As a working professional musician one does many things such as playing concerts, practicing, working continuously to improve the artistic chops, teaching, marketing and the subject of this post... participating in international competitions.
I was honored to be selected and invited along with 88 others to participate in this year's violin edition of this prestigious international competition which takes place once every 4 years in Belgium. On May 1, after some intense performing and auditioning, I landed in Brussels.
My goal was to win this competition. In order to accomplish that I prepared to present myself in the best way possible. Walking on that stage felt like the most difficult thing I've ever done in my musical career. Even though I didn't accomplish my winning goal, I am happy that I had this experience. In the end I feel this experience made me a better violinist.
Once more I came to realize that art is the perception of the artist in an objectified way. That perception will not necessarily be the perception of the people judging. If the outcome is not successful, that is OK.
Of course it's hard not to care about all the sweat and countless hours between four walls practicing and slowly tinkering each note, each little part of the musical performance but... in the end it's all about keeping working, dreaming, playing and having fun.
