Re: Solutions

Published January 9, 2026

Re: Solutions

By the time you read this, many people will have abandoned their New Year’s resolutions. Consistent gym visits will be less consistent. Cookies will have replaced carrot sticks. TikTok will have replaced Shakespeare. You know the drill. Although there is nothing inherently magical about the first of January, I like the notion of New Year’s resolutions and the resets they can offer. Although I’m not a linguist or a grammarian, I do fancy myself something of a word nerd. I like to crack them open and see what interesting and nourishing drippings might be tasted.

The words associated with New Year goal-setting intrigue me. Re-Solution. Re-Solve. If you read these words like this, the commitments we pledge become paths toward, once again, finding new and better ways to do things. At their best, they are refreshments of how to better do things based on our current reality. They offer us a chance to abandon that which might have served us in the past but no longer does. And conversely, give us a chance to re-set priorities and practices based on what the current moment requires.

With this, perhaps flawed, perspective in mind, and inside of the parameters of my unique musical and music-industry existence, here are a couple of (re)solutions I would like to (re)solve for in the new year:

Prioritize music over perfection in my playing

This may sound like a “no duh” statement, but it’s not really. As classical musicians, we are usually interpreters, or realizers, of music rather than creators of it. As such, we spend lots of time focused on perfectly executing what the composer has put on the page. This is a crucial part of what we are there to do, but sometimes in our obsession to craft perfect pine needles (to say nothing of the trees or the forest), we forget the why of what we are doing. A recent New York Times article by Jonathan Biss eloquently frames the importance fully-committed, risk-taking music-making over safe, sterile, perfect playing. In 2026, I want to keep in mind what my playing serves: the composer and their music; my colleagues who are co-creating with me; and most importantly the audience who is sharing the moment with us. I still need to play the right notes at the right time, but I want them to be bloody, sweaty, honest, tear-filled, laughing vehicles of human connection rather than precious Fabergé eggs under glass; too delicate and important to dirty with the reality of our shared existence.

Embrace the process over the outcome

This one has mostly to do with what does (or doesn’t) happen in the practice room and extends out of the first re-solution. I wish to have a consistent commitment to work on the pieces I will share with others in concert. If I can do this with ever-more regular discipline, then the results will take care of themselves. Post-game interviews by the very best athletes reveal that this Zen “it’s the journey not the destination” approach is the truest and most effective way to progress. Part of my championship-level flawed humanity is my tendency to be all about where I’m going, and disregard rose-smelling pauses on the way there. In music and in life, I’d like to do better at embracing the present.

Mentor and teach from a place of questions rather than statements

Largely through my work with the League of American Orchestras, I am privileged to work with, teach, and mentor a number of brilliant, young students and professionals. The energy, intelligence, commitment, and principles these folks bring to the field is inspiring. As I engage with them in this impossibly fast-changing world where answers about “how to do things” evaporate by the day, rather than telling them “Here’s what you should do!”, I want to start from, “What might you do…and why?” I’m sure I’ll have plenty of opportunities to dispense my hard-won suggestions and pearls of wisdom, but in a world of automobiles, buggy whip experts do well to ask more than they tell. Along this line, my dear friend, colleague, and mentor, John McCann, wisely reminded me that when someone is talking, listen uncompromisingly. Don’t use the time while they are talking to formulate a solution for their “problem.” And as Ted Lasso teaches us, “Be curious, not judgmental.”

Seek and treasure moments of joy and connection

When I ponder the dumpster fire that often is life in our modern world, I’m reminded of the great line by Victor Borgé when addressing an audience before a concert: “Ladies and Gentlemen, we hope you enjoy tonight’s performance… you might as well!” Looking for the positive and seeking true connection and understanding with friends, audience members, and fellow citizens are not required, but life sure is a lot more enjoyable when I do this.

And of course, in 2026 I’m also going to have a perfect diet, read a book a week, exercise every day, and walk on water. Or at least I was until I failed at all these things immediately. But seriously, as we all embark on the re-solutions of this new year I wish us music, health, happiness, and a humble curiosity that brings us closer to those around us — perhaps and especially those who see the world differently than we do.

Scott Faulkner is principal bassist of the Reno Phil and the Reno Chamber Orchestra. For the League of American Orchestras, he is director of its Alumni Network and faculty director of its Essentials of Orchestra Management program.