Donna Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 As a fundraiser for his club, a friend wanted a night of Irish music featuring my dd and ds to showcase young talent because his club raises funds for groups that help children (trying not to name the club). I suggested another talented, local, young sister duo to open the show and an Irish dancer who also plays flute (not as young as the others but absolutely amazing...world championship and ex-Riverdance dancer) to help round out the show. I gave them a quote on fees at a discount because it was for a friend and for a fundraiser. The club was agreeable to the suggestions and went about finding a venue. Friend brings the idea to a church another club member attends. They agree to host the event at their church and we start discussions for a date...then the music director of the church gets involved and wants to take over, completely cutting out ds, the other sibling duo, and the dancer, leaving only dd, not to do the whole show but to do a couple tunes, and bringing in an adult harp group and singer for the "real" show because she thinks it is impossible for a 13 year old to happily perform music for an hour long performance "no matter how talented she is." (Personally, I know a number of 13 year olds who would have no difficulty with this.) My dd has been happily doing performances of this length and longer since she was seven and does so very regularly. Friend says music director was very arrogant and insulting toward all kids involved as if they could not provide good entertainment even though she has never met any of them or heard them play and she complained about the fees quoted. Why is it that world class, professional musicians understand my dd better than local music people? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Not a "like" but a "I hear you". We have a culture that celebrates prodigious ability-but at the same time doesn't want to give such kids credit where it's due. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quark Posted November 24, 2015 Share Posted November 24, 2015 Liking in sympathy and understanding...it shows an utter lack of understanding and pronounced narrowmindedness more than anything else. I hope this is solved soon. :grouphug: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathmarm Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Why is it that world class, professional musicians understand my dd better than local music people? It is possible that your dd, as a world class, professional-grade musician is better understood by those of her "tribe" than those who dismiss her out of hand as "tripe" just because of her age. Ugh! How gross of this music director, perhaps you can submit an audition tape/sample of the acts that you proposed to someone who also has pull in this? Personally, I think it would be better to find a different venue and make sure that those in charge know why you passed on the opportunity to let this snooty music director dump on your kids and their companions. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 It is possible that your dd, as a world class, professional-grade musician is better understood by those of her "tribe" than those who dismiss her out of hand as "tripe" just because of her age. Ugh! How gross of this music director, perhaps you can submit an audition tape/sample of the acts that you proposed to someone who also has pull in this? Personally, I think it would be better to find a different venue and make sure that those in charge know why you passed on the opportunity to let this snooty music director dump on your kids and their companions. I think you are probably right. Over the years, the very few musicians we have had difficulty with have been "local" musicians with an over-inflated sense of their own abilities. We have met so many great musicians who have been very encouraging and wonderfully supportive. They involve dd in the planning and arranging of performances and they listen to her ideas as one of them. We are working on finding another venue and our friend is letting his club know the reasons why so the church will know. If the music director had brought her ideas to all of us in a "what do you think" way rather than with an arrogant, I can do this better, take-it-or-leave attitude then we (kids, friend, and I) would have gladly had a discussion and possibly figured out a compromise. We were doing them a favor for their fundraiser but she made it seem like they were helping dd out "allowing" her to perform there. (The woman has obviously not done her research and looked at my kids' website to see their schedule and where they are performing.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abacus2 Posted November 25, 2015 Share Posted November 25, 2015 Umm, 13 is not that young. I would expect any 13 year old to be able to handle an hour show if they could handle 2 songs. The music director is not worth your time. I would pass. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna Posted November 25, 2015 Author Share Posted November 25, 2015 Umm, 13 is not that young. I would expect any 13 year old to be able to handle an hour show if they could handle 2 songs. The music director is not worth your time. I would pass. Exactly, 13 is not young at all. It is Irish music so more than two "songs" (tune sets are generally 4-6 min each) and a full performance involves talking to the audience between tune sets explaining the history of tunes played and some additional banter but dd is more than adept at being in front of an audience as are many musicians her age. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.