The trinity ‘Calling – Research Question – Goal’ forms the backbone of your research journey. Together they set the right course: remembering WHO you are, WHAT you set out to do and TO WHAT END you want to accomplish this.
- Calling > Motivation
What is your dream? What is your dream, your wish, your drive, personal interest, experience, or even your need, resulting from previous experience in performance and/or education? Where do you want to be in five years from now, what will you contribute to your profession, to art?
For this research I chose a subject which is quite close to me. Since many years I’ve been concertmaster of a student orchestra in The Hague. This has been quite important to me in different ways: during these years I discovered, challenged and developed myself as a musician, as an “organizer” and as a person. We played beautiful concerts and many orchestra members became close friends.
I’m not completely sure whether I want to research being a concertmaster in general or being a concertmaster of an amateur orchestra – I think there might be differences, for example in approach.
In five years I’d like to have a well formed background as a musician, so that I’m able of playing on a very high level with a head full of background information. Therefore research is quite important! I’d love to play chamber or orchestral music a lot (and to make a living of it ;)). And of course it would be great to obtain some kind of musical leading position somewhere…
- Artistic Research Question
Which research topic or research question can help you to get closer to that dream, help you to realize part of that dream?
Being a member of an orchestra asks for responsability, either individual and groupwise. Being a concertmaster asks for more, it consists of many aspects: musical ones (always be very prepared, play well, help the members of your group to play well, make sure you’re able to lead rehearsals, find out bowings and fingerings in order to create a good group sound), physical ones (how does a concertmaster lead?), mental ones (how to deal with solos, with pressure?), social ones (a concertmaster forms the connection between conductor and orchestra, (s)he should create a real group instead of a bunch of people playing the same notes at the same time), to play solo (which consists of musical ánd mental aspects).
As you see, it’s quite a list! This probably means I can’t discuss all aspects mentioned above, so therefore I’ll choose the ones which could be interesting to me. The first one is the mental aspect. A concertmaster has to be “ahead” of the group in order to be a good leader. (S)he deals with pressure: that’s part of the game. That brings me to the second aspect: concertmaster solos and/or performing as a soloist – always more difficult when the people you’re playing with are in some way acquainted to you ;).
- Goal
Research is time bound. Which goal will you have realized in two years, at the end of the Master’s research? Describe this in a clear task that you set yourself out to do.
I’d like to have learned much more about aspects which could help being a better concertmaster: through musical, social, organizational and personal development.