(photo credit: Scott Saavedra)

As a chamber ensemble, we find ourselves in the unique position of not having to follow the direction of a conductor in order to create music. This means there is no baton waving about in the air defining the “correct” tempo of a piece, no romantic arm gestures showing us how to feel or emote, and ultimately no single voice of authority to say, “Look, we’re going to play it this way, and that’s that.” In a sense we are our own musical bosses, which affords us a complex creative freedom of sorts.

Imagine a group of children playing outside, inventing and executing some make-believe backyard fantasy scene as they go. Imaginations run rampant, new ideas are incorporated as quickly they are shouted out, roles change constantly, and any sense of “following the rules” is thrown right out the window.

Soon enough, natural leaders emerge:

“Ricky, you go over there, I’ll stay right here, and when I yell we jump out and shoot the aliens with our laser-guns like this, TSOO-TSOO!”

Individual talents and abilities are identified:

“Danny should be the rocket ship cause he’s the fastest.”

Ideas get shared, revised and expanded:

“James, I shot you. You’re dead.”

“Yeah, but now I’m back to life because I know magic.”

“Oh yeah, and when you died you learned magic and changed into a space wizard and you came back to life and now you can FLY!”

Kids, in their infinite wisdom, seem to naturally fall into a creative collective rooted in spontaneous democracy whenever they play. Of course, this collective is not immune to potential internal conflicts… bullies, tattletales, getting called home for bedtime… but in general, kids seem to connect with ease through collaboration, shared creative vision and teamwork. Simply put, they know how to play together.

I think a chamber ensemble is a lot like a group of children at play. Our potential for creative excellence is rooted in imagination, shared vision and suspension of external authority. We rely on natural leadership, capitalize on individual strengths and continuously tweak and rework all ideas brought to the table. Of all the moments we share as an ensemble – working, rehearsing, analyzing, organizing, traveling, schlepping, performing – it’s playing together that best illustrates and defines our potential as chamber musicians. This sense of play is a huge part of achieving success as a team…after all, the ensemble that plays together, stays together.

Time to go fire up the laser-guns…

-Adam.