Time to open your gifts!

Every practice session is like Christmas morning for a flutist. What did I get today? Fleet articulation? Faster trills? More interesting colors in my tone palette?

And what new limits have been imposed? Is my tongue slower for some reason? Are my favorite tone colors just not there today? What will I discover if I work within these limits rather than giving up or fighting them? It’s like discovering your usual route is blocked, taking some side roads, and discovering some beautiful treasures along the way.

These gifts and treasures! Who are they for? You, your family and friends, your world, all worlds. We are re-gifters.

A student recently got a big smile while we were talking about an upcoming audition. “Oh, competition!” I said. “What fun!” I was going to add, “Let the best man win!”, but the truth is, “Let the audience win!” May the audience benefit. When we prepare for a competition, we are not preparing for us to win. We are preparing for US to win. The big “us”. Everyone. Those who will hear our music and those who will only benefit in some distant way from our big re-gifter hearts.