2003 WASBE Conference

The opinions expressed
herein are those of the
authors and not
necessarily the opinions
of WASBE.

Conference Article Archive

Thursday, 03 July — "Artistry" Panel Discussion

Artistry in the Wind Ensemble (and I hope that this is the last time that I will disagree with Craig Kirchhoff) was not a misleading title for the ‘Happy New Ear’ session on Wednesday Morning. The title was reflective of the initial presentations of Craig, the wider panel and even of the questions and discussion that eschewed towards the end of the session.

The ‘nature of artistry’ was never going to be exhausted in the time allotted for the session itself but it did open the debate to encompass perhaps what could be considered the ‘macro’ aspect of artistic direction as it is an artistic direction that would play itself out over a period of weeks, months or even years.

In line with the convention of the discussion I should state that I am David Hardie of Perth, Western Australia (which is larger than Texas) and that I don’t have anything against British band transcribers per se but there is a large corpus of work that if we get around to burning all the music that should never see the light of a concert platform then this would be a way to get a good fire going.

At one stage in the discussion it was mentioned that WASBE was thinking about putting out a CD of repertoire that they felt deserved more attention that it currently received. In discussion the other day over coffee it was suggested that there might be more merit in putting out a list or CD of music that deserved less attention that it currently received.

What would be the point of such a CD? Speaking from the point of view of someone who is at his first WASBE and not even half-way through it I think that we need such a CD like a hole in our collective head. I am here for two reasons: one is that Paula Holcomb asked me nicely and the other is to get access to some repertoire and ideas that I would have no access to in Perth. I have several colleagues in Perth expecting reports back along these lines. Why come to WASBE? Because the diversity of ideas present in one room for one week is incredible. WASBE does not speak with a unified voice, which is its strength. The day that WASBE stands up as an association and suggests what we should all be doing is the day that I will resign my membership. This wonderful diversity that we all currently enjoy is the strength of WASBE.

Returning to the theme and discussion of Wednesday morning’s session it was interesting to observe the ebb and flow of the debate. At one stage it seemed that consensus was forming which, ironically, worried me. But by the end of the debate I was glad to see that we were all again in healthy disagreement.

Thanks to everyone who I have met this week, it has been an exceptional experience due to what is both on and off the program.

David Hardie