A brief blog post in NYtimes.com's ArtsBeat blog asked this question in relationship to the LA Phil phenomena, the Dude, Gustavo Dudamel. The post, coincidentally, featured comments from the Director of Orchestras at University of Southern California, who fears that the glitz and the public relations frenzy will deter audiences and the overall community from Dudamel's real musical talent.
"'Will the tsunami of interest in his hair, ‘cool’ name, Latin background, and brilliant temperament lead a rescue of American orchestras from the financial mess which is stalking all of them?' That question, he said, is languishing behind a 'curtain of hoopla.'"
At the end of the post, blogger Daniel Wakin asks the question of "what happens when the hoopla ends? Will that then end the end of classical music?"
A Smile and a Song, in my personal optimism, answers "No way!" The hoopla, is not a risk for classical music. As music of Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms and musical works of the classical canon have proven, this music has already stood the test of time. It's not like Lady Gaga or Hanson: classical music continues, unlike pop one-hit wonders, to evoke important emotions in its audience, which is why it always will be important to the state of the world. The "hoopla" if anything, modernizes the world of classical music, and puts it on the forefront of popular social culture.
I understand music is changing--that is, the way we listen to and acquire the music we listen to and prefer. It is beginning to feel like our musical preferences are being controlled by computer--is that okay?
In my quest to find new relevant and timely topics for this blog, I find myself, quite enjoyably, regularly checking various arts blogs. A recent LA Times music blog discussed the new Google "music search" feature: if you type your favorite musical artist into Google right now, you will see its features. Searching for "John Mayer," the searcher's top result will be four popular John Mayer songs, along with the ability to sample each song once, as well as explore his music further with the sites that Google has partnered with: LaLa, Rhapsody, Myspace Music, Pandora and Imeem. The feature isn't meant to replace these musical sources, but to help guide the user to them based on the researched artist. When testing the new feature, I didn't find it that thrilling. Searching Beethoven, Prokofiev and Charles Ives, (purely at random, obviously), resulted in a lack of playlist for each.
Still, it made me curious about the other sites. Pandora has been around for a while, and I find that my non-musician friends talk about using it much more often than my friends who are musicians. Even though it's existed since about 2006, I haven't explored it much until now. I realized it differs from the other free legal music sites because its creation of playlists finds music for the user based on stylistic elements of the music instead of specific artist.
Cue, now, snobby musician. How is it that a computer can intellectually tell me what music to like? This article talks about how Pandora sees the DNA in music, and chooses music for the user with specific genes.
You may not realize it, but you don't like chromatic harmony," Pandora's Chief Strategy Officer said. "You may have no idea what that means, but we see you don't like anything that has it." Thus, your playlist would not include anything including that gene.
In classical music, though, unless you're listening to Mozart or Haydn, you'll find chromatic harmony, that, whoever Pandora is addressing in the quote probably wouldn't even recognize as uncomfortable. I think it's difficult, for a classically trained musician like myself, to grasp the idea that a computer might know music theory, the stylistic between specific composers in different eras and the vast repertoire of each preferred composer better than I do. Popular music--the difference between those who like Mars Volta playlists versus Miley Cyrus--seems obvious. Still, just because a majority of Americans don't realize that the difference between Ravel and Mahler is just as vast as the previous example, doesn't mean the computer isn't smart enough to know. In the music student world, at least, we aren't quick to turn to computerized musical preferences--we want to do research on our own and analyze our findings with our own knowledge.
When I typed in Prokofiev, it listed several specific pieces, of which I chose, at random, Piano Sonata No. 3. For fun, I skipped to the next song of the playlist, which was a piano piece by Ginastera that I had not heard of before. Normally, I would not categorize Ginastera's "brazilian-ness" with Prokofiev, but the piece was nice, and was a good addition to a playlist of a person who might enjoy 20th century piano music.
Don't misunderstand, though--music students have online databases that we turn to for free music listening also, (without the computerized compiling of playlists of course), that can be accessed through the library website for free (Naxos and Classical.com). Although the Pandora library was much more impressive than expected, if I needed to listen to the Harbison Woodwind Quintet or the Martinu Oboe Concerto, I would probably have to look to a classical database. I would hope that in the near future, though, that the worlds could be one--obscure oboe concertos could be found on Pandora genetic playlist-maker could be one that not only be convenient, but also promote artistic culture.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The title "Creative Destruction" doesn't imply to me a sense of "building community," but John Thomas Dodson's blog is about the forward movement of classical music and the assimilation of the "old system" into a modern world. It's awesome!
John Thomas Dodson is the music director of the Adrian Symphony Orchestra in Adrian, Michigan. The city apparently has an area of 7.3 miles and a population of approximately 21,000 southern Michigan inhabitants. My first reaction to the Wikipedia entry was far from assuming any type of cultural depth, but later I read that the Adrian City Band is the oldest in the country, Thomas Edison was included in one of it's notable residents and the city's cultural history and architecture has many connections to the 19th century. The city is also the home of the third oldest opera house in the country, which continues to boast over one million dollars in revenue each year. It's no surprise, then, that such a visionary blogger would be the music director of the symphony in such a lovely cultural place.
His latest blog caught my attention, as he discussed his thoughts about his recent visit to New York for the Met's free, outdoor festival. Over ten evenings, recent Met productions were projected on a large movie screen outside in the Lincoln Center Plaza. His entry addressed the exact thoughts I had after reading the title, "Drive-by Opera." Opera, in it's earliest form, was meant for royalty exclusively. It, like the history of many of the arts, was more of a cultural and social statement of wealth and worldliness than it was meant for emotional fulfillment. Obviously the art evolved, and by the early 19th century, certain operas were performed for middle class citizens, but still, the idea of opera, an art that often requires international understanding, is now being broadcast to the masses at no cost, is a remarkable notion even in the 21st century.
