Importance of competitions

bluemeringue
Fri, 05 Dec 2014 20:57:32 +0000

I totally agree. My son happens to like the process, since it inspires him to practice more and gives him the opportunity to perform under pressure. Not sure where he gets that from – certainly not me. I will say that my piano teacher growing up was very competitive. As a result, I won a lot of competitions and performed in a recital (with other young pianists) at Carnegie Hall, etc. Honestly, it meant nothing. I was perfectly fine and did well, but it reflected more on how politically savvy my teacher was.

I also think there are a lot of competitions that require extensive travel, which are simply not feasible for us, since my son does not want to miss that much school. All fine, I suppose.

I am hoping he will continue to feel passionate about piano long after the professional competitors burn out. Many of the top musicians at his pre-college conservatory and at BUTI were planning to drop music just as soon as they got accepted into Harvard, Yale, etc. I think it’s sort of sad.