Richard Wyce - Musician, Artist, Writer and Teacher

  Richard Wyce August 28, 2026 Beyond Comparison Become the best human being you can become—not so that you can stand above others, but so that you have more to offer them. I have come to think that this is one of the simplest ways to express what a meaningful life might be. Human beings naturally want to learn, improve, achieve and feel that their lives matter. There is nothing inherently wrong with ambition. The distinction that matters is between wanting to become better and wanting to be better than someone else . The first is growth. The second is comparison. Modern life encourages us to compare wealth, education, appearance, intelligence, achievement, influence and recognition. We construct hierarchies and then, often without realizing it, confuse a person’s position within them with that person’s worth. But differences in ability, circumstance and accomplishment do not establish differences in inherent human value. A wealthy person is not more human than a poor p...

  The Instrument as an Unintended Factor in Auditions Even when musicians are evaluated with complete integrity, audition conditions may introduce variables that adjudicators cannot fully control. In a symphony orchestra audition, two musicians may have nearly equivalent ability, technical skill, and experience, yet one may be assessed more favourably partly because of the instrument used. For example, Musician A may play an exceptional Stradivarius, while Musician B uses a competent but less distinguished instrument. The panel may hear greater richness, complexity, or projection from Musician A and attribute it to musicianship, when some of it may stem from the instrument itself. A superior instrument may also be more responsive and easier to play, requiring less effort to produce sound, dynamics, and expression, thereby enabling a wider expressive range with less exertion. This creates a methodological concern: the instrument’s advantage may be neither intentional nor fully ...