Anticipating Wakuwaku

Today was the beginning of something epic:  the Wakuwaku Youth Concerts.  I have heard about this phenomenon since I arrived–it is the concert that we will play 40 times over the course of the year.  Our resident conductor and passionate leader in this endeavor, Chikara Iwamura, took the time at the beginning of the rehearsal to give us a perspective of the concerts.  At least 1,000 13-year-olds at every concert coming from all over the prefecture in a cultural service not offered in other Japanese prefectures to this degree.  This means at least 40,000 young teenagers (how many 13-year-olds can there be in one prefecture??). I appreciated that he took the time to mention it.  Repetition with no volition is a dreary thing, a different sort of challenge.  It's a challenge for which it is hard to rally inspiration and hidden reserve.  It's the sort of thing that puts one at risk for mental atrophy and emotional apathy.

The music for the program is not challenging and we will have plenty of opportunities to become well-acquainted with it.  Chikara Iwamura reminded us that every time we play it, it will be for a different set of 1,000 teenagers.  He is aware of the challenge.  His preparatory words reveal this.  What will he do about it?  What can we do about it?  Are there 40 different ways to play a concert?  Will we try to do even more than 1?  My guess, given the nature of orchestral playing, is that not much will change, save the instrument demonstrations over which we have control.  Apart from making new arrangements of video game songs for cello sextet for each concert, what can be done to approach this sort of challenge?  Does it count to turn off one's brain and soul in a sort of spiritual body guard fashion?

Perhaps there is a state of mind that will serve this sort of endeavor, one for which I lack much familiarity.  Perhaps finding a different theme on which to focus, personal technique, expressive parameters, etc.  Or perhaps listening to different instruments, orchestration, ear-training exercises, hypermeter, phrasing, etc.  Perhaps it is possible to find a renewed memory of the purpose of the concerts for each performance, the uniqueness of this offering to our audiences and the importance that it has for them.  To me, right now, looking forward to what this will entail, the challenge seems to be a balance of engagement versus disengagement.  In some ways, it is more challenging to engage in something that is so repetitive, and in other ways it is more challenging to disengage because of the effect that disengagement has on your mind, body, and inspirational spirit.  I confess this sort of thing is one of my greatest challenges.  I'm curious to see what it brings and what it can teach me.