Today I listened as my two teenage students made a Stravinsky duo come to life, literally, in their ears and in their fingers. It took some self-discipline on my part but I did not want to interfere by checking whether they were playing all the right notes. Working on their own, they self-corrected with each repetition while developing a clear image of how the music wanted to sound.

For me it was like giving them a promotion and a raise in pay to trust them to work through this difficult music with minimal interference on my part.