Music teacher is jailed for pupil rape

Janis says:

I’m really starting to sense some sort of odd blameless-kid-raping parallel between the culture of classical music and the Catholic church — and I keep thinking it’s rooted in the attitude that both seem to have in common sometimes: I Am The Mediator Between You And The Sacred Force Of Creation, Now Do As I Say.

This is a HUGE part of the reason why I think classical (and some other) musicians need to get the hell over ourselves and stop seeing what they do as the single most uplifting exercise in the history of the human race that can Change Lives!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and Improve The World!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do think that art is incredibly important, but … I don’t know. The ego-stroking really is a perfect breeding-ground for this sort of stuff. The minute we enshrine a group of people as go-betweens for mere mortals and the motivating energy behind the universe that gives life all meaning, shit goes haywire. I prefer Doc Severinson’s statement that musicians are troubadours and clowns, and Michael Morgan’s comment that, “It’s not brain surgery. No one will die if we stopped in the middle.” Even those of us who are rightly appalled at this constant stream of stories of abuse need to confront how that self-elevating talk is contributing to it. We’re not sacred priests, we’re not all that special, and there are many things that give life meaning, of which our endeavor is only one.

We need to put our chosen activity into a much healthier perspective. Nothing we do is worth ruining a life or even giving someone a bad day. We bang levers, pull strings, and blow into pipes.