Becoming a Resident Musician, Part Two

Part Two of an ongoing series of reflections by resident violinist Chase Spruill.

“The first thing you should know is that, at the end of this week, if you feel like your head is going to explode and you’re going to fall into a seizure because of all the information we’re about to throw at you, that’s totally okay.” That came from CMW's founder Sebastian Ruth who was sitting across from me at a long conference table on the third floor of the office space on Westminster Street that CMW rents.

I had watched videos and interviews and read articles about Sebastian and company long before I showed up, and so it was interesting to be sitting with members of the staff face-to-face. They’re just as fashionable and just as warm as they come off on interview footage in the news or on YouTube. “I told Chloe to tell you ‘If, at the end of the week, Chase feels massively disoriented and like his head is going to explode, let him know that that’s okay.’” Chloe Kline, CMW's Education Director, was sitting on the other side of the table, smiling and nodding along in agreement. “That said—” she laid out a massive red binder in front of me full of various reading materials and detailed contracts and compendiums,”—welcome to Community MusicWorks.”
   
As it turns out, my first week learning about CMW was going to be about way more than small technical things, like learning when schedules come out and how to check email. It was going to be about ingesting the various concepts that have been growing and living inside of the organization since its inception. Running alongside that moving vehicle can feel daunting enough, but then, trying to jump on board when other new CMW projects are coming to the fore can feel like an equally trying task.

After signing my name on the dotted line, I committed to being a part of the team and to bring energy and creativity to my job. But when you learn that so much of that job ends up depending on knowing things about the community, what do you bring to the table when you don’t feel like you’re an actual part of the community yet and have no idea how to achieve that? And when it happens, do you know it? Can you feel it? Does someone send you an official letter in the mail letting you know that you’ve achieved community status? (to be continued…)