I was speaking with one of my classmates today about the general lack of support music students give to their fellow musicians. I found it interesting that he brought up this subject because it’s a concern I’ve often thought about since high school. The poor attendance at some concerts and musical events in high school could simply be accounted for by the characteristic laziness of teenagers in their high school years. But as I went through college, I found it more and more upsetting that music students were not showing up to support their fellow musicians’ performances. Of course, we all have busy schedules and loads of homework (including hours of practicing), but I found it hard to believe that my fellow musicians couldn’t spare an hour every few weeks to come out to the choir, band, large ensemble, chamber music, big band, jazz combo, or any other performances. I’ll admit that sometimes people had a legitimate excuse, such as work or a night class, but for the most part people seemed to be just plain lazy. A common excuse seemed to be, “It’s been a long day, and I’m tired.” Believe me, I understand long days; last semester I was taking seven classes, performing in two choirs, and working 12 hours a week when I could fit shifts in. Maybe it’s just me, but I find tiredness to be a poor excuse for not attending concerts. It’s not physically taxing to sit and listen to music, as far as I’ve experienced. In fact, as musicians I would think it would be an enjoyable end to a long day, to just be able to sit and appreciate good music. What’s more, most of our student ensemble concerts at school are free, so it does no harm to your wallet to attend. Perhaps it’s the mindset of our generation to be more self-absorbed. We’re constantly posting on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, and other social media outlets, often about the most trivial aspects of our daily lives, such as what we’re eating for breakfast/lunch/dinner (I’m guilty, too). Sometimes it seems as if we all want to be celebrities, as if society waits anxiously to see what we eat, wear, and think every day. Perhaps it’s this egocentric aspect of social media that’s caused our generation to be less concerned about supporting our colleagues. But it’s becoming more and more clear that in order for the performance industry to stay afloat, we need to have many more people actively engaged in supporting performers. And that starts with each other; if musicians don’t support each other, who will support us? We need to rethink our priorities. Everywhere you look, there are performers literally begging for people to attend their shows. We spend so much time trying to build our own audiences that we often forget to contribute to the audiences of our colleagues. The littlest effort can contribute to a musician’s audience. The next time you see a friend or acquaintance post an original song or a video of a live performance on Facebook, give it a like or a share. If your classmates are staging a small opera or putting together a small chamber recital, show up and support them. We as musicians have an enormous audience within our own crowd, if only we decide to support each other. With that, I leave you with a quote from James Taylor:
“I believe musicians have a duty, a responsibility to reach out, to share your love or pain with others.”
In my opinion, we not only have a duty to share our “love or pain” through our own music, but also to share the art created by our fellow performers. Think about it.
American in London 