Close to a dozen years have gone by and we find ourselves seated on folding chairs enjoying the final recital of a private studio of talented piano students. Each year there are a few new eager faces as the younger students deftly work through pieces that seem very complex for such little fingers to play so quickly. We notice the students who have been seasoned through training, now in those tenuous intermediate years. Their intense desire for precision shows maturing musical ideas, but often arrives at awkward adolescence when being on stage has an added gravity of meaning. We search for the advanced teenagers—those students we have seen truly blossom through the long process of talent development. Numbers have dwindled in this studio. One has decided to move out of state and is now studying at a conservatory. Another has decided to concentrate efforts on the oboe, begun in elementary school band, with time restraints easing piano lessons out of her schedule. Academic and parental pressures have caused last year’s shining star, a junior seeking an Ivy League college education, to quit as well. There remains one teenager who ends the program with a flourish, receiving many hugs from young admirers and awards galore following the program. This is our tiny, eager student from the front steps. A senior, having completed a full twelve years of instruction with many competitions and solo recitals under his belt, he bids farewell to this comfortable, nurturing studio. He enters college as a math major. Many private teachers, parents, and music students may recognize this scene as a very realistic portrayal of possibilities in musical talent development. The first years of training are “romance,” with parents aglow when hearing their talented youngster perform with such confidence and flair. The middle years consist of flux and flow, a phase when students search for the “whys” and “hows” beneath the notes that were so easily played in prior years. Musical training now presents persistent challenges. Late-starters may speed into these years with determination. Others may begin a second instrument or composition classes to broaden musical experiences.
