Blog Post #23: Why We Study Music

I spent the last week in Quebec, at a summer music program called Orford Musique. And I remembered one very important fact. People study the piano because they can’t live without it. I asked my teacher at Orford what type of students he sees go the furthest in music. He answered with the same reason- because they simply can’t live without music. In my experience, this is absolutely true. I can go days, weeks, without practicing. I can get burned out. But in the end, I always come back. And I think that is beautiful- to chase something, without knowing if you will achieve it. But it’s not even about the end goal. The fact that I can exist on this earth making music is enough for me. At Orford, I was lucky to meet many people with the same mindset. We spent a very happy week talking about our favorite pieces and composers, sight-reading/stumbling through piano reductions of symphonies, laughing together at dinner, and meeting again the next morning, tired and bleary-eyed at breakfast. I think I was the happiest I’ve been all year. Indeed, I felt life-full, and I’m excited to see where my music continues to take me.