Good Advice

A couple weeks ago I attended a masterclass hosted by Michael Burritt at Northwestern University. Gordon Stout had some excellent advice for those performing in a master class: always make sure to have your music with you, and ready to be referenced. This advice came in lieu of a student performing Eric Ewazen's Northern Lights; Stout was offering advice and wanted to express his words through music, by performing the passage being referenced. But without the music, it was difficult to perform, note-for-note, the passage in question. So heed Gordon's advice: the next time you attend a masterclass, bring that music!