Music

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Growing up as a musician, whenever I heard about men and women undertaking courageous humanitarian projects in developing countries, I always experienced a twinge of guilt. Surely that would be a much more worthwhile activity than simply playing music. What was I doing sitting in my ivory tower practicing the piano when people were starving?

There was a great article in the New York Times a couple of days ago about the tremendous benefits for athletes of learning to relax when performing. I believe a lot of the tips mentioned could help musicians also. Check it out here

Here's a wonderful article on the latest project of El Sistema, as a follow-up on my previous post. The project is now being taken into Venezuela's prisons, where perpetrators of crime (often also its victims) get a chance to transcend their situation, and maybe get a chance thereby to change their lives, by playing in an orchestra. I only wish prisoners in this country received such enlightened treatment.

The other day, I was privileged to meet Katinka Scipiades Daniel, an eminent piano teacher and almost solely responsible for introducing the Kodály Method of music education to America back in the 1960's. Katinka, now in her 90's, joyful, sprightly and alert, welcomed members of the Kodály Association of Southern California for a potluck lunch, where we had chance to hear stories and reminiscences of all kinds.

Katinka's own history is interesting-- her husband Ernö Daniel was an eminent concert pianist in Hungary, giving concerts internationally, when the Communists took over Hungary in the 1940's. As he happened to be abroad at that time, he decided not to return, although Katinka and her children were still in Hungary. Ernö went to America, accepting a position first at Wichita Falls and then at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and eventually after twelve years, his wife and children were permitted to join him.

The family all flourished in America-- both parents becoming renowned as teachers, their son and daughter eventually becoming well-respected and successful doctors. Katinka has made an interesting video on how to combine the Kodály method with piano teaching, which also contains valuable examples of her technical methods. She has also written excellent books on teaching Kodály from Kindergarten upwards. However, her most lasting impact has been the training of some wonderful Kodály teachers in California, who are now passing on her legacy. I'm excited to join them.

I am delighted to announce that my latest article on intuitive improvisation has been published in the December/January issue of American Music Teacher, along with a number of other great articles on improvisation. I chose to focus on games and exercises for teachers who may not have ever improvised themselves. I give practical approaches that will enable them to not only encourage their students to improvise, but to also enjoy the process alongside them. I based it on successful experiments with many of my own students over the years. It was a fun article to write.

I apologize for not having blogged in a while -- I am in charge of a pilot program in Kodály musicianship for Kindergarden through second grade students, and conducting two middle-school choirs -- teaching three hundred children per week. It has been extremely absorbing and energy-consuming. The program is going well, and we hope, with the help of the Ojai Music Festival Education Committee, to expand the Kodály program to all schools in the local district.

Young children are wonderfully responsive and enthusiastic. It has been amazing to see how rapidly they are progressing. I am excited at the prospect of so many young children receiving a solid foundation in musicianship and enjoying music making so much. My intention in the coming semester is to regain more balance in my life, so that I can once again have time to blog, make music, write articles, and actually have a social life as well!

OK, I guess I blew it. I was in London during the Proms a couple of weeks ago and I missed Gustavo Dudamel and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra from Venezuela. There has been such a buzz around this orchestra and "El Sistema", the miraculous music organization that has literally saved so many poverty-stricken children from a life of drugs and crime by offering them the chance to learn a musical instrument. They then become part of an amazing national network of after-school instruction which is producing thousands of wonderful musicians. Dudamel himself, who at 26 has just been appointed principal conductor of the LA Phil, is a product of El Sistema, and by all accounts an incredibly talented and inspiring musician.

Here's Dudamel being interviewed by the BBC during the interval of the Prom

And here's a clip from the performance in question.

Astounding musicianship, relaxed confidence, utter joy and playfulness. How did a performance this miraculous take place? I'm honestly not sure. What fascinated me about the interview is Dudamel's emphasis on the importance of humility, and also the sense in which he feels himself to be very much part of the orchestra, rather than a 'maestro'. But there's so much more going on ...

Food for thought as I work with the choir I've just taken on.

As if 88 keys weren't enough.... a fascinating look at the possibilities of a Steinway with two keyboards.

