who are your people?

Have you ever taken a trip or become involved with a group of people for a period of time where you were together the whole time? Whether you realize it or not, these people, for that period of time become your community.

I was talking to a colleague recently and she shared a story about a month-long trip she took with an orchestra. When she came home and everyone scattered, she felt lost. Why? Because she lost her community.

What is community?

One of the earliest uses of “community” was in describing joint ownership. Over time the definition evolved many ways and referred to social cohesion and as my favorite book, Oxford states: mutual support and affinity...

I love these definitions because they are so relevant, when you think about them deeply, to our life as a horn player.

I take my UNCG horn students on a trip every year. Usually we travel to a horn conference, sometimes stopping to perform in public schools along the way. If the conference is too far for our funding, we only play for nearby schools.

We all have joint ownership in these trips and what we do in the schools. We have social cohesion because we are all vested in what we are doing and we are ‘on the same side’. We have mutual support and certainly the affinity for music, the horn, and performing.

We LIVE in this community. I LIVE here.

My students remark to me, to each other, to their friends how much fun our trips are, how they get to know each other better, they bond, they build their lifelong community.

It is vital to have a community. Do you have one? What is your community? Need one? Go find one! You will always have social cohesion, joint ownership, and mutual support. You will have your people, your TRIBE.

Join the college/community/local band, play in chamber groups (don’t have one? start one!), attend conferences, become active in social media groups (there are loads)…talk to local players, teachers and professors (helllllo!) about how to find your community.

Do you belong to a community and want to share it? Tell me about it! I would love to know.