Green Shoots Nominee--Seika Girls High School Wind Ensemble

Sent to me by my bride, a hat tip and much more to her!

This video is eight minutes of inspiration, on all levels.

One question I keep hearing echo through my poor brain is: 'What's possible?' And the answer echoes back: 'Why, anything, if we're willing to work hard enough for it!'

These are adolescent girls, not jaded pros, not even whiz-kid conservatory students. As a musician, I assure you, this piece is wicked hard to perform.

I have a conversation at least monthly with parents, faculty members, students, and it goes like this: 'You tell me that the expectations are just too high, that (fill in the name) can't possibly be expected to practice/study that many hours per week, or meet these standards you tell us are normative. Well, this student's competition in his/her career is not likely sitting in some small college in the US. He or she is in Japan, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Bangalore, Capetown, or some other corner of the world. That young person's family is focused on achievement.'

I'll be showing this video to help illustrate the point.

Green shoots, in unexpected places. If what we see and hear happening here could be translated across the culture---

What's Possible?