Dodson loved it, because the whole atmosphere added new meanings to the performance.
"The individualized noises cut into the listening experience. You had to NOTICE them. Reading the sub-titles in Stephanie Blythe's Elysium scene, I remember seeing something like "All around me are blissful sounds." As the sirens, car horns and street noises continued, I couldn't help but think that New York's capacity for irony is simply endless. Gluck would have smiled."
Traditionalists might argue that the capacity of the outdoors does not lend itself to the nature of the performance that the composer would have intended. At the same time, composers of their time were visionaries. Their ideas were often far passed their audience of the time and their patrons. Heck, Beethoven probably would have loved the extra dramatic element of fireworks at the end of his 9th symphony just as the chorus sang: "Such ihn über'm Sternenzelt! Über Sternen muss er wohnen." (Seek Him in the heavens; Above the stars He must dwell).
I recently read an inspiring post in a blog that, as a result of my enrollment in a Journalism/PR class, has proven to be quite interesting. Amanda Ameer, writer of Life's a Pitch, is a publicist for well known classical artists through her own company, First Chair Promotions. The blog discusses the questions that lie on every classical music-lover's mind: Is the audience dying? Whose fault is it? Her solution is proper marketing and publicity--a completely logical answer in the modern world.
"Why don't we apply the successful marketing and publicity campaigns we see in our everyday lives to the performing arts? Great ideas are right there, ripe for the emulating. And who's responsible for the wide-reaching problems in ticket sales and audience development? Boring artists? Greedy managers? Overstretched marketing departments? We're beyond debating who owns the problem. Let's fix this thing."
On a coincidental, yet completely useful note, I'm currently taking a class called "Public Relations in the Entertainment Industry." Usually, I feel like the curriculum in the class regarding PR in film, TV and the celebrity world does not apply to me. Even when music PR is discussed, the genres of topic generally didn't go beyond pop and rock--until I asked.
I mentioned the obvious publicity stunt surrounding the Hollywood Bowl opening of Gustavo Dudamel as the new music director of the LA Phil. My professor, whose day job consists of being a senior publicist for a major TV network, revealed to me that publicity in classical music is a huge career venue. It differs from TV and film since the funding is generally non-profit, but it continues to be an area of publicity that has not at all diminished with time. She said that the LA Phil, historically, has had the most creative and successful PR team, along with teams at all major professional orchestras in the country (i.e. Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco, New York).
This revealed a new side of classical music I had not been acquainted with--one that, unlike the competition of performance, might have a long-lasting, successful career within it for more than five percent of those who pursue it.
My reasons for reading the blog aside, I was pleasantly surprised by Ameer's Oct. 21 post about her visit to Los Angeles and to Walt Disney Hall. She admits her skepticism of the LA Phil's shameless promotion of Dudamel throughout the city, earlier in her blog, but in visiting the city and especially Walt Disney Hall, she discovered a city of classical music and art that she had never expected to exist.
Her review of Dudamel, the Hall and the LA Phil musicians were all raving. Her first visit to Walt Disney Hall, her reaction was one more sincere than the average Angelino:
"When we drove by I started grinning and then, oh no, here it comes - crying! If you don't know me, you probably think "crying" means a few tears running down my face dragging clumps of mineral make-up along with them, but sadly no: I really cry. "Wait, are you CRYING?" my friend asked. "Should we pull over??""
Her reaction was almost comical, but the sincerity of her reaction was the most refreshing--especially in a LA world of disillusionment. At the end of her post she pointed out something silly, but almost poignant. Her picture points out a street name on the perimeter of the hall: Hope St. As an Angelino, it's hard to imagine LA as a city of hope. The demographics are so vast, and the impoverished often seem hopeless. Ameer points out, though, that perhaps with the help of music, a beautiful hall and a new inspiring music director, "hope" shall be held for the Los Angeles community.
In one of my first expeditions into pageflakes, I discovered a fascinating initiative by Disney: jazz education curriculum through the new animated feature, The Princess and the Frog.
Disney's education team has teamed up with Scholastic to create lesson plans for music teachers for elementary age students to teach about the roots of jazz music.
My first response consisted of, "How could a Disney Princess movie help students relate to jazz music?" Apparently, Disney has decided to let the movie reach beyond simple fairy-tale love, and provide some cultural education as well.
For some background, The Princess and the Frog, is Disney's venture back into a traditionally animated fairy tale. The movie was directed by the man who created Aladdin and The Little Mermaid, both classic favorites of little girls in the 90s and now. The Princess and the Frog is a twist on the well-known fairy tale, where a Frog Prince fatefully asks a New Orleans girl for a kiss to be human, only leading her to become a frog as well. The film captures their adventure through classic Disney animated magic and, quite appropriately, the jazz inspired music of Randy Newman.
The online curriculum consists of two complete lessons: the first focuses on the origins of jazz in New Orleans as important to the culture bond of the area. The website provides musical examples, as well as print out worksheets. The worksheets explain the ways improvisation in New Orleans jazz acts as a universal language as well--a value that is important for teachers to emphasize with all types of music.
