“Recitals made
me nauseous!”
by Ginevra Ralph, Director of Education
“Recitals made me nauseous!” “I really wanted to perform more but couldn’t!”
We hear both of these complaints frequently as the reason people state they stopped making music. At The Shedd we strive to respond to both of these emotional needs that underlie how people enjoy making music – or not!
For decades our society has moved away from making music in the living room or on the back porch to a focus on higher and higher public performance standards as the primary reason for learning music. Performing in front of others is often a requirement both in private lesson contexts and in public school’s educational standards for the arts. Adults will argue that it is good for kids to memorize their music and get over the fear of being exposed on stage (Adult students, however, rarely join in on volunteer student recitals!) Audiences at these recitals and school performances do judge these young performers who are often exposing a very intimate and insecure side of themselves. And those audiences can be brutal. So, given that so many people recount miserable and humiliating experiences as youngsters being “forced” to perform for others, we really must question why this is such a widely held value and instructional practice.
At the same time, we do encounter a number of amateur musicians, youth and adults alike, who would really like to perform more, either in community groups or with a couple of other players. Often all that is lacking is some basic know-how, personal connections with other players, or the timing and extent of community opportunities available when the would-be participant is ready.
At The Shedd Community Music School we work to address this spectrum of needs and interests. Shedd students are never required to perform, but we also make opportunities available to share their learning with others in a supportive atmosphere. Classes such as our new Junior Stagecraft will help youngsters who are interested in performing build those special skills needed to be successful in the sometimes quite competitive context of school and community theater. And we can matchmak to connect individual students who share similar musical tastes to learn together. Our goal is for each student to have the most meaningful and fun experience possible with their music- making – as they define “meaningful and fun”.