"...If you are late three times, your qualification as chief will be revoked?"
As soon as Fan Ning said this, the audience was still quiet, but the dozen or so chiefs suddenly seemed to feel the heavy eyes on them from behind or from the side. It was not that they were coveting them, but most of them were looking at the show or expressing sympathy.
Especially the chiefs who were already late today, their necks and eyes were frozen in place, unable to move.
"Professor Fan Ning, I have a question."
"I have questions too."
Seven or eight people in the orchestra raised their hands, the leader of which was Julius, as well as the principals of flute and trombone.
This is not a workplace. The relationship between teachers and students is relatively flat. Public school students are taught to value etiquette but also focus on cultivating the ability to express questions and opinions.
So Fan Ning chose the person to take the lead: "Julius, if you have any questions, please tell me."
Compared with when Fan Ning was investigating the factory last year, the concertmaster looked innocent and restrained. Today, she behaved politely and confidently in the orchestra. She stood up and spoke softly: "Professor Fan Ning, I remember half a year in the orchestra." The assessment content only consists of two major sections: "Performance Examination" and "Daily Rehearsal"."
She is right, the assessment mechanism of the Santa Lenia Symphony Orchestra has always been the same in previous years.
The "Performance Examination" accounts for 80 points and is divided into "optional solos" and "band excerpts". The other 20 points for "daily rehearsals" are subjective evaluations by the conductor after the end of each semester and refer to the opinions of the members. Generally They are all given full marks, mainly as a restraint to prevent someone from having a bad attitude during rehearsals.
"It changed this year." Fan Ning smiled softly, "This is the first thing I want to share with you at today's meeting."
"...Has there been any change in the half-year assessment?..."
"Does this mean that the format of the performance exam will change in the next few days?" The musicians made eye contact one after another.
"Wait a minute, let me find where I put my notebook." Many students were groping around, ready to take a pen and write it down.
It's normal for them to react like this.
The half-year assessment plays a leading role in almost all personnel arrangements, including not only the appointment and dismissal of the chief, but also the flow of formal members and substitute members - the top 40% of musicians enter the ranks of formal members, thus maintaining the formal and substitute memberships. 1 to 5 ratio.
The formal members are responsible for important performance tasks, while the substitute members are relatively "tool people". In addition to being substitutes, they are mainly responsible for a variety of small tasks, such as new student works, departmental activities, public welfare performances, supporting teaching demonstrations, etc...
After the musicians all focused their attention on him, Fan Ning began to give a concise explanation:
"The new version of the assessment mechanism has four sections——"
"The "Performance Test" accounts for 40 points. In addition to "Optional Solo" and "Band Excerpts," "Specified Solo" and "Sight-Reading" are added, both in literal meaning."
"'Sight-singing and ear training' accounts for 20 points. We are all music majors, so I won't explain too much."
""Attendance Management" accounts for 20 points. For example, the lateness issues and leave issues mentioned just now are all in this section."
“‘Daily rehearsals’ account for 20 points, and full marks are not defaulted. 10 points will be given for correct attitude, so that the ranking will not be affected as before. The other 10 points will be given as irregular encouragement rewards.”
There began to be faint whispers under the stage.
Fan Ning's eyes on the conductor's podium scanned the musicians: "If you have any questions, ask them all today, and I will answer them one by one. I will give you 15 minutes to discuss freely, and the questions will be handed over to the violinist to summarize."
The first violinist is the person whose status and role in the symphony orchestra is second only to the conductor. Although Fan Ning has a lot of dissatisfaction with this Julius, she is still in this position, so it is better to let all the problems be summarized by her.
, it’s better for you to solve it all at once.
After Fan Ning finished speaking, the students' eyes were a little dazed. They probably didn't expect that the new permanent conductor would use such a democratic method to let everyone discuss freely first. They suspected that they had misunderstood the meaning.
It wasn't until they saw Fan Ning actually walking off the podium that they began to stand up and leave, and then gradually gathered around Julius.
The rehearsal hall started to become noisy. During this period, Fan Ning handed two pieces of paper to the conductor's assistant Kaplan: "For this sight-singing and ear training test, help me go downstairs to make copies. I will print a little more. One type of paper will print 30
copies, 80 copies of second-class roll printing.”
After Kaplan took the order and went out, Roy stepped forward and handed a small black wooden box to Fan Ning. After thanking him and putting it in his briefcase, she lowered her voice and asked: "Mr. Fan Ning, could it be said that Common
Professor Si can rest assured that you will revise the assessment mechanism?"
