à New-York. (Midi à l’ouvrage à tous les jours!)	Enregistrements Enrageantes! Je connais au moins un revendeur d’instruments avec des clients qui demandent des enregistrements pour savoir s’il possède un instrument avec un timbre pour justifier la route. Il refuse de le faire parce que c’est VRAIMENT difficile de capter les différences de timbre en enregistrement. En fait, j’ai passé la semaine entière à jouer avec les ajustements sur mon micro et mon ordinateur en plus de la disposition de ma pièce – les 2 instruments sonnaient toujours presqu’identiques sur l’enregistrement! Tenter de tricher ne marche pas: normalement on passe un filtre “passe-bas” sur l’enregistrement pour éliminer la distortion dûe à l’écho de la pièce. Quand je le fais, même mes enregistrements montrant les contrastes les plus nets finissaient par faire sonner les 2 instruments pareils.
Microphones are NOT ears! Now wait, does this mean that the recording is right and ears are hearing what we want to hear? Uhhh, no. The old notion that a camera sees the truth will be quickly debunked by any professional photographer and the same is true for microphones. The ears are VERY different from any kind of microphone, no matter how sophisticated and humans also hear with the whole body: bones, skin, even fat and muscles react to air vibrations and transmit everything to the hearing centers. Conclusion: I have HUGE respect for recording sound engineers!	Reed used in the recording. Anche utilisée dans l’enregistrement.	Les micros ne sont PAS des oreilles! Minute-moumoutte! Est-ce que l’enregistrement prouve qu’on entend ce qu’on veut? Aaahh non. L’idée qu’une caméra capte la vérité est rapidement démentie par un photographe professionnel; il en est de même pour les micros. Les oreilles sont TRÈS différentes que même les micros les plus sophistiqués et nous entendons aussi avec le corps entier: les os, la peau, même le gras et les muscles réagissent aux vibrations dans l’air et contribuent à ce qu’on apèlle “entendre”. Conclusion: j’ai un ÉNORME respect pour les preneurs de son!
What makes the difference in sound? I don’t actually know. For sure the bells are different and I suspect Dr. Jones is more conical (smaller bore at the top, same at the bell joint, but much more flaring at the bell). But wood thickness also plays a role and God-knows-what-else might affecting the tone colour. Dr. Jones is a very old beginner-model (probably made for marching bands) so it will never play as easily or with the versatility of a pro. model. But it did serve a great purpose, it really opened my horizons at what a different instrument could do for me.		Que fait la différence dans le timbre? Honnêtement, sais pas. Sûrement que les pavillons jouent un rôle et je soupçonne Dr. Jones d’être plus conique (perce plus mince à la tête, pareille à l’articulation du pavillon mais un pavillon beaucoup plus évasé). Mais l’épaisseur du bois joue aussi un grand rôle et Dieu-seul-sait-quoi-d’autre peut affecter le timbre. Dr. Jones est un très vieux modèle à débutant (probablement conçu pour les parades) alors il ne jouera jamais aussi facilement ou avec la polyvalence d’un modèle pro. Mais il a très bien servi à m’ouvrir les horizons à ce que pourrait me valoir un nouvel instrument.

Overdoing it & Recording Practice Sessions

Stuff going on this weekend, so pictures of the sides of my reeds comparing “manual” alignment with the Cane Guide will have to wait ‘till next week.

It’s been about a year now since I started lunch-time practicing with my fixed-up (almost) 1921 Pan-American beginner model and sent my Lorée to get revoiced in NY. I suppose my next You-Tube video should commemorate that milestone. I got the Lorée back at the end of June or beginning of July, so I still have time to get in better shape.

Update on physical progress.

No treatment this week. The weather was pretty sunny all last week, this week is turning to rain again. When the weather gets sunny, I get sore, when it gets cloudy/rainy, I get tired. But I’m doing much better than expected: yesterday the software development team spent the afternoon merging source-code all gathered around someone else’s computer. The twists and contortions I had to do to read his very small fonts should have given me a monster headache, but no, I’m doing fine! In fact, not even any Saturday morning headache. So the IMS treatments are evidently working.

