The joys of making music with others.(In Unison)

"From the first note you play of the introduction, you are responsible for setting the mood for the rest of the song and providing the motivation for the chorus' entrance. Your entire focus must be on expressing the emotion of this song, not the homework you didn't finish, not the quality of the piano and not the audience."

These were the instructions I was given by my piano teacher, also the conductor of the 40-member Snap-On Tools Male Chorus. Although only 11 years old when I began playing for this group in Kenosha, Wisconsin, I look back in amazement at all I learned within my six years with the chorus until I headed off to college. Although I was so young my Dad had to drive and accompany me to all the rehearsals, I quickly acquired the skills needed to work as a professional accompanist--learning how to follow a conductor, play open score (up to eight voices), sight read and learn new repertoire quickly, perform a wide range of music in all kinds of settings for audiences that ranged in size from 40 to 2,000. I really believe these early experiences helped shape the musician I am today.

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Although playing solo piano is incredibly rewarding, the idea of collaborating with others and being a part of a bigger ensemble can be exhilarating. In junior high and high school, I accompanied the choirs and sang when unaccompanied works were performed. I also played violin in the high school orchestra, and one summer was miraculously seated in the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at the Interlochen Music Camp (Michigan). It was an extraordinary experience to be engulfed by the sounds of a Brahms Symphony swirling around me!

All those pre-college opportunities introduced me to the joys of making music with others, helped me develop my ear and learn a host of new skills. I'm sure it was the combination of all these positive musical experiences that prompted me to major in music. My passion for collaborative performance intensified in college, where I served as an accompanist in nearly every applied teaching studio. Without a doubt, observing all those teachers positively influenced my own playing, as well as my teaching.

My reason for sharing these personal experiences is to encourage you to promote collaborative performance of all kinds to your students, whatever their age. Although it may take up more of their limited free time, being part of a large ensemble will ultimately enhance their private study. Students expand their musicianship when part of a chorus, band or orchestra; they learn to follow a conductor, blend their sound, listen for intonation and experience the excitement of being surrounded by the sounds of a large group. I will never forget what it felt like to be a member of a huge, combined chorus at Interlochen Music Camp, performing the Verdi Requiem with the Festival Orchestra or playing Liszt's Les Preludes, as a violinist in a finale that involved multiple orchestras, plus chorus and dancers. These events are indelibly etched in my memory.

By contrast, when performing in a duo, trio or other small ensemble, ...