The Time I Pulled Off A Flute Coup
The Time I Pulled Off A Flute Coup
Seizing Opportunity
The Story
I’m a flutist who doesn’t explicitly love the flute. At the Crane School of Music, I had many friends who loved their instruments to the point of obsession. They’d spend hours a day alone in a practice room; I’d focus on what I needed to prepare for auditions and performances. They knew all the core and newest literature for their instrument; I just picked and chose from what I heard in master classes. It wasn’t about the flute, for me. It was about the group: the woodwind quintet, the Symphony Orchestra, the Wind Ensemble. The band. Everything I did on my flute, I did in service of whatever performing group I was in or wanted to break into.
Did this put me at a disadvantage sometimes? Absolutely. My flute professor wished I directed at least some of my musical passion flute-ward. My friends who loved their flutes couldn’t understand why I wasn’t excited to attend flute-centric recitals or wear flute-patterned socks. When I met my future husband, he and his friends were all saxophone-crazy. I was out of sync with my fellow music students.
But there was one time that my ensemble focus paid off. It was the end of my sophomore year, and I looked at the flutists in Wind Ensemble— the group I aspired to be in— and thought, “Hey, a lot of them won’t be here next semester.” Between people graduating and student teaching, I saw an opening at the top, and I realized that if I was going to make my move, the time was right then.
So I cleared my schedule for the end of the summer and waited for my packet of audition materials to arrive. And when it did, I practiced. I did everything my flute professor ever recommended. I started with a zillion warm-ups. I practiced slow. I took passages apart and put them back together. I listened to the recordings of every excerpt over and over. I recorded myself (on tape, because this was 2001) and listened back for errors.
(Also— and this is an important acknowledgement of privilege— my parents and grandparents bought me a new flute over the summer. It was a step above what I’d been playing on, and it made me feel like a superstar.)
We had auditions within the first week of the school year. Our flute professor conducted them blind, which meant we signed up with a number, walked in silently, performed the music with him sitting behind a screen, and walked out silently. I signed up for an early-but-not-too-early slot. Afterward, I thought I did well, but I had to wait until the list came out.
Our flute professor posted our final seating list outside his office the next morning. When I saw it was up, I ran. I saw. I whooped and danced. I’d done it! First chair in Wind Ensemble! I was so proud. When I went in for my first lesson, my professor heaped praise. “I had no idea who you were,” he said. He told me that I had done well enough to be in the top group, Symphony Orchestra, but since I’d requested Wind Ensemble, he’d put me there. “You blew me away,” he said.
It was one of the proudest moments of my life. And it was all down to timing. I’d always had the capacity to work hard. But it wasn’t until I saw how much I could gain that I really pressed down on the gas.
The Character Trait
Seizing opportunity is about balancing preparation with patience. You hone your skills, and then you wait for your moment. Sometimes it takes months, or years. It takes desire, passion, focus, and faith to keep going.
Let’s Do Some Stuff Together
You can’t seize an opportunity if you don’t know what you’re looking to seize. Take some time to think about what you want. What comes next in your career, your hobby, or your family life? What’s your big, scary dream?
Some say that it’s not healthy to be constantly wanting more from life. I say it’s fine to want more, as long as you balance it with gratitude for what you already have and a healthy acceptance that some things aren’t under your control.
Want more?
If you’re a parent or teacher, point out new opportunities to your kids. In stagnant times, ask them how they could prepare for a potential opportunity. Ask them, “What if ___ comes along? Will you be ready?”
If you’re a writer/creator, use the why/what/how process to position yourself for your next big creative leap. Here’s how it breaks down:
WHY— Ask yourself, What’s my creative purpose? Why do you want this? Why does it matter to you and to the world?
WHAT— Name a specific goal. How will you know when you’ve reached it? What steps need to be taken?
HOW— Break your goal into skills that can be practiced.
How did this work for you? Leave a comment below, and you might be featured in next week’s newsletter!
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This Substack post is a must-read.
Here’s to us, in all of our imperfect, striving goodness.
Keep hoping. Keep caring. Keep trying.