Ben Zander is bringing the Boston Philharmonic and Beethoven to New York in a few weeks. I’m excited to seem them in person, but it’s also streaming live. I hope you’re able to come.
While his impact on the musical canon is legendary, Ben’s ruckus extends far into how we lead, how we live and how we teach. The book he wrote with Roz Zander is rightly celebrated as a classic among business/motivation books, and I listen to it at least once a year. His TED talk is brilliant and I could go on…
For me, the biggest lessons come from his passion as a teacher. He views his musical practice as a chance to enroll others in a journey, and the volunteers in his orchestras find that this journey–the chance to lean into possibility, to fail, to connect, to hear and to be heard–changes their lives.
At the heart of possibility is change. The passion for change is available to everyone:
The title of this post comes from one of Ben’s students. Each is asked to write about the music they’re working on, their approach and the change they felt. Of course, any 14 year old could easily use GPT to compose a more professional essay, but these letters are far from the banal homework of a middle school student. Instead, the letters open the door to growth, to learning and to the humanity that we all seek.
Possibility is wherever we look for it.