Chicago is a humble city.

Its humility is one of the things I love most about this place.

There is tremendous talent and hard-working people in this city. The music scene here is among the best in the world. Its classical and jazz scenes are second only to NYC.

And yet there's a distinctive humility to even the best of the best in this city. It's different from what I've seen in LA or NYC.

I can't speak for all scenes, but I know the ethos of the music scene in LA and NYC has a sort of cutthroat nature to it. If you can't play to the expectation of the musicians in a given circle, you're othered. You can feel it in the vibe—they don't want you there.

The Chicago scene is different. The musicians are much more welcoming. They have less ego. They are in it for the love of the game. They're not trying to become the biggest, best, most famous players out there. They're just doing their work. And they are friendly, compassionate, and understanding to folks at different levels of playing.

This is somewhat of a generalization, I get it. Who am I to talk about the culture of a city? It's just a subjective experience I've corroborated with others I've spoken to. Sure, there are musicians in this large city that don't fit my description. But on my subjective average, the musicians here are world-class but have a rare humility. It's welcoming and charming.

Chicago strikes a beautiful balance between holding a very high standard of artistic skill and integrity while maintaining a welcoming, humble attitude.

I wish more music scenes embodied this attitude. For those of you living in your own scenes, I invite you to consider this question: how can you make your music scene, your art culture, more welcoming, humble, and inviting to those who want to participate?