You know how we played for today's exchange. It was not all bad, of course. There were positive points, but there were also negative points. I shall focus more on the negative points.
I'm not going to pinpoint every single mistake made, because that will be stupid. No use crying over spilled milk. But we all know that we could and should have done better, because we did better before. So, what was the cause of this?
Some might say it's the heat. But I think that is a very pathetic reason. Feeling uncomfortable? Shrug it off and ignore it! Don't tell me you have so little willpower. You are better than that, right?
Very long never touch instrument. Well...that is your fault for not practicing.
Distracted by surroundings. Refer to the first 'heat' reason.
Tired after sectionals. That might be true. If you really had been playing non-stop during sectionals. I can't blame you for this.
Complacency. I think this should be the reason. Maybe some bands did not play very well, but please remember that they received the piece later than us and that we were at that standard. I saw people laughing talking, just fooling around. Not looking at your scores. Do ALL of you regret it? I don't think so. Because right after our performance, people were STILL laughing and talking. Reflect a little can? Did you think you performed up to your maximum potential?
Please. Do you still want to be treated as the underdog band? Do you like that feeling? We could have used this chance to prove that we could actually play something else other than flight of valor. But we wasted it. Again.
By next monday, you will most probably be getting two new scores, Sinfonia Nobilissima and Navigations. Please treat this seriously, even if we might not be playing these pieces. Take it as a chance to improve and expose yourself.
-SZ