Amateurs Challenge Themselves in ‘They Came to Play’

Drew Mays, an ophthalmologist from Birmingham, Alabama, was one of 75 amateurs who competed in the most recent Van Cliburn competition for amateur pianists.

This past weekend, I got a chance to preview They Came to Play, a recently released documentary about the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, an adjunct to the Van Cliburn competition for professional pianists. The film will soon be shown in several cities, including: Bryn Mawr, Pa., Washington, DC; Rochester, NY; Portland, Ore., Atlanta, and others.

The amateur competition selects 75 players (who must be over the age of 35), and then, in Miss-America-pageant style, the number is winnowed down to 25, then 6, and then 1 (with runner ups acknowledged).

As in beauty pageants, the judging inevitably involves personal opinion. One judge in the film even acknowledges the somewhat subjective nature of the judging process. Yet, the participants convey, through their interviews, that “winning” is only one reason they came to play.

I recommend the film highly to lovers of classical music, and particularly to those who play or love piano. There are wonderful performances, and the players are as interesting and multifacted as anyone you are likely to meet. I have to admit, though, that I was struck by the lack of diversity in socioeconomic status as well as skin color of the participants. This is less a comment about the film and more about the genre of classical music. That is, however, another blog post for another time.

Some in the film truly did fit the definition of amateur – one man hadn’t played in front of an audience since sixth grade. Others just squeaked by into amateur status – one woman is a professor of music at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and has performed as a soloist – but does not make her living as a pianist.

The featured musicians included physicians, a lawyer, a scientist, executives, a retired dental assistant, an IT professional, a former tennis pro, and a man with AIDS who had apparently been on disability for several years but was healthy.

They are interviewed about the challenges of keeping music alive while managing careers and family, as well as about their doubts and fears about how “good” they are. Most were good humoured about the process, and felt that simply preparing for and showing up at the competition was a major milestone in their lives.

If you live in the Philadelphia area, you can see the film on Wed., January 6 at 7:30 pm at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. One of the finalists, Annette DiMedio, the University of the Arts professor, will be on hand to answer audience questions. It would be interesting to hear her take on what it’s like to be an expert in the classroom and an amateur in competition.

This site will soon have guest bloggers who write about classical music. We will cover such topics as the concept of technical expertise vs. expression in classical music; how to bring classical music to a wider audience; and improvisation in classical music, which was once a major component of the art form.