The Award

This week at school, every kid in my daughter´s class has to research and take a piece of cultural news to class to say to everyone.

The “research” is, of course, done by the parents. My daughter only had to write the headline, draw a picture of it, and later explain it in her class.

My wife had the idea to share a piece of news that involves me which I had completely forgotten about: I was recently nominated by the Spanish Academy for best classical album.

These prizes are considered to be sort of the Spanish “Grammys”, so I guess that here in Spain, it´s a big deal. It was all over the news.

The best part for me was that my daughter was happy to share a piece of news that involved her father.

As I stated previously, I had forgotten about it. The prizes and winners have not yet been announced, since the ceremony is in June. But the nominations were announced over a month ago.

A few years ago I was nominated for a Latin Grammy. At the time, it was a big deal for me. It still is, I guess. It´s an achievement, after all.

But nowadays, prizes seem to me something that one should be grateful for but that, in the long run, don´t matter as much as some people might believe.

It might give a boost to your career, and it also might inflate your ego a tiny bit (or a lot) if you let it get in your head.

But after the prize has been awarded, life goes on. This is no endpoint. This isn´t something I would define as a “you´ve made it” moment.

Michael Jackson kept no reminders from any of the multiple awards he garnered over the years, so that, in his own words, he wouldn´t feel as if he had achieved something.

He felt it was best to stay humble and keep striving for better, independently of any fleeting accomplishments.

I strongly feel this way. That´s why I also have no diplomas, medals, or award certificates hanging on my walls. In the present moment, they really don´t mean much to me.

Having said all that, if I never would´ve won any of them, I don’t know if I would feel the same. There´s really no way to say. After all, one always wants what he doesn´t have, isn´t it so…

Anyways, the album that got nominated was Bach, released by Warner Classics and in which I adapted and recorded several of Bach´s major works for solo bandoneon.

If you don´t know this album and are curious about it, this is a good opportunity to give it a listen by clicking here.

Have a great day.

Claudio.