Strings Music Hamilton Wrap-up: 2003
May. 7th, 2003 12:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nfotxnThe annual string recitals for Mrs. Spleit and Mrs. Braun came earlier this year which was a nice change. I didn't play in either and was able to sit in the audience for the first time since starting the viola 10 years ago! I must say it was a really great experience to see what the various groups are like to watch as an audience member.
What really got to me though tonight at Mrs. Braun's was all the bitchy parents pissed off they had to pay $10 to see their child perform. I mean we're talking about west end Hamilton parents who are by-and-large the wealthiest in the city. Ironically the east end parents in Mrs. Spleit's orchestra are the most dedicated and grateful to have their children involved in something so wonderful. The program is public and the cost far below that of private instruction. Now not to blight all the parents in the west end strings, many are fantastic and very supportive. But the ratio is much lower and the belly aching much more apparent.
Also the lack of appreciation for playing an acoustic instrument. This is NOT a THX theatre ladies and gentlemen! SHUT THE FUCK UP. IT MAKES IT HARDER TO PLAY TO YOU WHEN YOU TALK AND ALLOW YOUR CHILDREN TO MAKE NOISE. I mean I can't say that out loud because you get labeled a music snob but christ! The ignorance is sometimes just unbearable. If I MC next year I might want to write a polite pre-amble about audience ettiquette. It's not just 'cause strings players are control freak jerks who think so highly of themselves that they demand silence. The silence is required to make the best performance!
That little tid-bit aside it was wonderful seeing the fruits of so much labour. I mean I know how hard it is to perform and get that concert polished and I'm much older than these kids.
Music is such a wonderful thing to
What really got to me though tonight at Mrs. Braun's was all the bitchy parents pissed off they had to pay $10 to see their child perform. I mean we're talking about west end Hamilton parents who are by-and-large the wealthiest in the city. Ironically the east end parents in Mrs. Spleit's orchestra are the most dedicated and grateful to have their children involved in something so wonderful. The program is public and the cost far below that of private instruction. Now not to blight all the parents in the west end strings, many are fantastic and very supportive. But the ratio is much lower and the belly aching much more apparent.
Also the lack of appreciation for playing an acoustic instrument. This is NOT a THX theatre ladies and gentlemen! SHUT THE FUCK UP. IT MAKES IT HARDER TO PLAY TO YOU WHEN YOU TALK AND ALLOW YOUR CHILDREN TO MAKE NOISE. I mean I can't say that out loud because you get labeled a music snob but christ! The ignorance is sometimes just unbearable. If I MC next year I might want to write a polite pre-amble about audience ettiquette. It's not just 'cause strings players are control freak jerks who think so highly of themselves that they demand silence. The silence is required to make the best performance!
That little tid-bit aside it was wonderful seeing the fruits of so much labour. I mean I know how hard it is to perform and get that concert polished and I'm much older than these kids.
Music is such a wonderful thing to
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Date: 2003-05-07 08:16 am (UTC)Really?
'Cause when vocalists do it, it's because we're stuck-up jerks.
I don't know if the organizations in question is comprised of smaller groups or not, but in my experience, right up through high school, the parents of the students in a given group would get up and leave while the next group was getting ready (beginning) to perform.
Rudest thing ever.
Well, that and cell phones.
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Date: 2003-05-07 09:28 am (UTC)I always remembered at Music Fest how many times someone was the middle of a musical perfomance and the door would swing open and a parent would hurry in with their kids and brush up against the chairs, and more important distract with the movement alone. Even worse is when you have these parents that are obviously begrudingly and resentfully there to "support" their kids..but can only be bothered to watch their own child perform and then leave. I always thought that was awfully poor manners.
Oh Well.