Why does people go to classical concerts or any concerts in general? Now, I understand why after watching some number of performances and thinking about them. I don’t think people go just to listen to good music.

I started to realize it specifically after watching a Lang Lang Bach recital. It was my very first time recital. He played the Goldberg Variations at the Krannert Center in Champaign, Illinois. It was deeply impressive and more importantly inspiring. And I think the ‘inspiring’ is the real reason why people go to the performances.

The oddly pleasing feeling lingered. And it was not about the great sound or his technical skills. Yes, great technical skill is a prerequisite but I argue that that’s not what we are fundamentally looking for. Instead, we want to feel the greatness of a human being. He must have put enormous amount of effort, perseverance, contemplation, focus, and repetitive practice. In performances, we feel it indirectly through the great performance as a medium. By experiencing the performance, what I actually saw was his life. Maybe the word “life” sounds like a bit of a stretch, but I felt pleased to witness how great thing a human can achieve and to see that there are people who try to be great by putting their effort and life into it.

And I see myself and me with my professional work. There are sleepless nights thinking about what I am doing in my life and what the meaning of countless grinding days is in my phd life. And the concert made me feel “not lonely” about it. It cheered me and made me feel emphasized. I felt like it was saying to me “Hey, look, this is what I have been doing. What do you think? Do you like it? This performance is my support to your pursuit of greatness. and this is my response to your sleepless nights that you were questioning about your life.”.

Though, I am not sure why people want to be great and why being great looks beautiful. I can’t explain why but I believe people want to be great.