What do you value?

The latest assignment for my writing seminar was a review of a live performance. But with all my assignments I give a question for the students to ponder. This week's question was "What do you value in music?" Many of the students devoted their reviews to answering this question directly at the expense of focusing on the live performance (or not even writing about a specific performance), when I had intended them to have that question in the back of their minds as they formulated opinions on the chosen performance. This is my fault for not clarifying the assignment, something I'll try to correct for next time. But go and see the interesting things they wrote about Thomas Cooley (2), the Minnesota Orchestra, A Perfect Circle, the DePauw Chamber Singers, Les Yeux Noirs, Les Yeux and the Chamber Singers, Les Yeux as part of the Lotus Festival, and the Blue Man Group.