Die Frau and I have finally returned from the Missouri Music Educators Association meeting at the beautiful Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach, Missouri. Well, we've been back since Saturday. And the disclaimer on the "beautiful Tan-Tar-A Resort" thing is that it would have been beautiful had it been June.
Anywayyyyyyy...
Her kids (well, hers and J's) performed Friday morning. It was a huge success and the outpouring of response was pretty overwhelming.
Let's back up...
Every year there are two or three performances out of, I don't know, 50, that just completely rise above everyone's expectations. Let's just say, this was one of those performances. But I'm not going to steal my wife and J's glory, so I'm going to leave it at that. Hopefully she'll post about it on her own blog.
Anyway, the rest of the convention was, for the most part, quite a letdown. There were 5 ensembles that performed to which I was in some way connected. I'm pleased to say that all of them performed incredibly well (this is me being proud). Beyond that there was only one other performance that really captured my interest.
I suppose the most disappointing thing is that in recent years programming at this meeting has become utterly conservative. This is especially true in the band and orchestra areas. It seems as though few are willing to take the chance and give a gutsy or adventurous performance. I heard about 5 bands play and all but one left me pretty cold regarding both their programming and performance.
The highlight of the weekend (for my ears) was the Truman State University Wind Symphony. Naturally I'm biased as a former student, but I also believe I have the ability to see beyond those things to hear the performance for what it is. It wasn't good. It was absolutely superior.
Overall, though, the convention was pretty disappointing. But we still managed to have a good time. We caught up with old friends, made new ones and, rather importantly, I made good contacts with a lot of potential. Heheheh...
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