Piano Guidance
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What happens at the end of the piano teacher?

'The Piano Teacher' ends with Erika attending a concert, where she will perform Schubert as a stand-in for one of her pupils. Seeing Walter, who greets her as though he barely knows her, Erika stabs herself in the chest with a kitchen knife.

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Erika’s personal life and public life are two spheres Haneke entwines into ‘The Piano Teacher’ expertly well, and the juxtaposition between the two enable us as viewers to somewhat understand Erika’s character, and the tensions that exist within her. Erika is a highly respected and feared teacher at a conservatory in Vienna, yet she is simultaneously a failed concert pianist. At work, she exhibits a veneer of pure self-autonomy; she is cold and unmoving towards her pupils and those who audition before her. At home, she lives in a small apartment with her Mother, whom she shares a bedroom with, as well as an incredibly erratic and often violent relationship. Her Mother is domineering, and treats Erika like a child. Erika’s Father is significantly absent, and is noted to have died after a long stay in a psychiatric institution. In private, Erika frequents sex shops and tries on revealing dresses she will never buy nor wear.

The psychosexual relationship between Erika and Walter

Isabelle Huppert’s stony-faced portrayal of Erika belies little in the way of emotion, and as such Erika’s internal life is shut off not only from those around her in the film, but also from us as viewers. Throughout ‘The Piano Teacher’, we are only allowed to speculate, and Erika’s motivations and psychology may become clearer as the film progresses, but ultimately remain a mystery. Whether her desire to be beaten stems from her absent Father figure or other traumatic events in her life is never clarified. When Erika takes on Walter Klemmer as a pupil, it appears she is finally allowing her desires an interpersonal outlet, which becomes evident in their first sexual encounter. Having jealously sabotaged one of her pupils by placing smashed glass in her coat pocket, Walter pursues Erika to the lavatories, where the two passionately kiss. Here, both Erika and Walter’s sexualities struggle against one another. Where Walter wishes to subdue Erika sexually in a way he is used to, Erika wishes to enact her own sadomasochistic fantasies, which disgust and confuse Walter.

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Should musicians be paid in church?

You're simply trading money for quality. However, you do have to be wise about who you hire and not turn your church culture into a business culture. Leading worship in the church is a high calling that is much more important than a paycheck, and you need to weed out anyone who shows up for the spotlight or for money.

worshipleaderacademy.com - Should You Pay Your Worship Musicians?

To pay or not to pay! On the one hand, when you pay someone, you exchange dollars for the higher expectation that your musician will be talented, prepared, and on-time. On the other hand, it’s church, after-all, right? We don’t pay the other volunteers in the church; why should we pay the musicians?

Serving the Lord shouldn’t be about money! Well, I guess except when you’re talking about preaching. We do pay the preacher, and other staff. So, how do we determine if we pay musicians or not?

There are a lot of churches out there that pay all of their musicians, some that only hire on occasions, some that only hire a few key people in their band, and some (probably most) that don’t pay all. However, when is it appropriate to pay?

Having worked with a lot of churches, I think the answer to that question is based on the answer to another question that will shape your entire approach to volunteerism. Before you decide whether or not to pay, you should ask which team model best fits your ministry. There are 3 team models with different goals and outlooks, and it’s important to note that one model is not better than another. They’re simply different, but you have to decide where you want to lead your ministry.

The 3 Team Models

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