Our Musicians are like Athletes
Dr. Suzuki liked to say, "Only practice on the days you eat." This meant that he believed that music practice is essential to our every day routine. I like to say, "only practice on the days you sleep" because the brain filters information each time you sleep, and thus you need to renew the information after a night's sleep. I believe athletes are the same!
Right now in Beijing the Winter Olympics are being held. For so many athletes this is the moment of a lifetime. Athletes must train every day, and prepare themselves mentally and emotionally to reach the pinnacle of their performance in order to compete at the Olympics. Our students share a similar discipline of daily practice, mental and emotional courage, and need the support of their peers and their parents. Being at peak performance requires positive support to be courageous and confident. While we are not training our students to be international competitors, we do believe that each student can develop talent through a similar attitude of keeping up daily practice, working with expert teachers, and having emotional courage through a positive environment.
Today I heard a very interesting topic on the radio regarding the International Olympic Committee policies and the important role the athletes play in being able to voice who they are and their beliefs. The IOC is being questioned because they have a policy on leaving personal beliefs and potentially political statements out of sports. It was being pointed out that the personal commitment to being an athlete requires being authentic. Being forced to be silent and banning personal expression would perpetuate social injustices. In recent times, athletes have been known to wear rainbow flags in support of the LBGTQ community, or take a knee in order to support Black Lives Matter. In music we want our students to use their music to express who they are, what they are feeling and what they believe.
In our Suzuki community we want to welcome all students and continue to have diversity in our school. It is important to our mission. On March 6th we are holding our Scholarship Benefit Concert as a mix of faculty and advanced student performances in order to raise funds for low income families to attend music lessons here. On May 6th we are celebrating our diverse community with a Young People's Multi-Cultural Arts Festival on our front and side lawns. We want to participate in taking actions to that fight racism and social injustice. We want to be authentic in our support of others.
As musicians we believe it is important to be authentic and express ourselves through our music. We are spreading the beauty of music and nurturing our students to have noble hearts. In our recent concerts and those that are upcoming, we are exploring new repertoire that represents other cultures that can enrich our musical experiences further. Dr. Suzuki said, "Perhaps it is music that can save the world." In order to bring attention to injustice and inequity, each action we take can make a difference. Perhaps we cannot save the world, but maybe we can change it a little through our actions, through our music, and through our voices.