I also discovered while exploring the website, that the curriculum launch is actually an advertisement for Disney's brand new jazz festival "Disney Jazz Celebration" to be held at Walt Disney World in February 2010. This new major annual festival will be an addition to Disney's existing festivals including Festival Disney and Disney Magic Music Days. As a Disney lover and a music lover, I am certainly a sucker for their marketing.
After listening to the soundtrack clippings, it's reminiscent of a Disney-fied version of The Color Purple: The Musical minus the domestic violence and sexual tensions, but with similar feminist and "follow-your-dreams" kind of feelings. In fact, Oprah, the producer of the The Color Purple, plays the voice of the mother of the "princess" in the movie.
Finally, at the risk of abandoning my academic credibility, I will declare myself as a former "little girl" who always imagined being a Disney Princess. I am excitedly anticipating this new approach to the princess story--to watch it with my girlfriends, and to revel in the cheesy Disney awesome-ness. The feminism, heart, love-story and jazz music aspect makes it the simply awesome--in my idealistic, 20-something, without-a-care-in-the-world head.
This past weekend, I traveled with the Trojan Marching Band to Chicago and South Bend, Indiana for the USC vs. Notre Dame game. The rivalry, surprisingly enough, is historic, dating back to 1926. 81 games have been played between the two schools, and Notre Dame still leads in the series. Being a part of the spirit, I understand how it is considered one of the greatest rivalries in college football.
In a classical music realm of elitism, marching bands are mostly looked down upon--the USC marching band is made up of over 300 instrumentalists, of which less than 10 are studying for a Bachelors of Music. Marching and dancing while playing does not enhance tone quality, rhythmic unity or intonation. Most traditional music teachers in the classical field discourage students from being a part of "the band." It's simply too hard to resist, though, when the football team is consistently one of the top 10 in the nation.
In addition, I always feel that the "art" of marching band is not one to be considered worthless, but one that's simply different. It's a unique activity that certainly does not go unappreciated: the USC marching band inspires "the team," the crowd at a game and hundreds of USC fans who show up to see the band perform before football games. In Chicago, fans filled the Navy Pier and the Sheraton Hotel for rallies that didn't feature the football team or Pete Carroll, but the Trojan Marching Band--The best marching band in the history of the universe.
Please don't misunderstand, I love playing and practicing perfection in classical music, but there's something just as magical about playing "Rock-n-Roll All Night" for 80,000 screaming football fans who love the marching band almost, (if not more), as much as they love the team. It's an interesting phenomenon and culture, and one that I am always so excited to experience. My life in classical music, thank God, will last forever, marching band will only last four years--why not abandon perfection for once, dance, yell and be a part of the only other activity besides music that everyone can relate to: sports.
Here is a video of the USC halftime show at Notre Dame. Obviously, at Notre Dame Stadium, the USC band gets fewer cheers than at the coliseum, but sometimes the "boos" from the opponent makes the experience even more invigorating.
For weeks I've been telling my friends that Gustavo Dudamel is the Barack Obama of classical music, and they laugh like I'm kidding. Now, they understand. In a previous post, I discussed the excitement behind Dudamel's opening concert, and last weekend--it happened. What an incredible hit. Finally, LA can take part in changing the world for the better--with music.
It was described as having the characteristics of a political rally at times throughout the event. A letter from the president himself was read to the audience, welcoming Dudamel to LA. Jack Black and Andy Garcia were among the celebrity guests in support of Dudamel's grand opening. The LA Phil has definitely been pulling out all the stops. And why not? For the sake of exposing the masses to this great collaborative art--please do it.
Now, on a personal note:
My Music History III class is filled with "educated" musicians--or at least in the process of becoming such. Though all students enrolled are age 21 and younger, there was definitely a sense of pretentiousness when our professor decided to discuss the Dudamel concert with the class. One student ardently and seriously disliked the performances by student groups that preceded the concerts, finding them inadequately skilled to perform at such an event. He also found the performances by artists like Herbie Hancock and Ben Harper inappropriate for the venue.
What a jerk.
It then launched a discussion on the premise behind the entire event. The fact that it was at the Hollywood Bowl, that tickets were free, that it provided a compilation of artists of different backgrounds and genres. It wasn't meant to be appreciated for it's artistic merit as much as its social statement.
This video on the LA Phil website, (Gustavo Dudamel meets YOLA students), is an excellent example of why Dudamel's welcome needed to be more than an elitist indoors concert for patrons. To my elitist peers: our art is about more than intonation, skill and cut-throat competition. Try giving the solo to someone else, for once.
Dalouge Smith's blog, Dog Days, focuses on arts advocacy and is sponsored by ArtsJournal. In the past few posts, he has spent much discussion on the NEA conference call I mentioned in my last post.
The part of Smith's blog that I have decided to comment on now, though, is not about the conference call. The article titled, "The art of competetiveness," linked in the blog was written by Smith for the San Diego Union Tribune; (Smith is the President of the San Diego Youth Symphony and is active in the arts coalition in the area).
In the article, Smith references to a book by Daniel Pink entitled, "A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers will Rule in the Future." For the sake of my next paper, perhaps there are other articles that reference the same book. Even if there isn't, the summarization of the article implies that students need music education in order to develop competetive skills that will aid them in life, which is not an uncommon topic amongst music education advocates. In the article, Pink's points are reitterated by Smith--that music develops students into hard-working yet passionate artists.
I look forward to writing about the scholars, who are currently dazzling me with their passionate lectures and devotion to education, but also gain from their experience. I am excited to explore scholarship in this essay--and to do so when speaking about music is even better!
