Percy Grainger Leads With His Chest

I have no idea if Percy Grainger led with his chest. But, it's a nice play on two themes that carried me through the academic year that is coming to a close (2014-2015).

In the 2010-2011 academic year, I returned to the oboe when I was on a fellowship and released from all teaching/campus responsibilities. As I have written before (here and here), it was like magic, and Neil and I dubbed that year, the Year of the Oboe - YOTO. I think of this most recent academic year as the Year of Percy Grainger - YOPG. 

In case my readers have not been exposed to the world of concert bands, allow me to be so humble as to introduce Percy Grainger to you. Percy Grainger (1882-1961) was a composer and concert pianist, wildly famous, who mostly lived in Australia, England, and the United States. He was most well known for his innovative and fresh compositions involving British folk music. I will insert a side note to add that Mr. Grainger was a very generous friend of the oboe. It would be impossible to overestimate the importance of Percy Grainger in the world of concert bands or how often his music is played by musicians of all levels. It would also be impossible to have played in or attended performances by concert bands across the globe and not have been introduced to Percy Grainger. It would be like a student of psychology saying she has never been exposed to Freud. His impact has been that important. 

Percy Grainger

Back-up to summer 2014. Neil heard a recording of the Dallas Wind Symphony and being supremely impressed, mentioned this in passing to Peter Martin. Dr. Martin, being the good-natured soul that he is, gave Neil a copy of a CD album featuring the Dallas Wind Symphony playing Percy Grainger tunes: Lincolnshire Posy. I was half-listening to that CD when I was driving last July; I remember the time, place, and even the date. We've all had those experiences when we are half paying attention to something, and then something pivotal happens, and the mind's wanderings come to a screeching halt, backtracks, and repeats that information again. This was my experience with the Dallas Wind Symphony and thus, was born my near-obsession with Grainger's Colonial Song. So, it was. I was hooked on Percy Grainger, even more than ever. 

When the fall semester started, I had to teach on Tuesday evenings, which preventing me from playing in my community band, a fact which I found most depressing. I was also coming back after a year's sabbatical, during which there had been an administrative meltdown at my university, (and I'll say no more than that), regarding a grant that I and two colleagues had been awarded; in the end, we had to turn down a sizable, three-year contract. The time that I spent trying to rescue that project had taken away from my main sabbatical project: writing a book. So, I was starting the year with a six month extension from my publisher on a very unfinished book. I had also agreed to take on a special project of my university president and even though I was "released" from teaching a course to carry out this responsibility, it came with a large set of stressors, including meeting every week to report on my progress with two deans, an associate dean, and a recently-retired provost who was back on "special assignment" to help with said project. 

It was a semester filled with opportunity, but among the busiest and most stressful of my academic life. On my daily commutes to and from work, I listened to the Dallas Wind Symphony play Percy Grainger. I didn't miss a single trip. It was my solace in a semester filled with sleep deprivation and a lot of adrenalin. The spring semester was less stressful, but did involve the completion of my book, chairing a failed search for a new faculty member, and the dissolution of the president's special project that I was chairing. (Apparently everything that I touched this year flopped!) Even though I was able to return to playing in my community band during the spring semester, I would still start each trip to campus by inserting the Dallas Wind Symphony CD into the car's CD player while I was still sitting in my driveway. As you can see, it was Percy Grainger who got me through this year - thus, the YOPG. 

In addition to Percy, one of my other main coping strategies is exercise and I am lucky enough to be instructed, guided, and supported by a wonderful running coach, who I have mentioned in other blog posts, such as here. Leigh is smart, knowledgeable, patient, funny, and endlessly generous with her time. Last summer she helped me adopt a new running form, which includes everything from how my foot strikes the ground to where I hold my elbows to having an arrow straight back when I'm running. The part that I enjoy the most is my upper body. Leigh tells me to "lead with the chest - pull those shoulders back, like you're tucking them into your back pocket." Early in this training, I was stumbling up a hill, barely enough energy to run, and I remembered Leigh's advice about my shoulders. So, I threw my shoulders back, picked up my heels, and I was effortlessly guided up the hill. Leigh' strength-training schedule has played a huge role, too, but I really notice how much one can feel restored by leading with one's chest. When some of my running problems were persisting, Leigh encouraged me to blend my new running form into my daily life. "When you're walking across campus, hurrying along, just remember to straighten your back and lead with your chest." This became a mainstay of my academic year. When in doubt about anything, just lead with your chest. It always brings me a boost of energy and a feeling of strength. Since then, Neil's found me countless times muttering to myself, "Just lead with your chest, Emily." It's a good that that I'm not well-endowed, because I'd be knocking people over left and right. 

That's how I made it through the this academic year: the music of Percy Grainger and my running coach, Leigh, advising me to "lead with your chest." In truth, the boat-load of dark chocolate that I consumed this year didn't hurt, either. 

Now? I'm at the start of the summer and it continues: Next weekend my community band will play a program including Grainger's "Mock Morris" (yes, with wonderful oboe parts) and yesterday I ran the fastest 15 mile run that I've ever done in my 11 year running "career." Onward.