Emily used the first assignment to resolve a difficult situation concerning a perennial issue for musicians playing in orchestras – namely her seat assignment, and thereby, came up with an insight that could be useful for everybody:
EMILY CHEN wrote:
…Perhaps the thing that helped me most in coming to this realization was reading the white sheets of other members of the orchestra; in most of the white sheets (especially the ones from those who are new to the orchestra), a common theme emphasized in each letter was how beautiful, life-changing, and extraordinary the experience of playing in BPYO is. Their sentiments helped me realize that it doesn’t matter where one sits in this orchestra in order to be fully touched and moved by the experience we have each Saturday for four hours. I realized that I needed to “lighten up” and clear away the complications of seating in order to regain that wonder for this orchestra and everything it has to offer.
With all the pressures of the new beginning: new faces, auditions, seat placements, new music, this assignment is vital.