Orchestra rant ahead
I confronted my orchestra teacher today about one of our top cellists who never plays. I know, I count everyday. It's unacceptable and sets a bad precedent for the rest of the cellos, and damn it, I sit behind them and it rankles me to no end that I play every damn day, rain of shine, short dress or pants, and they get to sit ahead of me. I envy them of their position, I will admit it straight out. I work, and they get it without playing a lick of music. I literally have to make them play, go and get a cello for them and set it at their seat. It makes me so angry man. So angry.
Anyways, I finally asked my teacher how long he'll be able to get away with not playing, and my teacher gave me this shut the fuck up look, and said quite blatantly "I don't care if they don't play. They can play everything perfect. It doesn't matter to me."
It was a definite slap in the face for several reason. I know this was my teacher's effort to put me back in my place, to make me stop the passive aggressive glares I throw to him when he conducts and doesn't make this person, or the rest of the people in the group, play. By telling me this person can play everything perfect and therefore doesn't need to rehearse with the rest of the group, he was in a way telling me that because I play everyday, without fail, I am not a good player. It's what I took from it. Maybe he didn't intend it, but it sure as hell sounded that way to me.
The biggest reason though that made me see red and grind my teeth was the unprofessional precedent it was setting. In my outside orchestra, if you miss three days of rehearsal, they boot you out of the program. Our group is too large for this to be allowed. I know we are short cellos, I know that, but if our good players never rehearse, let their egos get to their heads and just sit there, when we finally preform, they won't be prepared with the rest of the group. What a concept. Even good players need to practice with the group?
This is why I am so sick of this orchestra, man. I hate the good players being allowed to skate by, I hate the short preparation time we are given (yeah director, three weeks is plenty of time to nail the first movement of the Dvorak, with only four rehearsal days with the winds), I hate the overconfidence of the group, the low work effort. It's terrible.
Tl;dr MY TEACHER IS A BIASED JERK AND MY GROUP SUCKS.
Anyways, I finally asked my teacher how long he'll be able to get away with not playing, and my teacher gave me this shut the fuck up look, and said quite blatantly "I don't care if they don't play. They can play everything perfect. It doesn't matter to me."
It was a definite slap in the face for several reason. I know this was my teacher's effort to put me back in my place, to make me stop the passive aggressive glares I throw to him when he conducts and doesn't make this person, or the rest of the people in the group, play. By telling me this person can play everything perfect and therefore doesn't need to rehearse with the rest of the group, he was in a way telling me that because I play everyday, without fail, I am not a good player. It's what I took from it. Maybe he didn't intend it, but it sure as hell sounded that way to me.
The biggest reason though that made me see red and grind my teeth was the unprofessional precedent it was setting. In my outside orchestra, if you miss three days of rehearsal, they boot you out of the program. Our group is too large for this to be allowed. I know we are short cellos, I know that, but if our good players never rehearse, let their egos get to their heads and just sit there, when we finally preform, they won't be prepared with the rest of the group. What a concept. Even good players need to practice with the group?
This is why I am so sick of this orchestra, man. I hate the good players being allowed to skate by, I hate the short preparation time we are given (yeah director, three weeks is plenty of time to nail the first movement of the Dvorak, with only four rehearsal days with the winds), I hate the overconfidence of the group, the low work effort. It's terrible.
Tl;dr MY TEACHER IS A BIASED JERK AND MY GROUP SUCKS.