In August, a telephone conference was held between White House representatives, representatives from the National Endowment of the Arts and up and coming artists, musicians and marketers. The call, led by former NEA communications director Yosi Sergant, was coined as "inappropriate" as Sergant aimed to encourage artists to create and publicize art that promotes the United We Serve initiative--each artist was asked to focus their art on health care, education or the environment
The phone call was recorded in a blog by filmmaker, marketer and art community consultant, Patrick Courrielche, who, as an invitee to the call, decided the content of the call was worth public discussion. Reportedly, by Courrielche and later by other news sources, Sergant's aim of the conversation was to motivate this community to further the political agenda of the president--a task the NEA is not responsible for by its mission. Because this group of artists, promoters, filmmakers, organizers, musicians, actors, writers and just "cool people" had done a remarkable job on the Obama campaign, (Shepard Fairey, the creator of the "Hope" painting included), Sergant felt that their abilities to use "art for positive change" would represent the White House accordingly. Courrielche unveiled the quote that frightened him the most,
“This is just the beginning. This is the first telephone call of a brand new conversation. We are just now learning how to really bring this community together to speak with the government. What that looks like legally?…bare with us as we learn the language so that we can speak to each other safely…"
Now throughout this, many of the call invitees were perplexed by Sergant's requests for a focus of their art, including visual arts blogger, Lee Rosenbaum (aka CultureGrrl), who was a part of a second call of different artists, aimed at the same goal. She was "creeped out" by the idea of "enlisting artists for a political adventure....even though, like many on the call, I supported and (with reservations) still support the agenda of the new president."
So begins the controversy.
Courrielche's blog probed a response from Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) to write an open letter to the president explaining that the goals of the NEA does not include using the art community to further political agendas. To make a long story short, Sergant, as of Sept. 22, according to ABC News, has been reassigned, and the White House has issued an apology, promising to make serious steps so such calls will never happen again.
Meanwhile, the White House failed at trying to redefine the NEA--thank goodness. Courrielche, along with the Texas Senator and Culturegrrl reiterated in their accounts that the NEA's mission is "supporting excellence in the arts, both new and established; bringing the arts to all Americans; and providing leadership in arts education" according to the NEA website.
The government is supposed to work for the NEA to fund well-deserving artists and organizations, the vise versa scenario is simply unAmerican. As a student who has studied music with an NEA medal winning composer, I see the NEA as an agency that has made and honored beautiful art. To corrupt that ideal is frightening, which is why the call, though only encouraging conference attendees to volunteer, made them fear that the NEA might simply become another government tool.
Although many of the artists were a part of the Obama campaign and support the United We Serve initiative, to be probed by officials to "choose one of the four key areas" to focus their passion and inspiration sounds a bit like a high school art contest--not to mention, it's against the NEA mission, ideals and artist freedom. I am no political junkie, but I am interested in the state of art in America, and I completely support the mission behind the NEA; it pleases me to know that such a loaded phone call could accurately be pinned, by the White House, reporters and the artists themselves, as corrupt use of the arts.
On another exciting note, the story is also indicative of the influence of blogging on making social change. Courrielche, in addition to writing a brilliant blog critiquing and questioning the call, sneakily recorded the call in its entirety as well as posted a full transcript on his blog, which can be found here. It's creepy, pre-Halloween treat.
They say, when you're dating, if you like 90 percent of your potential partner, then keep him. Coach, is that true the social bookmarking dating world too? I've had luck finding valuable sites from educators regarding music education on delicious, but then I find that the bulk of their bookmarks are about smartboards or lesson plans. I also found a few useful and hip arts advocacy sites also, which I hope to discuss in later posts. I liked ten to 15 percent--not enough to keep.
Nevertheless, I found a soulmate that fit the "90 percent" criteria. After scavenging through what look to be her personal sites, (email, googlereader, etc), I found that the remainder of mezzamoah's bookmarks were relevant, but more importantly, interesting.
Mezzamoah has a whopping 59 bookmarks, but she has 79 tags--well organized to boot. This makes it incredibly easy to navigate her bookmarks. I was able to find several websites regarding classical music, popular music, music reviews as well as avante-garde music. Unfortunately, she lacks articles regarding education, but from my research, it seems to be a different demographic. Her activity is recent, although I was unable to figure out whether or not she commented often, which may be indicative of my inexperience with this social bookmarking dating system. (Or perhaps a fault of only using delicious without Diigo as a supplementary tool).
An example of a fascinating website mezzamoah revealed to me is indabamusic--a venue for artists to collaborate and produce music entirely over the internet. Artists create profiles, find each other online, hold recording sessions and publish their music to the public via the website. Once the music is public, users can comment on eachother's creations. Many of the users are jazz musicians and students. Musicians, especially in college, love to experiment; music is always changing! This is a fantastic invention for musicians to collaborate with people from all over the country. Although I am recently introduced to the concept, it appears to have been a hit for some time: the website also features contests where musicians compete to collaborate with professionals like John Legend, The Roots and Yo-Yo Ma. The homepage shows promotional quotes from Stephen Colbert, ABC News and Wired.
As far as classical music, her bookmarks are mainly music critic blogs and new music websites. Music critic for The New Yorker, author and avid blogger, Alex Ross, has a great blog about opera, symphony and other classical music happenings around New York. He also posts his collegues's as well as his own articles from the magazine. Some of his posts include books or playlists of music he recommends. There don't seem to be any free downloads, but the cultural influence is always appreciated, right? And even though mezzamoah's bookmarks doesn't provide me with to many education and advocacy sites, Ross's blogroll definitely does.
