Honor Thy Band Director

It's not exactly one of the ten commandments, but if you're a musician it should be. We had a wonderful guest conductor in the symphony band this past week, and it made me reflect on how student ensembles tend to react to their conductors. In my years of college ensembles I've noticed two things that usually happen: 1. When student conductors take the podium they aren't taken seriously, and 2. when a well-known guest artist comes in, every nuance he/she could ask for is not only given the first time, but committed to memory as well. Oddly, this impressive level of response and musicianship isn't present nearly as often when the band's normal conductor is on the podium. This lack is not from an inability to perform, but from a choice made by the students in the ensemble. We don't have to impress anyone, it's just our band director, he hears us every day. The same choice is made when a student conductor stands before the group. It's only a student, he/she doesn't know what he's doing yet anyway. It's very easy to have a bad attitude when it comes to being in an ensemble. "It's only (fill in the blank), it's not like it's a big deal." Whether it's an ensemble, concert, or conductor, we should always give our best. Regardless of whether it's an ensemble you want to be in or not, we're in the business of making music, and we should always seek that goal with everything we have. So next time you're in a rehearsal with the same old band director, decide to pay attention fully and give him all you can. It's much too easy to take our directors for granted, and they really deserve better.