beats 2 and 3

I'm playing in a concert this week for a batch of student conductors at the university. I've done this three times? Four? I am always alarmed by how clearly I can see confidence and competence and how obvious is the lack thereof can be. I can line them up on a continuum in my head from Success to... Oh,Well, You Tried. It always makes me think of how grateful I am to music teachers, how lovely it is to be in the hands of a good one, how sometimes effort can be enough. It reminds me of which way beats 2 and 3 fall, and how to follow three leads at once, and I remember how I did this same thing several years ago and one of the student conductors was an odd sort of man-boy who closed his eyes and breathed deeply before the upbeat. I couldn't keep my eyes off of him then and that hasn't changed so far. I didn't even know then how the muscles in his chest tense up in anticipation when he is in beautiful music and how it would feel to rest my head there.