For my readers, mezzamoah and the sites she bookmarks can be helpful on two accounts. 1) Although her bookmarks may not be completely devoted to classical music, they seem to be innovative and thought provoking sites, (like this and this). 2) She is a person interested in the avante-garde, rock and roll and classical--relatively common and admirable interests for all well-bred musicians.
Because she seems to be on top of the evolutions of contemporary rock, classical and popular music critique, as well as music-making inventions, her bookmarks will be helpful in fulfilling my desire to be "cutting edge" as well as thoughtful in my blog. My mother's friend once told me, "If a relationship makes it to the six month mark, then it's going to be long term." I have high hopes for my relationship with mezzamoah and in order to broaden my spectrum of topics, I hope the feelings are mutual!
The banner shown above is one of many that decorates the entire campus this year. I am so happy Thornton is finally getting the school-wide recognition it deserves--we're not brainless musicians, really.
This year marks the 125th birthday of the USC Thornton School of Music. The USC School of Music was the first professional school at the University of California in 1884, and in 1999, philanthropist Flora L. Thornton became the schools benefactor. It has evolved as one of the top music schools in the country; not only does it have a storied tradition in classical performance studies of all major instruments, but the music industry, recording science, jazz studies, popular music, and scoring for motion pictures and television degrees are some of the most innovative in higher level music education.
Last week was one of the first events of the celebratory year at Thornton. The opening gala, followed by a rousing performance of Berlioz's Symphony Fantastique made for quite a party.
As a current student of the Thornton School, I feel so honored to be a part of this magical time for our school. In many well-reputed music conservatories, the traditional classical music training is the single most important aspect of music, and their world is filled with ruthless competition, burnt out passions and emotionally unstable soloists. Not only does USC foster classical musicians to develop their skills and passion for music, it also has adapted to the evolving nature of the art form.
The story in the LA Times "Culture Monster" blog, reporter David Ng mentions the various gifts given to the Thornton school, which are to be used for student scholarships, in addition to one special gift: a piano that belonged to Jascha Heifetz.
There will be more events throughout the year--the next being a special concert by the classic rock legends, the Steve Miller Band, which will be a benefit for the school.
The most exciting part about blogging is the concept that a person—any person—can voice their feelings, opinions, passions and inspirations to the world. Although this blog has been created as a requirement for a class, I can’t help but be thrilled to welcome the blogging world into MY world—the world of music.
I am a music student at the USC Thornton School of Music studying for my Bachelors of Music degree in Oboe Performance. I am witnessing the changes in the classical music world in Los Angeles and across America—people are becoming less interested in classical music and more interested in MTV, and the validity of that world. (Don’t take me for a pretentious traditionalist; I love BEP and Taylor, but not at the loss of classical music). In addition, there have been significant changes (and cuts) to music education in America.
You may notice, as I expose more and more of my stories on this blog, that a large part of my musical life and passion comes from my ardent belief that music education is an agent of social change and a venue for which concert music--professional orchestras, master chorales and opera--can be saved. I hope to discuss developments of professional music, music education, their collaboration and any exciting events that are furthering this artistic world.
Like the professional music world, music education in the US is dwindling. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 led many school districts to cut funding to their music programs.
But, hope has not been lost. There are several good arguments why music education cannot be lost in the economic crises, or any other crises for that matter. One of them includes my new favorite story of change:
Recently, an example has been made of the Jose Abreu's El Sistema in Venezuela--a program that consists of 125 youth orchestras and training programs throughout the country that has absolutely changed the nation. Many of the students of this program have formerly been involved in gangs, crime or originate from extremely impoverished areas. The El Sistema has produced hundreds of professional musicians since it's conception in the 1970s, including conducting prodigy Gustavo Dudamel--the newly appointed conductor of the LA Philharmonic.
Here is a video for an upcoming documentary about the El Sistema:
Is it coincidence? That the product of the most notable music program in the world is coming to Los Angeles--home of a school district that projects a complete cut of all of its public school music programs within the next ten years. I hope not.
My ramblings of passion, inspiration, teamwork and dedication might seem farfetched, but I hope to somehow portray how I came to be such a zealous advocate through the entries in this blog. I am so excited to share my thoughts about the importance of this beautiful art with the world!
Profile Blog
The music education world, as large a spectrum music itself covers, is quite small. Generally, the most skilled and inspiring public school music teacher is no celebrity, and often, its legends are not aquainted with the blogishpere. Like many classical musicians/enthusiasts, it's all about the music, not about social networking--on the internet no less. This does not mean that music educators shouldn't keep up with technological advancements. In fact, even with the detrimental budget cuts, technology is continuing to find ways of changing music education.
Evan Tobias is Instructor of Music Education at Arizona State University. In my "blog search," I have found that his blog is most comprehensive in terms of combining new technological elements of music education, advocacy and the contributions of the "outside world" to music education. Tobias's blog, Catalysts and Connections, not only provides detailed information on various music ed. conferences throughout the country, but also provides thought provoking stories on how music is changing the world (through education). His entries are professional and academic as he often discusses the most effective ways to work with music students from a more pedagogical stand point. At the same time, he avoids the pretentiousness that comes with being a music critic or expert.
With the start of school in the fall, he has begun writing new blog posts, which should excite his readers who are mainly music teachers--public school or university level. He also receives comments from arts advocacy organizations.