(Not) Waving for the Camera

Musical, not physical expression.

In a previous post, I discussed how swinging the body while playing might help or hinder the expressive qualities of playing. My conclusion was that too much is distracting and completely stiff is boring. I also opened the question that perhaps body motion aids in phrasing.

Well, consider this video, one of my favourite pop songs of all time. I have never seen a band with fewer stage stunts … but close your eyes and just listen: there’s no denying the power and depth of their musical presence!

Can “expressiveness” be overdone?

I consider two kinds of dynamic expression: short expressions and long phrasing. The long phrasing is what we spend most of our years perfecting, the short expressions are anywhere from one to maybe 6 notes long, but describe our personal style and our understanding of how the particular style (baroque, classical, tango etc.) speaks.

Swelling notes, but not too much.

I’ve been recording my practice sessions lately, and I wonder if I’m not going to far in my dynamics. The long phrasing is fine, but the short expressions will go from a true pp to a true ff in a matter of one beat. When I just write/say that, it might sound like a dream come true for the oboe, but when I record myself and play it back, I’m not so sure anymore. Then again, I need to play with the microphone and computer “gain” (sensitivity) settings and their positioning: this changes the way the recording ends-up sounding quite a lot!

When I listen to my hero Albrecht Mayer playing what could go berzerk with dynamics, I find his playing much more tame than I would expect, but full of energy and vigour nonetheless!

Computer Aided Practice Recording.

More and more, I’ve been using the computer to record my practice sessions. I’m finding it downright revealing!  Using the free and powerful software Audacity, I recorded the piano accompaniment on one track. Every time I press the record button, a new track is added while playing all the tracks already there so I can hear the piano while recording. Previous tracks of my own performances can be muted one at a time or all together. This way I can compare the different performances and verify the progress.

One REAL test for tuning is to play along with one of my previous tracks or have 2 of my tracks play together… OUCH! When playing this way, I am forced to adjust to the “other oboe”: nothing says that the “other oboe” is in tune , but there is an old saying in musical performance: “If the other guy is out of tune, it’s my fault!” [for not compensating]. This is much more difficult than playing with other instruments.

Getting the piano part is not too difficult, it requires a CD or any kind of computer file where the piano was recorded. A CD can be “ripped” with free programs such as WinLame and each tune or movement becomes a separate MP3 file. In all formats of recorded performance (actual sound file), just drag-and-drop the file onto Audacity and a new track is made for it. If you have a MIDI file, it can be converted into an actual sound file with other free software such as SUPER.

Learning from the Masters… electronically!

I had the real pleasure of being “virtually” introduced to a bunch of amazing oboists that I would not have known otherwise. In this blog, I have made much ado of Albrecht Mayer… in fact, I would never have known about him if it weren’t for internet streaming radio and the CBC radio 2’s good habit of giving performance details of their playlists on their web-site.

 

We are living in a wonderful time where it has become so easy to hear so many performances, but finding these performances assumes you know what to look for… and where! Thanks to You-Tube, Facebook, personal blogs and Bill-Boards (discussion groups), I have met many fine people, young, experienced, students, amateurs and professional who have been able to share recordings they have found on the internet. Sometimes, just sharing a name was enough to launch a process of research and discovery.

Redefining Concepts

I can truly say that my concept of playing the oboe, musicianship in general, my concepts of sound and style have changed quite a lot in the past few months. For example, virtuosic (“athletic”) repertoire like Rossini or Pasculli normally leave me indifferent at best. However, the playing of Christoph Hartmann and Giovanni di Mauro are very impressive. Clear, crystalline oboe sounds usually rebuff me, but the playing of Malcom Messiter and Heinz Holliger are definitely worth careful study. Normally, there is a crisp separation between the baroque and modern oboes… in fact, in the 1990s and early 2000s it seemed politically incorrect to play baroque repertoire on modern instruments and romantic or impressionist repertoire on baroque or classical replicas were simply unheard of. Thankfully, some superstars are changing that (A.M. for the oboe, but also Nigel Kennedy on the Violin and many others on other instruments). Next time, I’ll put up a list of very odd ways different oboes are being played!

