I'm sure that any of the musicians who are guest artists blogging here at MA.com and many of those who are looking for employment here have had this happen. A happy concertgoer approaches you at a reception or on the street outside the stage door and says "Man, you are the luckiest guy in the world - you get to do what you love as your job! What is it like to have fun all the time?" Now comes the tricky part: how to you let this person know that you work hard, and much more than they could ever know behind the scenes, without coming off as one with their nose in the air, and prickly. I usually thank the person for coming to the concert, express my grateful response to their enjoyment of the concert, and say something like "it's like any other job, it has it's ups and downs". If I'm not in a hurry, I might ask them what they do for a living. Often, they are some sort of professional - a lawyer, doctor, etc. I ask them if they love what they do. They often answer in the affirmative. I then ask them if they consider what they love to do a job as well as an avocaition. They also answer, yes. Then I ask - do you work very hard with long hours, often at home? Yes, they say. And, I add, do you often have days which are very hard and which take a major toll on your energies? They say, yes, they work in a demanding, but rewarding field. I reply, yes - so do I - we are not so different after all!

I wish that we in the music "business" had the time to have talks like this with all of our patrons, and especially our board members. They are all well-meaning people, without which we would not survive. People must come and hear us, after all! But, often, they view what they do as vital work, which feels like "work" and which has a tangible benefit to society and their community. They view going to the symphony as a recreational event - it's entertainment for them. They are often touched on a very deep level, and often are very sophisticated in their tastes and appreciation of great works of the classical music literature. But since they view the symphony as a recreational event, the performers are seen as recreating as well - not working very hard as they actually are.

Last week we performed the Beethoven Sixth Symphony and Stravinsky's Rite of Spring. These are both works which demand the utmost in concentration to bring off in the manner intended by the composer. The Beethoven should appear effortless, an evocation of the stream of consciousness that Beethoven put to paper after being inspired by long walks in the country. Easy to say, very hard to do. The Stravinsky must seem like a primitive unleashing of massive amounts of energy - a seeming orgiastic tumult - but it is all carfully calculated, and the amount of concentration required to play these incredibly complex rhythms correctly on a large stage with one of the largest modern orchestras is hard to appreciate if you don't actually do it yourself.

That's on stage. People don't think much about practicing - they assume you just get together a few hours for rehearsals and it all comes together like magic. I wish! Some programs might take little woodshedding at home, but some are a different story. This week we are doing Nielson's Fifth Symphony, which is a knuckle-buster, to say the least! It has taken several hours of work each day for the better part of two weeks to get the long sections of fast passagework up to snuff, and it still seems like it's on the razor's edge (especially at our MD's tempo!). I've lost a lot of sweat in my studio getting this piece ready just for the first rehearsal - and that would go for everyone in the orchestra.

So, the next time someone comes up to you after a concert and gives you the "work at what you love" speech, take the aside for a couple minutes and let them know what all went into that enjoyable concert experience.