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show, not my show.

In November, I conducted and played piano in the pit for Lake Oswego High School’s fall musical production. The guitar, bass, and percussion scores were rather spare, consisting mainly of chord symbols and rhythm slashes. While I could have written out specific licks that I wanted the students to play, I chose to use their musical ideas and improvisations developed during rehearsals and incorporated their creativity into crafting an accompaniment to support the actors on stage. We performed together as equals, and I think that the end result surpassed the arrangement I could have written out on my own. Trusting the musicians and giving them the freedom to exercise their own creativity resulted in a production that truly belonged to the students. Just a kids’ show...I like that idea.