[CAUT] lack of support

[Fred Sturm]

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On 10/19/05 2:08 PM, "Wimblees@aol.com" <Wimblees@aol.com> wrote:

> As most of you know, I play handbells. Last year I was given a shop/offic=
e
> that is big enough to set up 3 octave set of handbells. For those of you =
that
> are not familiar with this, my shop is so big, that this requires and are=
a of
> about 20' by 8', and I still have enough room left over for my desk, work
> benches and cabinets, and to set up a grand piano. But never mind about t=
hat.
> =20
> With the handbells set up all the time, I had the opportunity to practice=
 a
> lot, and so I decided to put on a recital at the music school. On the pro=
gram
> I played 8 solos, my wife and I played 6 duets, with a friend from church=
 a
> trio, and I had the Crimson Ringers, the student handbell ensemble which =
I
> direct, play 2 pieces.
> =20
> The recital was last Thursday, and it went very well. We had a very
> appreciative audience of about 70 people show up. But the audience was ma=
de up
> of people from my church, the community chorus my wife and I sing in, and
> other people from the community. But as far as I know, there were no Scho=
ol of
> Music faculty in the audience. I had sent out an invitation to all the fa=
culty
> and staff, and there were posters all around the building announcing the
> recital, but not one of them showed up.
> =20
> I can understand that handbells are not for everyone, and I know there we=
re
> some faculty members that were out of town or had other obligations. But =
you
> would think that out of 40 people, one or two of them would have the time=
 to
> come and hear the recital. On the one hand I am grateful for the people t=
hat
> did show up, but on the other hand, I am somewhat disappointed with the l=
ack
> of support from the faculty.
> =20
> Have any of you had a similar experience?
> =20
> Wim=20
>=20
Hi Wim,
    Don=B9t take it personally. Yes, I have had similar experiences many
times. I perform solo piano recitals on a regular basis. One or two faculty
(generally personal friends) may show up. I don=B9t find it surprising. They
attend all their student=B9s recitals, most of the student recitals in their
area (eg, woodwind, brass, voice), many are in the symphony and performing
or rehearsing most nights, yadda, yadda. Bottom line: it=B9s tough to attract
an audience to live music performances. Music faculty go to a lot of
performances as a matter of necessity, and a lot of them want to =B3Have a
life=B2 (an occasional evening at home with family).
    Looking beyond the university community, the same thing is true: if
everyone who said they planned to attend, said they wished they had
attended, asked me repeatedly to be sure to tell them about my next concert
=AD if all those people showed up, well, I=B9d need a considerably larger hall,
and maybe I=B9d change professions ;-).
    Of course, if everyone hates you maybe you should take it personally
<g>.
Regards,
Fred Sturm
University of New Mexico



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