"It took me twenty minutes to convince him." Fan Ning laughed.
"Roy is particularly curious about how you did it." The girl opened her eyes in disbelief: "You know in the past, it usually took Professor Commons several years to make a decision to change... However, it is really necessary to do this.
Are you going to collect everyone’s doubts? According to the usual practice, similar systems are introduced unilaterally, and students only need to implement them..."
"So do you think how well they have implemented it in the past?" Fan Ning said, "A system that is not followed is meaningless. Today I will take advantage of everyone to ask them to put forward all their doubts or suggestions. The purpose is to let everyone
A consensus has been formed so that I can operate strictly according to the system. If someone deducts points for any reason in the future, please do not come to me to plead for mercy."
Roy nodded thoughtfully: "Speaking of which, has Mr. Fan Ning become interested in elixir research recently?"
Fan Ning asked: "What do you think of Dean Graham?..."
Roy thought: "... he has an easy-going personality. He was addicted to scientific research in his early years. Now he is happy to make money. Generally speaking, he is neither a trusted core among the resident members nor has he received too much suspicion..." As she said this, she noticed Fan Ning.
The implication of the question is, "Are you suspecting that there is something wrong with his elixir?"
"I did have this idea occasionally, but I know that since I haven't received any news about the current situation of the two principals, it means that they are recovering normally, and it is impossible for them to take things without scrutiny... so
I just wanted to randomly try it out when I have some free time.”
"That's true...but I will mention your thoughts to them tactfully." Roy said seriously.
She then looked at the girl sitting in the back row: "Mr. Fan Ning, have you noticed that Miss Nehemiah's mood seems not quite right today? Is it because she just joined the orchestra and is not used to it, or because she was once your concertmaster?"
And now she is only the third flute, and so on and so on?...Do you want to take care of her? Or if you are too busy, I will go and take a look?"
Joan did not join the Santa Lenia Symphony Orchestra during her freshman year, and only recently submitted her application at the suggestion of Fan Ning. Most of the principal voices are in the third or fourth grade, although Fan Ning knew that as an intellectual, her musical level was far beyond
She is higher than these people, but she can't sit on it on the first day... As for Sheeran, she will not be a college student at the University of San Lenia until at least September, so Fanning wrote a concerto this time so that she can
Participating as a soloist was a coincidence.
"She probably doesn't have this kind of character..." Fan Ning also frowned and glanced at Qiong from a distance, "Forget it, the discussion will be over soon, there's no time to ask, let's talk after we leave."
After the musicians returned to their seats, Julius stood up: "Professor Fan Ning, everyone is very grateful for your willingness to discuss the assessment mechanism with the members. Our questions mainly focus on three aspects.
"
"Say." Fan Ning stared at Julius.
The first violinist spoke carefully: "The first one is the "Performance Examination". We believe that "band excerpts" and "optional solos" already cover the two fields of ensemble and solo. The "designated solo" and "solo" you added
"Sight-reading" will there be some overlap and repetition?
"No." Fan Ning answered the question succinctly. "The 'band clip' is based on rehearsal practice, and the 'self-selected solo' is based on personal preference. Although the latter is helpful for musicians to show their personal style, it can easily be biased.
"Designated Solo" is a solo work that I selected based on the technical difficulties of the recent rehearsal repertoire. Furthermore, a mature orchestra needs to accumulate a deep enough pool of spare repertoire. Currently, the sight-reading abilities of each member are uneven, which is seriously hampered.
It reduces the rehearsal efficiency of new works, so "sight-reading" must be tested, and I urge you to pay attention to improvement."
"Two newly added forms, one for depth and one for breadth. Next question."
Everyone felt that what Fan Ning said was reasonable and could not be refuted, so they all looked at Julius.
The concertmaster continued: "The second question is... We all believe that the mission of the orchestra is to perform, and what we care about is the quality of performance. Therefore, "performance examinations" and "daily rehearsals" are both direct and necessary, and
"Attendance management" is relatively indirect..."
"The mission of the orchestra is to perform? Wrong." Fan Ning said.
...Otherwise? Everyone found it incomprehensible this time and were stunned.
"The mission of a professional orchestra is to perform, which is correct, but this is a student orchestra. The student orchestra belongs to the school. It also undertakes the functions of art education and character cultivation. You are all gentlemen and ladies studying in public schools. I understand this.
Don't think about it anymore... Your application to join the orchestra has implicitly promised to obey the performance arrangements, and rehearsal attendance will directly affect the performance results. If you ask for leave in advance, I will only deduct a small point, and the negative impact must be reflected."
