Taylor Swift said this in her Grammy acceptance speech for her historic fourth win of “Album of the Year.”
“For me, the award is the work. All I want to do is keep being able to do this.”
It’s the right attitude to take. Making art in pursuit of awards is like a dog chasing its tail – you don’t get very far. But making art for the joy of making it is probably as good a recipe as there is for making meaningful art.
Every year around this time I tell my students that in preparing for State Solo & Ensemble Festival, our goal is not a specific score or rating or honor. Our goal is simply to make the best art we can make. From there, other people get to decide the awards. We just make the art the best we can.