I'll be taking on a new enterprise this fall besides my coaching clients-- teaching the Kodály Method to 5-8 year olds in a local school. I'm being employed to train teachers alongside kids in the method, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Two of my best years of musicianship training took place in London starting about twelve years ago. I've always been able to do aural exercises extremely easily, as I have perfect pitch, but had never found a great way to assist others in learning dictation, sight-singing, being able to hear music inwardly, etc. Now, with the help of the great teachers David Vinden and his wife Yuko (who both trained in Hungary, the birthplace of the Kodály Method), I learned all of this and more, using the Kodály technique. And the best part about this training was that I could feel my own aural abilities being stretched to the full-- being asked to play a single line of a Bach melody as a three part-canon on the piano, attempting to tap an ostinato whilst sight-singing using the alto clef and sol-fa syllables (do, re, mi, etc.).... and having tremendous fun in the process, thanks to my wonderful teachers.

Of course, I'll be starting much more simply with my Kindergarteners. The idea is to start with two notes only (soh and mi) and introduce new notes and concepts gradually. I'm hoping I have as much fun with the kids as I did in my own studies. And I'm hoping to give them the very best start as musicians. Of course, five years old is the best time to start, but it's never too late. If you'd like to know more, one great place to start is http://www.oake.org/ .

Placido Domingo has invited Woody Allen to direct his first opera in '08-- Puccini's "Gianni Schicchi" for Los Angeles Opera. Yesterday, Allen was quoted on NPR as saying:

" I have no idea what I'm doing, but incompetence has never prevented me from plunging in with enthusiasm."

N.B. Don't try this in your next audition/interview.

The other day I saw a marvelous television program in which Bill Moyers interviewed Pema Chödrön, an elderly American lady, now Buddhist nun, who has become famous for her wisdom mixed with common sense.

One of the subjects she dealt with that struck me with great force was the difference between pain and suffering. The interpretation she chose to differentiate between those words was powerful. She described pain as being for example, an unwelcome event, an injury, a disappointment, and so on. And suffering is what we then do inside ourselves in response to that event.

I've been finding Michelle Bennett's recent posts on her blog very thought-provoking. She's been extremely courageous in revealing her inner challenges as a student and a professional singer, and how these have led her to psychotherapy and inner work alongside her musical life. So often musicians, like any professionals, are extremely hesitant to reveal anything less than perfection. Yet, the reality is that we are all dealing with inner challenges every day. And, as Michelle says:

"There is no doubt that the process of facing one’s self is hugely difficult, especially if, like many artists, you have been hurt badly or are very sensitive. I would wager that most people will never do it because of the enormous effort required and pain of the task. It is an odyssey."

I heard this morning that Mstislav Rostropovich, one of the greatest cellists in history, has died. I was immediately reminded of time spent in his London home back in the 90's, when I played piano for one of Vishnevskaya's students.

I think I just found the most horrible classical music website on the net. Or useful, depending on where you're at. Here's the blurb from www.kickassclassical.com .

"Get to know the most popular Classical Music in pop culture today! You've heard these famous Classical Music pieces in movies, trailers, commercials, cartoons, video games and ringtones. Now you can find out what the pieces are called and who did them! Just click the PREVIEW links to immediately identify the piece. It's all the cool Classical Music you know, none of the boring stuff. "

This is followed by such tempting offerings as

LOONEY TUNES SUNRISE MORNING MUSIC and

INTENSE EVIL SOUNDING CHOIR IN MOVIE TRAILERS (any guesses?), etc.

At this point I could make intelligent and sombre predictions about the future of classical music, but hey, it's the weekend! Enjoy!

I'm really enjoying Christopher Foley's Collaborative Piano blog at the moment. He has some wonderful tips for collaborative pianists (otherwise known as piano accompanists) on getting work and learning to be a professional. Lots of advice I would love to have had when starting out.

Hugh Sung also has some great practical tips for budding professionals about getting organized, amongst many other interesting posts. I thoroughly recommend these two blogs for a good read. Anything which can help in training musicians to be entrepreneurs!