In one article, he discusses how the music of T-Pain and Bjork can be used in the classroom to demonstrate different ways to portray and use the human voice. This is not only be an aid to teaching voice production, but also to exposing students to world music. As a member of the "teeny-bopper/pop culture music generation," I find that adding a bit of pop culture to a lesson plan is so applicable. It is still music and it helps rid the stereotype of what music education is--orch-dorks, band geeks, you get the picture.
Another article demonstrates how music contributes to history: Tobias congratulates the Lesbian and Gay Band Association and provides a bit of a feature on the group as they were invited to march in the inaugural parade back in January. What an incredible advocacy tool--music in school is not like a history class, but a class that could help you, the student, make history.
Tobias speaks of the importance of bringing music to students in need also. He wrote in early 2007 about the importance of high school marching band to students whose programs suffered from Hurricane Katrina. He makes reference to an article in the New York Times that featured a band that marched in the first Mardi Gras parade since the hurricane and "proved they could do something positive in such devastated surroundings." The article said this about one student:
Joshua Phipps had been thinking about basketball, but the band changed his life, he said. “At my first band practice, I just fell in love with the sound,” he said. “I practiced a whole lot, every day, and it was like a hidden talent I didn’t know I had.
I enjoy eTobias's stories because they reveal the magic of music in schools. In my blog, I hope to feature more discussions of advocacy and the state of the arts budget throughout the country, and less pedagogical teaching methods, as valuable as they are. This blog can definitely be an aid to my research and I am excited to start the magic!
Voice Critique
In my research of music education/classical music blogs to write a "voice critique," about, I realized that many arts critics, educators and even advocates use voices that are more mundane than the chord progression used in an average song by Miley Cyrus. Much of the blogs I found were the daily activities of education conventions, or some non-descript or opinionated activity of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), amongst other things. The blogging "voice" of a few opera critics had potential, especially since their blogs were also the most colorful.
The blog I chose happened to relate to my topic much more closely than I had anticipated.
Deceptively Simpleis written by Marc Geelhoed, the Resound coordinator and administrator for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In his blog, he promotes the arts through his personal experiences, knowledge of classical music along with his knowledge of popular culture.
Last July Geelhoed wrote an entry about the advancements of technology, and how kindles, ipods and other technological items are keeping symphony goers from purchasing CDs, (specifically CDs of the CSO). His blog had definite structure, beginning with how the situation directly relates to him--the sale of CSO paraphenalia and CDs. His argument of using new technology without abandoning an appreciation for bookstores gets more complex, then culminates in a question of whether or not technology will actually make people more cultured. Questions are often commentary in themselves, I suppose. He uses short sentences as well as short transition statements.
"Ephemerality is the enemy. I like stuff that lasts."
Geelhoed prefers the "old-fashioned" ways of buying CDs from Tower Records, making conversation with the sales clerk and fostering the "community" of buying records in a store. His description of the scene reminds me of a mom and pop's store in the 1960s that a child might go to every day after school to buy a bottle of "pop." The scene he creates seems nostalgic, which seems humorous considering CDs are technology that, within 15 years ago, seemed relatively new and inventive, and of course, in my comparative scene, school children aren't allowed to drink sugary sodas anymore either.
"So, if you’re looking for me, you can find this 31-going-on-78-year old in the bookstore, grumbling about kids and their Twindles or Kitters or whatever they’re using these days."
Although he also describes himself as a devoted "abebooks.com" shopper, he ardently claims to have never purchased items recommended by "Amazon.com algorithms." He points out that when he uses the word "browser," he is referring to a shopper, not Internet software. He demonstrates his ironic lifestyle by doing this--being so against internet shopping, but knowing enough to reference websites and terms that online shopper officianados, (who could be in his audience), might recognize.
Other blogs include youtube videos, pictures or references to songs that apply to the topic. One blog entitled "Guns don't kill people; people with guns kill people," is hardly about music at all. He makes a statement about his opinion regarding gun control, and posts a youtube video of a stand-up act by Eddie Izzard.
"But anyway. The more these sort of issues come around, the more I understand the immutable truth that Eddie Izzard has already addressed them, and unearthed logic such that no one can argue. Here’s Eddie on gun control. (NSFW)"
In celebration of Leonard Bernstien's would-be 91st birthday, Geelhold created a playlist of his favorite classical works that were conducted by Bernstein. Each was chosen because it had significance in his life either as inspiring art or as "the first classical CD I ever bought," (Mahler's fifth). This particular post as much musical merit, without the pretentiousness of many classical music critic/junkie bloggers embody, which is actually more annoying than impressive.
"For sheer fun, Bernstein’s never been beaten in Rhapsody in Blue. I’m pretty sure I paid more than the $7.99 Amazon lists it for, too."
This lack of arrogance makes Geelhold's blog easy to read--and trust. The fact that he can describe Bach and Mahler without sounding like a know-it-all adds to his credibility as a person, which, in blogging, is so important. In his youtube-loving, Bach-obsessing and politically knowledgeable frenzy, Simply Deceptive offers a voice that is simple enough to simply appreciate.
