jL | In Practice - Tempo & Legacy
In the classroom - Never Trust a Conductor’s Tempo on Concert Day: While I know many of you are focused on spring concerts, our ensembles are headed to the UIL evaluation this week. Performing for UIL brings several reminders to mind, but the biggest for me is, “Never trust a conductor’s tempo on concert day!”
Performance days bring a myriad of emotions and countless logistical details to a head. We’re often excited, stressed, scattered. We may have spent months preparing and rehearsing, but that doesn’t mean we know what the tempo should be today. A heightened heart rate has more than once tricked me into making poor choices from the podium, and I’ve learned to outsource tempo control. 😂
My trusty mini-metronome (circa 2008) will be in control of starting tempos for Cupero, Dooley, Stravinsky, and especially Rhea (the 2026 Level 6 sightreading evaluation composer). I owe it to the ensemble not to allow my emotions to override my intelligence.
Behind the scenes - Legacy Building: UIL evaluations are Tues-Thurs for us, and we’ll begin SLT (Student Leadership Team) training on Friday afternoon and Saturday. It feels like we’re on a never-ending hamster wheel of responsibilities (but it is still WAAAY better than a real job).
In addition to providing training for our rising leaders before their first teaching opportunities with our newest members, we want to ensure there is time for legacy-building. We want our rising leaders to capitalize on the institutional knowledge that will depart in just a few weeks. We schedule time for the outgoing SLT and the new one to sit together to review, process, debrief, and celebrate.
We teach that annually, there are two kinds of seniors who walk the graduation stage. There are those who grandstand and think, “well…this will never be as good once we leave,” and we all gently smile and wish them the best. These kids are far overshadowed by the seniors, who honestly have a hard time letting go. Through their bittersweet tears, they wish there could be just one more, one more time. While they know this isn’t possible, they smile, choke back tears, and stand a little taller, knowing the best is yet to come because of the way they’ve invested in the future.
Annually, we celebrate these kids (more on how next week) and coach the new SLT about the wonderful opportunity and daunting task of standing on the shoulders of giants, as the Class of 2026’s ceiling becomes the floor for 2027. What we build together over the next thirteen months on their foundation honors their legacy and ensures the sunset we’re not quite ready for yields to another bright and beautiful morning.
Remember: Leadership is selfless service. What backgrounds and experiences have you had that allow you to make today just a little bit better for someone else?