 

To open some eyes to what can be done with our instrument, take a look at the following:

--- oboe d'amore tango : excellent sound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9Jcv7YuTw0&NR=1

--- baroque oboe BAND
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFoysod39dk&feature=related

--- really good modern jazz oboe : Jean-Luc Fillon quintet
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TIP8swMSi8&NR=1

--- Great 1960's jazz : “buzzaphone“ in the right place!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoAtTi_u2u8&feature=related

--- jazz sounds like a Romanian taragot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb6Goh2lFgo&feature=related

--- bass oboe: saw 3 ships
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0YJxutxAv4&feature=related

--- ragtime oboe trio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kmxt8qqo8v8&feature=related

--- not oboe, but REALLY funny (duet or duel?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbQwQetKm2g&feature=related

When I was a student, recordings were common place, but still expensive and there were simply fewer of them. It was also more difficult to make “discoveries” unless the record store imported on a regular basis. Nowadays, CD's have become much less expensive and public libraries have had time to amass a good collection. I have been going to the Ottawa Public library every week and discovering a wealth of performances, repertoire, ensembles and inspiration all around.

 

You-Tube doesn’t give the best sound quality, but it sure offers us the ability to hear and compare young and not so young musicians. I have had the pleasure of both sharing my experience to the benefit of others, some less advanced and others more advanced than myself while learning and gaining much from their own questions, answers and recommendations.

Helping me play:

All this wealth of exposure has definitely changed the way I perceive music and will hopefully improve performance. Right now, I’m just putting the final touches on the MIDI file that will accompany my 1st recording ever… and mark my return to public performance! Doing an arrangement on MIDI file is more work than I would have expected, but it will be well worth the effort considering the versatility in performance styles and orchestration abilities offered by computers.

 

I have an excellent digital piano that has fantastic orchestral sounds…. but my bleeping PC laptop doesn’t seem to want to communicate with it anymore! I can get the computer speakers to accompany me, but that is a bit of a shame considering. Oh well, I suppose that will just leave doors open for later!

Why practice?

This is probably the most fundamental question to the amateur: why practice, why play at all?

There are people like myself who were once very decent players, but who have stopped for years and now face a steep uphill battle to regain what we once were able to do. People ask me if I play in groups and/or if I have any concerts coming up. Well, no I don't. So then, why practice? Why go through the frustration and difficult task of re-acquiring the skills of the oboe when what I hear coming out of my instrument is less than unsatisfactory?

The word "amateur" comes from Italian and means someone who loves. Unfortunately, in English and French, it is often associated with someone who is not really serious, “unprofessional”. This is wrong, the word "amateur" should only be applied when one is really serious about something: one loves the task and therefore no pains are too great.This is how I feel about performance. This is why I practice: I cannot imagine stopping.

But, owing to the likes of Albrecht Mayer, Cynthia Steljes, Christoph Hartmann, John Abberger, Bart Schneeman and so many others, why bother trying? Surely I cannot even begin to aim for what they are currently doing so well, so who am I to pretend to be an oboist in the face of such mastery? I have no answer to that. I play because that’s what I do, end of story.

Maybe I will play again with a group, maybe not. Maybe I will play on stage again, maybe not. Maybe I will make a You-Tube video only to be ridiculed and know that the critics are right..... but maybe something unexpected, and sorely wanted, will occur.

This is why we practice.

May the year 2011 bring us all lots of opportunities to practice and play for for well receiving audiences; may Providence grant us the purpose and nurture us on our way!