What makes a good performance? Does a tiger mother create success or sorrow?

I attended a couple of Baroque piano classes in Calgary Performing Arts Festival yesterday, hearing several young pianists perform advanced Bach piano solos. The grade ten class performances were astounding and inspiring. Two performers delivered surprisingly high quality performance, leaving me wonder how a young person can accomplish such professional level of playing. Not only the techniques were solid, the expression, voicing, shaping and confidence were all there.

Piano performance is a highly intensive activity, especially solo performance. Intensive work requires intensive preparation. At the same time, because a performer's job is to execute a piece of music that has long been written and printed, the activity is highly scripted. The process of preparation can be very technical and repetitive - much like quality control, if put it in a business like language. If a 100 times of drills are not enough, do 500 hundred times; if 500 times are still not enough; do 1000 times or 2000 times, to make your nerves know what to do automatically and perfectly. So that there is zero mistakes, zero risk, zero hesitation, etc.

Sounds very boring?

If you hear a boringly good performance, that is a good performance. That is the minimum requirement for one who wish to become a concert pianist You need to be boringly good first.

Then, you cultivate your personal art and involve your personal inpterpretation maybe just a little to make your performance different than others'. One day when you become famous, you can do whatever you want.

Many kids quit piano becuase of boring practice and drills. I'd like to be honest with all inspiring young pianists. If you dream to be a concert pianit, techniques are unfortunately everything you need to work on, for now. For you who just can not go on with boring practices; stop thinking of becoming concert pianist, relax and play whatever way you wish. If you play "from your heart" with a few mistakes; I still consider it a wonderful performance because you are much more relaxed and happier.

A highly musical person could give a performance that sounds great but not good enough to wirn a prize; a non musical person could give a flawless performance that is faked to sound musical. It is true.

Kid, if you did not get a prize this year, it is really not a big deal. The important thing is what you learn from this experience. You may finally agree to do all your drills and slow section practice; you may decide you will never touch piano again. Both are va