"...but everyone will inevitably encounter busy periods." The principal trombone who had expressed doubts before couldn't help but said.
"Isn't that just the right time to be a substitute member?" Fan Ning glanced at him.
"..." The boy looked suffocated, his face turning blue and white.
"Punctuality is the most basic contractual requirement. If you want to be loyal to art, you must first be strict with yourself. I ask you to enter the venue on time, and I will also promise not to delay."
...Mr. Fanning said it so well. Roy almost couldn't help but applaud.
"Next question."
Julius's tone was already a little unconfident at this moment: "Finally, finally, we are a little confused. Isn't 'Sight Singing and Ear Training' a professional course for our freshman year? Why do we need to take the assessment again..."
In this world that "emphasizes inspiration and neglects theory", the school's cultivation of comprehensive musical quality is indeed not systematic enough. Performance majors that are more practical are fine, but composition and other majors that are more theoretical are better. How well students can learn depends entirely on the so-called "
talent".
"Do you know what kind of musicians are most favored by professional symphony orchestras when their playing skills are similar?"
"I'm used to listening to other people's opinions and reading scores."
Fan Ning slowly said: "The core thing of music is 'listening'. You can all hear it well, but many times you don't listen to others... I won't ask you to dismantle the symphony as carefully as the conductor, but
At least you need to understand what function your voice plays in the whole... Sight-singing and ear training is just a means, I will have a lot of related training, the purpose is to gradually cultivate the habit of reading scores."
Everyone felt that Fan Ning's reasons were irrefutable, but they secretly complained that the exam pressure was now much greater.
"This is a question you raised yourself. I have already explained it... It is now assumed that you have reached a consensus and will strictly implement the new mechanism in the future. I will publish the implementation details in writing as soon as possible, and you can also supervise it yourself."
"Now that we have finished talking about the assessment, let me share the second thing about the meeting. There are two new members I want to introduce to you."
"The first one is our new timpanist Noel. He was recommended by the group leader Adair, an outstanding graduate. He is an excellent percussion young man."
The boy directly behind stood up amidst the applause and briefly introduced himself to everyone.
"The second one is our new flutist Joan. Everyone should be familiar with her. She was my principal flutist at the supplementary graduation concert. This time she supported me in taking up this conducting position and will lead the team in the summer.
Art Festival, I applied to join the symphony orchestra.”
Fan Ning's introduction can be said to imply very high praise. Everyone looked at Qiong with friendly and admiring eyes. However, the female flutist who was already in the first position looked a little guilty at this moment.
Qiong stood up amidst the applause, said "Please take care of me" in a soft voice, and then sat back. Fan Ning could see that her smile was a bit forced, and she couldn't help but feel more puzzled.
"The following is the third thing."
Fan Ning put on a mysterious smile: "This is good news."
Everyone was a little nervous about the new assessment mechanism and felt that the newly appointed Professor Fan Ning was a bit harsh. At this time, they finally showed expectant looks and pricked up their ears to listen carefully.
"I have finalized the matter with Principal Sternikai a few days ago: after deducting the travel costs and soloist contract fees from the commercial performance box office of the Summer Arts Festival, all net proceeds will be given to the musicians as remuneration for your performances.
.”
As soon as these words came out, the entire rehearsal hall immediately erupted!
"what's the situation!?"
"Did I hear you correctly? The box office proceeds will be shared directly with us? How much does that cost? 20 pounds per person? Or 30 pounds?"
"No, it's more than that! If calculated based on the box office of previous years, I suspect it's dozens of pounds more. If the chief can get more, it might be close to 100 pounds!"
"Oh my god, I will get the first performance payment in my artistic career right away! I am not dreaming!"
“And there’s also a free trip to the imperial capital!”
Students who join the symphony orchestra have no income. In previous years, the income from commercial performances was supplemented to the orchestra's funds.
And now...
100 pounds is three months' salary of a teaching assistant at St. Lenia University, one year's salary of a skilled worker, and nearly two years' salary of an ordinary laborer. Except for those who come from a noble family, this is for most students, especially those who come from a wealthy family.
For middle-class people, it is a large amount of money, enough to support a decent social life for a long time.
Although Fan Ning's answers to questions made them feel irrefutable before, everyone was more or less complaining about the increase in assessment pressure.
And now, they suddenly felt that Professor Fan Ning, who was so strict when he first took office, was so amiable...
Fan Ning saw the cheering of the musicians in the audience, and the corners of his mouth raised slightly: "But..."
"In the end, I will only select more than 60 classmates to perform in the imperial capital."