What's the Difference?

This past week I had the privilege of spending 3 days in Chicago at the Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic. I got to accompany the Center Grove H.S. Percussion Ensemble on their trip that culminated in an outstanding performance on Saturday morning for several hundred educators, students, family, and friends.

What a performance! I was so impressed, start to finish, with not only the quality of playing, but with the professionalism of the 32 students who performed a very wide variety of music. The demand was extremely high (especially for a high school group!) and it was met with extremely high levels of ability and preparation. I was proud to see them play my piece, Alarm!, with such precision and excitement, and it truly is an honor to work with such a great group of students.

L to R: Kevin Bobo (soloist), David Reeves (composer), Jim Casella (composer), Josh Torres (director), me
at the Midwest Clinic after CG's performance.

Though I might be a bit biased (I do work at CG after all), I was not alone in my high opinion of the group's performance. I talked with several other percussionists and educators after the performance who shared similar thoughts. One said, "I sat there shaking my head, and thinking, 'This is a high school!'" Another said he laughed out loud at one point in complete amazement at what the group was doing.

All this discussion brought up questions I have to ask myself when I'm teaching a group at this level. And questions that are important as I consider how to teach future ensembles.


What is it that speaks professionalism? What separates a high level percussion ensemble from the rest? What are specifics in the playing that give a percussion ensemble a mature sound? 

These must be things that can be taught/learned, right? How else do some teachers have consistently mature/excellent groups when others don't? If someone asks you, "What do I need to do with my group to help them sound mature?" or "How do I teach professionalism" what do you say? If a student asks how to take the step into the next level, will you know how to answer?

So often we think, That group/person is just naturally good. Or, I/my group could never do anything like that.

Now, I understand that there are many factors out of an educator's control that play a role in the level of a group, but many are not. Somewhere along the line, certain things must be learned and practiced in order to come across as a professional/mature ensemble, and I'm asking, What are those things? If you are not an educator, but a performer, these questions can still apply and must be considered at some point. Even if you're not a musician, taking time to think about the very specific details that separate the best from the rest is never a waste of time.