Just a few random thoughts that popped up in my mind last week.

–  An important aspect of being a leader is the attitude towards the group: a good attitude can build a team, but a negative one can destroy a group. Recently I took part in a sectional rehearsal in which everybody was asked to play alone in front of the whole group – not being (mentally) prepared for this. In my opinion this is definitely a very bad idea. Many people will be able to do this, but some people will feel overtaken and won’t play as well as they’re capable off. In the worst case this creates gossip.

– An interesting video of Igor Gruppman, concertmaster of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, about being a leader: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3J5JyBDKGo

(Note that he’s speaking about the psychological aspect of leadership as well!)

– Cécile Huijnen, the concertmaster of Het Gelders Orkest, offered me a lesson. I could ask her some questions for my research!

– As far as I know, a tutti player needs to play like a “mannequin”: (s)he doesn’t give any personal imput to his/her playing. But being a leader means you have to add a certain glance/glow to the group, says Charlotte Potgieter (principal of the second violins at the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra).

– A book that could be of interest to me and that was recommended by a fellow student, Jacobus: Leadership – the Power of Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Coleman.

– And last but not least, a temporary research question might be:

Being a concertmaster consists of many aspects. How can I help myself improving two of these, namely the psychological/mental part of leadership and playing concertmastersolos (in musical and mental sense)?