Hi etobias! I'm currently a music performance student (oboe) at USC in California, and I have been enjoying your blog for a couple weeks now. I enjoy your take on the progressions of music education in America--it is certainly changing. Although I am studying the oboe at USC, I am quite interested in the advancement and advocacy of music education in the US. Music inspires students and encourages them to be self-motivated and enthusiastic human beings! I'm sure you know that--you're a music teacher! I was excited to see your latest post about Ellen on American Idol. I haven't watched the show for a few seasons, but I never, even as a young music student, felt the show enhanced or detracted from my musical knowledge. Besides the fact that Randy would tend refer to EVERY vocalist as "pitchy," I always felt that the merit in American Idol was in the charisma and bravery of the contestants, who are "everyday people" that perform to millions each week. It's pure entertainment. EveryFan can judge whether or not they thought a performance was entertaining, right? What they probably can't do is explain exactly what elements made it entertaining--the melismatic differences between the contestant and the original, the use of different instrumentation or different tempos. But our culture does not require EveryFan to do that. In which case, why not have Ellen DeGeneres on the show? She also judged on So You Think You Can Dance this summer, with absolutely no technical dance expertise, and she was funny, kind and great guest. At the same time, it's "pure entertainment" that features music. Any outlet that brings music to our country is worth some merit, right? I was able to look over your "American Idol in the Classroom" blogs, and am impressed by the way you talk about giving "constructive criticism" through American Idol examples. In music education, especially with young students, a student who forms an opinion about the music they are playing, based on their musical knowledge, is a student excited about music, indeed! Although I still feel the musical credibility of American Idol is minimal, I am still an advocate for bringing a bit of pop culture into the music classroom--being a music geek isn't so bad! I see the influence of music in the US, and the world, is certainly changing--USC Thornton School of Music began offering a Bachelors of Music degree in Pop Music this year. As a classical musician, I hope the influx of technology and pop culture into the music world does not completely keep Americans away from the beauty and organic nature of orchestral and choral music. Hopefully, we can look forward to the collaboration between classical music and music education with the "real world." Thanks so much for your blog! Best wishes to you.
On October 3rd, the Los Angeles community, (not to be confused with the wealthy orchestra patrons), will receive a real taste of world-changing music. Thousands of people will attend an outdoor concert for free. Warped tour isn't coming to town this fall. Neither is Coachella. The event held at the Hollywood Bowl will welcome the LA Philharmonic's new music director--an occasion usually reserved for Disney Hall, expensive guests, fur coats and wine.
This is certainly not the case now, because the featured artist, a new classical music rock star by the name of Gustavo Dudamel, would rather reach out to Los Angeles--get to know his surroundings. This new director of the LA Philharmonic shows an admirable combination of the talent of young Mozart, the charisma and vision of Barack Obama and the coaching/teaching ability of Pete Carroll, (our beloved USC Football coach).
Tickets became available to the public, and were to be picked up at the Bowl on the morning of August 1st. People were lined up around the perimeter of the amphitheater camping out from as early as 5 am. A child who stood in line for tickets that morning was quoted as being a "huge fan" of Dudamel--that he had seen his feature on 60 minutes and idolized his curly hair and his strong sense of passion. Watch clips of the feature here and here. It makes sense--the waiting in long lines and the children--Dudamel's hair does resemble that of Nick Jonas.
In all serioussness, though, concert ticket holders have much to be excited about. The first half of the concert will feature local musical giants such as Herbie Hancock, Flea and the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, Alfredo Rodriguez, Ben Harper and others. The second half will be devoted to Dudamel's debut as he will conduct the LA Phil in Beethoven's ninth symphony. The collaboration of the various genres will be inspiring , I'm certain--music lovers in LA, and the rest of the country, need some inspiration.
The recession effected Disney Hall season ticket sales to fall last year by seven percent. In addition, while European orchestras continue to thrive in attendance, the American attendees of Philharmonic concerts are not getting younger. In fact, Dudamel is probably less than half the age of the average LA Phil season ticket holder. The hope is that Dudamel will be the driving force to encourage young people and members of the community to rediscover the power of classical music. It's ambitious. Yes We Can.
Appropriately, Beethoven's final symphony ends with the well known tune of "Ode to Joy."
“The Beethoven Ninth was selected because it has a universal message,” says Borda. “Gustavo thought that it represented his hopes for the musical spirit of our great city and celebrates the human spirit in a way that no other piece does.”
That's exactly what Los Angeles needs. Hope and joy through artistic venues. I love Dudamel because, unlike many entertainment moguls and disillusioned Angelians, he is not afraid to be completely immersed in passion for what he does. Los Angeles, whether we want to believe it or not, is a city that is suffering from money obsession, fast entertainment and self-image. I'm not asking Gustavo Dudamel to single handedly fix the city, but I truly look forward to his music making that will change people's lives, inspire young musicians and help, even remotely, to put this broken city back together.
In this video, American composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein talks about and performs the last section of Beethoven No. 9. Dudamel has been compared to Bernstein, whose first appearance with the New York Philharmonic at age 25 lead him to become America's most charismatic conductor. When Dudamel made his NY Phil debut at age 23, he used Bernstein's old baton, and revealed his own "boundless joy in music making."
In my research of music education/classical music blogs to write a "voice critique," about, I realized that many arts critics, educators and even advocates use voices that are more mundane than the chord progression used in an average song by Miley Cyrus. Much of the blogs I found were the daily activities of education conventions, or some non-descript or opinionated activity of the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA), amongst other things. The blogging "voice" of a few opera critics had potential, especially since their blogs were also the most colorful.
The blog I chose happened to relate to my topic much more closely than I had anticipated.
Deceptively Simpleis written by Marc Geelhoed, the Resound coordinator and administrator for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In his blog, he promotes the arts through his personal experiences, knowledge of classical music along with his knowledge of popular culture.
