MONDAY BYTES – September 26, 2011
What is it that helps musicians overcome adversity? How does music training produce resiliency? Pianist Wu Han credits her own positive attitude and approach to her musical training. “Practicing,“ she says, “is all about working to achieve what you thought you could never accomplish.” In addition to serving as the Artistic Directors of The Chamber Music Society at Lincoln Center, she and her husband David Finckel, cellist of the Emerson String Quartet, are also the founding directors of Music@Menlo, an acclaimed summer chamber music festival based in Silicon Valley.
Launching the festival in the wake of the dot.com bust, the couple didn’t let the lack of funding that first year stop them from making it the best possible experience. They organized house concerts to raise awareness and support in the community. At the beginning, Ms. Wu had no experience with budgeting, strategic planning, or fundraising – but the challenge was exciting for her. When she tackles an “insanely difficult piece,” Wu Han goes right to the most impossible section, “where the excitement is.”
To overcome obstacles, musical or otherwise, she says, takes imagination, discipline, efficiency, and analysis. When asked how she copes with difficulties, Ms. Wu says she doesn’t really think in those terms. She’s an optimist, so focused on the long-range goal, that her vision of it sustains her through any temporary difficulties or discomfort.
Budget and time limitations spur Wu Han on to be more creative and to focus on what matters most.In describing her approach, Ms. Wu cites an unlikely source of inspiration. She once heard Terry Gilliam, of Monty Python fame, speak at a TED conference (the Technology, Entertainment, Design confab that brings together leading lights to explore big ideas). Gilliam highlighted the notion of being thankful for your limitations: that challenges can actually lead to more creativity.
He referenced a scene from The Holy Grail involving the knight characters. Originally it called for riding actual horses, but because of a lack of funding, it couldn’t be done. They were forced to improvise. The Pythons decided that their characters would mime horse riding and that they’d have their porters trotting behind them banging coconut shells together for the hoof sounds – and the scene is now a favorite bit of comedic art. It was inspiration born of hardship. Like Gilliam, Wu Han recommends being thankful for your limitations, as they demand creativity and ingenuity. In dealing with your limitations you may discover strengths and opportunities you hadn’t imagined.
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