As a working professional musician one does many things such as playing concerts, practicing, working continuously to improve the artistic chops, teaching, marketing and the subject of this post... participating once in a while in international competitions.
I was honored to be selected and invited along with 88 others to participate in this year's violin edition of this prestigious international competition which takes place once every 4 years. On May 1, after some intense performing and auditioning, I landed in Brussels.
My goal was to prepare and present myself in the best way possible and I feel that I accomplished that. Walking on that stage felt like the most difficult thing I've ever done in my musical career. I am happy I had this experience and I feel it made me a better violinist.
Once more I came to realize that art is the perception of the artist in an objectified way. That perception will not necessarily be the perception of the jury. If the outcome is not necessarily a happy one, that is OK.
Of course it's hard not to care about all the sweat and countless hours between four walls practicing and slowly tinkering each note, each little part of the musical performance but... in the end it's all about keep working, dreaming, playing and having fun.
