No going back to normal
When Will Life Go Back to Normal?
I hear this a lot. And I want to tell you that it’s the WRONG QUESTION.
Before you punch me, let me explain. I started Honesty Pill a long time before the pandemic showed up. I didn’t do it because I have ESP. I didn’t know that huge changes were coming.
I did it because I had a sense that the world of classical music needed to be shaken up. The (figurative) box around classical performers and teachers was too square, too small, and too rigid. I felt like something needed to change or we were going to suffocate.
But something else happened—the pandemic smashed that box. The musicians scattered. Our tradition-filled world fell apart.
We now have a choice. We can find a new box. Or we can build something new.
I will forever thank my lucky stars for the perspective that Honesty Pill gave me on this crazy, tragic, global event. It saved me some of the anguish and whiplash that I’ve seen my colleagues going through. It’s not that I don’t care. It’s that I was able to channel my distress into something productive. As soon as rehearsals were canceled, I had an outlet for creativity, for communication, and for service.
I hope you’ll join me in thinking about the future of classical music, rather than the past. If you missed them, check out my interviews with amazing people who are busy creating new systems for their students, clients, and audiences:
Carrie Salisbury, who turned the limitations of Zoom-based teaching into amazing advantages (spoiler alert—she’s killing it!)
Andrew Bain, principal horn of the LA Phil who is using the pandemic to help musicians with financial literacy and planning
Angela Parrish, an award-winning singer/songwriter who dared to face her insecurities and wound up discovering new ways to connect with students and audiences at a time when her live concerts were going away
If we have a chance to chat, please don’t ask me about the old “normal” world of music. Instead, I invite you to join me in creating something that’s more accessible, more exible, and more helpful than our old box could have ever contained.
