Benjamin Zander is the conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra and a teacher at the New England Conservatory. Zander was concerned that the conservatory’s practise of grading students at the end of their course was causing them to play conservatively – holding them back from expressing their individuality and reaching their true potential.
He therefore came up with the radical idea of giving every student an “A” right away. The only proviso was that each student must write him a letter, written now but dated at the end of their course, explaining why they have deserved their “A”. They should place themselves in the future and look back over all their accomplishments and milestones during the year, expressing these as if they had already happened.
Here’s what one of his students wrote:
Dear Mr Zander,
I got my A because I had the courage to examine my fears and I realised that they have no place in my life. I changed from someone who was scared to make a mistake in case she was noticed to someone who knows that she has a contribution to make to other people, musically and personally…Thus all diffidence and lack of belief in myself are gone. … I understand that trying and achieving are the same thing when you are your own master – and I am.
I have found a desire to convey music to other people, which is stronger than the worries I had about myself. I have changed from desiring inconsequentiality and anonymity to accepting the joy that comes from knowing that my music changes the world.
Giselle Hillyer
Here’s what another, Asian student said when Benjamin Zander asked his class for feedback on the letter exercise:
In Taiwan I was Number 68 out of 70 student. I come to Boston and Mr Zander says I am an A. Very confusing. I walk about, three weeks, very confused. I am Number 68, but Mr Zander say I am an A student…I am Number 68, but Mr Zander says I am an A. One day I discover much happier A than Number 68. So I decide I am an A.
The point, Zander emphasises, is not to deny actual differences in accomplishments or standards, but to create possibility.
If you were to award yourself an A, say for this time next year - what would it be for? If you like, try writing yourself a letter dated December 2009. What beliefs about yourself have you changed? What milestones have you achieved?
