I am in awe of those who create. I've tried my hand at composing and the results range from okay to miserable. I have several pieces that I've started and never finished. The ability to create something beautiful from nothing is astonishing to me.
However as a performing artist I am a recreator. I play music that someone else has imagined and I allow myself to infuse my own attitude and personality with it. That's what we all do. Actors, dancers, musicians, all of us.
I have enormous respect for the music I play. Even the pop music that I'm required to play at weddings. Just because I don't find it entertaining doesn't mean that the music is bad. It's just my personal taste. So I take the time to get to know the song and try to find a way to play it in an artistic way. Occasionally I find that I've come to like the song and continue to play it long after the event is over.
As a classical musician I have five hundred years worth of music to choose from. I always have pieces moving in and out of my repertoire. There are a few concert works that I played for years but have stopped playing and have since forgotten. I tend to think of them as having gone fallow. Like a farmers field. If I awaken them I have no doubt that they will have something new to teach me.
I think that's how it works for performers. There are certain works that constantly amaze and inspire. Whether it's Shakespeare, Balanchine, or Beethoven. And after they are learned the real work begins. I teach my students that the hardest part of learning a song is in the last five percent. By the time you've mastered (or nearly mastered) the technical aspects you're tired of the piece and just want it to go away. But that last five percent is where the art is hiding.
And so you persevere. The battle has subdued (it's never fully over) and you can now explore the music. Walk around in it and see what's hiding in the crevices. Should you drag this phrase a bit or tighten it up? Louder or softer? And the choices you make today may change tomorrow. You're never really done.
While the composer commits their vision to paper and moves on, the performer lives with the creation for a long time. The composer is done with their creation but the performer is never truly done. The performers conceit is to teach the composer what their music really sounds like. A performance is not unlike a child saying, "Look what I found!"
So the performer continues to look for additional surprises. Usually nuances. The little things that make the piece personal. I still play some pieces that I learned 45 years ago. I'm still finding things in them. They still make me smile. I'm still not done.