It is very hard to quantify this week - one that seemed to have, to say the very least, both extreme highs and lows, but I wanted to take a moment to "publicly" mention one of the very high points. In fact, one of the high points of any week: The visit of Steve Marcantonio to CMAS.
The most obvious point is easy enough for sure. To have some one of Steve's expertise willing to spend as much time as he did with me and my students is still unreal to me. He was unbelievably gracious with his time. He was kinder to me than I could ever possibly deserve. The impact he had on me and CMAS is invaluable to say the very least. I need to write more about it all at some point soon, but, for now, I wanted to just share one thought that I think sums up a lot of it....
At one point Steve was talking to the students about his start and how when he was young he got a chance, via a cousin, to meet a very significant music engineer/producer. He said that as soon as his cousin said the producer's name he (Steve) immediately got very excited. (Paraphrasing) "I've seen this guy's names on so many albums that I love! Of course I want to meet him!"
What struck me later, is how Steve is very much the same for me and my students. For many people. Steve has no ego so I cannot imagine he would have ever made the obvious parallel for us by saying it out loud, but the fact is that Steve is a monumentally important and influential MUSICIAN (he claims he is not one, and I will forever disagree - he is an Artist is the truest sense of the word, but I digress...) and getting to meet him is, for the rest of us, just as it was for him to meet one of his idols. He is that good at what he does.
I learned a lot from Steve in the brief time I got spend with him. Not just things to improve my production technique, or my teaching methods with my students; but I got to see, first hand, a true example of how to be a gifted genius while simultaneously building up others, just for the pure joy of doing so. And though I will certainly never be the former, I can certainly say that I am going to redouble my efforts on the latter.
Thank you, Steve. You are, truly, the best
