For some reason when there are “in depth” sessions about updating conservatory training to relate to the “real world”, the focus seems to always be on how the student can gain an advantage through learning marketing, entrepreneurial skills, managerial skills and general business acumen etc…… NEWS FLASH:
THIS IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF JOBS AVAILABLE!…..
For the second year in a row The Springfield Symphony was hired to play for a commencement and we did it last night. It’s an enormous event and the response to our presence and our performance like last year was overwhelming. More overwhelming to me though is the college that asked us…
We performed 3 Young People’s Concerts on Tuesday. In my career I must have done over 500 YPC’s and I never grow tired of them. I sometimes like to end a program with something that gets everyone jumping, literally this week when they all did the “wave” to Stars and Stripes. Walking outside afterwards, the buses that were all loaded up were bopping up and down…awesome! But not as awesome as the way the audience collectively responded to an off the cuff question…..
Initiative like vision cannot be taught directly or by wrote, it’s not something that can be given but something I believe that we all have. It can be awakened in students by placing them into situations that call for them to be socially literate, so that they start caring about their communities, the issues, the people. As soon as they get to a school they need to be sent right out again, as soon as it’s possible…….
For me there are are three big things that music students should be engaged in discovering: Vision, Initiative and Sincerity. I say discovering only because I don’t believe these elements can be taught by wrote as they are not skills. They can however be learned, and colleges can play a big role by creating an institutional vision that helps to create an ideal environment to facilitate the learning of these elements…..
Last week the Boise Philharmonic appointed Robert Franz to be their next Music Director. I know Robert well, he succeeded me in Buffalo and I showed him around before he moved there. We have been in touch from time to time. I was a candidate in Boise also (although not in the final running) and upon hearing the news I was very happy for him and for them…wait a second I’m not supposed to feel this way, aren’t we all supposed to be competitors, fierce rivals, we are conductors, surely there must be some mistake…..have I lost my competitive streak?…..
Pianists from past centuries, particularly those who were composers would use the printed notes as a guide or a jumping off point to improvise, as well as engage in “Breaking Hands”, meaning their hands would not rhythmically synchronize with one another. In contemporary musical forms such as Jazz and Pop, these practices are the norm and continue to help keep them current. It brought back a memory of when a great Jazz musician did this in a Classical piece right in front of me, and where schools could take this to help make Classical music current by reaching way back into the past…..
This series is going to be a long term project that I hope starts a discourse.
I have written in the past that the Orchestra business needs an intervention but college music education needs a revolution. Shadowing the angst felt by Orchestras to maintain both relevance and control of their destiny is the fact that the next generation of musicians and administrators are essentially being trained for a world that no longer exists……