5 Pies

Okay, I made 5 pies. One I’m passing along to my nearest family members (with whom we are not sharing Thanksgiving dinner), leaving 4 for our 5 family members.

Surely that sounds like overkill, to make 80% of a pie per person. But on a special feast like Thanksgiving, I want to make sure everyone is happy, with a dessert they love. (It also gave me an excuse to bake with my kids, who each picked a few Thanksgiving dishes to sous chef for.)

Malcolm Gladwell once wrote that apple pie is the bestseller when shelf space limits the choices of pie in a grocery store, because it’s most people’s second-favorite pie. But with a special occasion, isn’t it nice to cater to everyone’s favorite, not most people’s second favorite?

I think about this when I’m programming repertoire for a year. Not every piece is going to be everyone’s favorite, and no one piece will be the universal favorite. But by programming lots of varied repertoire (that is, baking lots of different pies), you are much more likely to have spent time on every ensemble member’s favorite repertoire or style.

You can’t always do it, but when you can, it’s nice to plan and make sure everyone gets a taste of their favorite.