Two weeks ago tonight CMAS held its final concert of the 2009-2010 season. It was, in a word, amazing. I don't say that lightly at all. It was a culmination of so many factors into a single, successful evening of music that I am still a bit dumbfounded over the entire thing.
The evening consisted of over 120 minutes of all original. all student produced and performed music; and the show itself (also, all student produced) was about as over the top as anything I have ever seen anywhere. I suppose the most notable addition was a 25 foot high, 40 foot wide, video projection system behind the performer - thanks once again to Harkins Theatres for all the continued support (Dan Harkins is, as always, beyond kind - Kirk Griffin, their chief engineer, as well - more on them another time). It was stunning. Just stunning to see it all come together. And it was an absolute triumph for all involved, and an certainly a huge honor for me to be part of it.
But here's the thing - and I have been justifiably accused of destroying some professional relationships over this kind of thing - to me, as high as the bar has now been set, we can still do it far better. I'll save the specifics of how for another time, but it's the general concept that got me writing here: the potential Pandora's box of expextaitons.
While the show on 5/20/10 was beautiful, it was also the first time we had put in so many of the elements that I know we can do all of them far better if we simply are willing to not only look objectively, but also take the needed, and in many cases, fairly simple steps to significantly build upon what we have already done. And this is the part that has been a death-knell for some of my professional relationships: perfection is a great goal, but it is not actually attainable. Being satisfied is akin to promoting the status quo, and I simply do not believe in status quo. Things are either getting better, or getting worse. Those are the only two options. No exceptions. Staying the same is akin to getting worse as far as I am concerned.
Yes, acknowledge the accomplishments and revel in the successes as they happen; but I firmly believe that every time you take another step closer to "perfect," the bar of that perfection moves that much further up as well. At the point at which the bar stops moving, or worse, you are satisfied, it is time to stop. Needless to say, many of my professional acquaintances over the years have not been able to hold a similar view. My "arrogance" on this topic makes me feel only bad for them. To be fair though, the relationships that suffered the most over this kind of thing were with people who I would describe as very "unmusical;" very non-creative - though, and again, I freely admit the arrogance of this statement, they think they are musical and creative, but clearly are not. That said, I am not sure I am actually a "pure" personality of music and creativity either - even though I'd like to be. But, as usual, I digress.
Back to the Pandora's box: The further we push these shows, the greater the expectation is from our audience. That is not a bad thing - not at all. But as we start the 2010-2011 season in a few short months I wonder if the audience will allow for the learning curve that is needed over the course of the total season on the part of the students. The audience, perhaps ironically, and perhaps without realizing it, is actually in line with my view of perfection. The question is will they allow the trials and time needed to get us to take those next steps. If they do, the truth is that despite this amazing last show, they have not seen anything yet - I can safely say that there are at least four more major evolutions to the show coming in the not too distant future - not that I will give any details away here and/or now - to saw nothing of the studio progressions that will soon eclipse the shows.
If the audience does not, well there's the Pandora's box for you. The only way to ensure we make it happen and give the audience what they not only want, but deserve, is to consciously keep moving forward. Can't allow ego or arrogance to get in the way. Call it like it is and move forward. Keep pushing. Always. It's not about besmirching the efforts or reputations of anyone - like I said, revel in the well deserved successes as they come along - but if you stay there too long (and I define "too long" as the moment a single element is found to be vialbe for specific improvement) then you are back to status quo. And then, really, what's the point?
I am so proud that the bulk of the CMAS program's students resist status quo - whether they know it or not. They resist taking the striving for improvement as arrogance. They seem to see it for what it is: the continuing search for bettering the end result. Maybe the lesson really is that the Pandora's box is really just that: a box. Keep yourself "outside the box" and the box really cannot have any impact.
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