Here’s something team sports does way better than music ensembles.
When you watch a game, you see teamwork in action. If you’ve got a kid on the game, you see teamwork develop and grow, week after week. You understand the process because it’s right there in front of you.
When you watch a concert, the collaboration, the teamwork, the real-time high-level interaction is sometimes invisible. Partly because that’s the story we tell when we perform – seamless, effortless, polished. And partly because concerts are so much rarer than games at least comparing most concerts ensembles and teams. And partly because audiences don’t understand music practice as well as they do athletics – thanks to prevailing cultural narratives.
Since audiences can’t see this work, we have to tell about it.
Talk about process in concerts.
Share about process on social media.
Write about process in concert programs.
Teach about process in your ensemble rehearsals.
The more audience understand the process and the collaborative process, the more they will rightly celebrate and value the work you are already doing. Tell about it!