A Reward without a Trophy

This past weekend I went to the SCMEA convention in Charleston. It was fun and there was great food and company. I always enjoy being a able to spend time with old friends and make new ones too, but out of everything there one thing was the most important to me.

Our Solo and Ensemble division has a fairly new event called the Master Recital. This event is for advanced students who wish to show off their individual skills a bit more than others. They send in a recording and then, if accepted, they get to play for an audience at convention. This year one of my former students, although I still call him one of mine, was accepted to play. I had not really heard him play for several years. Here is another thing that was great. He was supported by not one but four different band directors. His current high school and middle school director were present as was myself and his form middle school director. He played great and didn't play it safe either. He played an unaccompanied piece for euphonium "Elegy" by John Stevens. What a tough piece and he played musically and technically too. He has certainly recovered from falling into a hole one day after marching band rehearsal. I remember him coming into my office after a nice, hot rehearsal with a crushed bell on his marching baritone. His statement was simple. He held up the horn with its mangled bell and stated "I fell in a hole." It makes feel like maybe I do a bit more than just go after a win. I gave this student my love for music and band. Not many can say this about anything they do. I can.

I was also fortunate enough to see another former student who is now a music education major in college. He was present and taking it all in. It too make me feel important to him. All this and not one trophy was awarded. Nobody even called a name over a loud speaker. I won more from seeing them than a trophy could offer.