Last July Geelhoed wrote an entry about the advancements of technology, and how kindles, ipods and other technological items are keeping symphony goers from purchasing CDs, (specifically CDs of the CSO). His blog had definite structure, beginning with how the situation directly relates to him--the sale of CSO paraphenalia and CDs. His argument of using new technology without abandoning an appreciation for bookstores gets more complex, then culminates in a question of whether or not technology will actually make people more cultured. Questions are often commentary in themselves, I suppose. He uses short sentences as well as short transition statements.
"Ephemerality is the enemy. I like stuff that lasts."
Geelhoed prefers the "old-fashioned" ways of buying CDs from Tower Records, making conversation with the sales clerk and fostering the "community" of buying records in a store. His description of the scene reminds me of a mom and pop's store in the 1960s that a child might go to every day after school to buy a bottle of "pop." The scene he creates seems nostalgic, which seems humorous considering CDs are technology that, within 15 years ago, seemed relatively new and inventive, and of course, in my comparative scene, school children aren't allowed to drink sugary sodas anymore either.
"So, if you’re looking for me, you can find this 31-going-on-78-year old in the bookstore, grumbling about kids and their Twindles or Kitters or whatever they’re using these days."
Although he describes himself as a devoted "abebooks.com" shopper, he ardently claims to have never purchased items recommended by "Amazon.com algorithms." He points out that when he uses the word "browser," he is referring to a shopper, not Internet software. He demonstrates his ironic lifestyle by doing this--being so against internet shopping, but knowing enough to reference websites and terms that online shopper officianados, (who could be in his audience), might recognize.
Other blogs include youtube videos, pictures or references to songs that apply to the topic. One blog entitled "Guns don't kill people; people with guns kill people," is hardly about music at all. He makes a statement about his opinion regarding gun control, and posts a youtube video of a stand-up act by Eddie Izzard.
"But anyway. The more these sort of issues come around, the more I understand the immutable truth that Eddie Izzard has already addressed them, and unearthed logic such that no one can argue. Here’s Eddie on gun control. (NSFW)"
In celebration of Leonard Bernstien's would-be 91st birthday, Geelhold created a playlist of his favorite classical works that were conducted by Bernstein. Each was chosen in having significance in his life either as inspiring art or as "the first classical CD I ever bought," (Mahler's fifth). This particular post as much musical merit, without the pretentiousness of many classical music critic/junkie bloggers embody, which is actually more annoying than impressive.
"For sheer fun, Bernstein’s never been beaten in Rhapsody in Blue. I’m pretty sure I paid more than the $7.99 Amazon lists it for, too."
This lack of arrogance makes Geelhold's blog easy to read--and trust. The fact that he can describe Bach and Mahler without sounding like a know-it-all adds to his credibility as a person, which, in blogging, is so important. In his youtube-loving, Bach-obsessing and politically knowledgeable frenzy, Simply Deceptive offers a voice that is simple enough to simply appreciate.
The music education world, as large a spectrum music itself covers, is quite small. Generally, the most skilled and inspiring public school music teacher is no celebrity, and often, these legends of higher level education are not aquainted with the blogishpere. Like many classical musicians/enthusiasts, it's all about the music, not about social networking--on the internet no less. This does not mean that music educators shouldn't keep up with technological advancements. In fact, even with the detrimental budget cuts, technology is continually finding ways to change music education.
Evan Tobias is Instructor of Music Education at Arizona State University. In my "blog search," I have found that his blog is most comprehensive in terms of combining new technological elements of music education, advocacy and the contributions of the "outside world" to music education. Tobias's blog, Catalysts and Connections, not only provides detailed information on various music ed. conferences throughout the country, but also provides thought provoking stories on how music is changing the world (through education). His entries are professional and academic as he often discusses the most effective ways to work with music students from a more pedagogical stand point. At the same time, he avoids the pretentiousness that comes with being a music critic or expert.
His last entry was in April of 2009, and I am ardently hoping he writes more this coming fall--there are comments on the blog as recent as one week ago. His readers are generally music teachers--public school or university level. He also receives comments from arts advocacy organizations.
In one article, he discusses how the music of T-Pain and Bjork can be used in the classroom to demonstrate different ways to portray and use the human voice. This is not only be an aid to teaching voice production, but also to exposing students to world music. As a member of the "teeny-bopper/pop culture music generation," adding a bit of pop culture to a lesson plan is so applicable. It is music, after all.
Another article demonstrates how music contributes to history: Tobias congratulates the Lesbian and Gay Band Association and provides a bit of a feature on the group as they were invited to march in the inaugural parade back in January. It's so important, especially in the case of advocating for music ed in public schools, to emphasize the fact that music helps groups of people (LGBT) make history!
Tobias speaks of the importance of bringing music to students in need also. He wrote in early 2007 about the importance of high school marching band to students whose programs suffered from Hurricane Katrina. He makes reference to an article in the New York Times that featured a band that marched in the first Mardi Gras parade since the hurricane and "proved they could do something positive in such devastated surroundings." He quotes students who were suggested by their English teacher to join the band after behavioral issues, and later dream of becoming band teachers.
These stories reveal the magic of music in schools! In my blog, I hope to feature more discussions of advocacy and the state of the arts budget throughout the country, and less pedagogical teaching methods, as valuable as they are. This blog can definitely be an aid to my research. and I am excited to start the magic!
I love meeting people who are passionate about their craft. Whether it be biology, fashion or physics, a healthy dose of genuine enthusiasm gives life more meaning. I am a musician and I've met hundreds of students who are passionate about music, who have inspired me to write this blog. These students are instrumentalists, orchestral musicians, choral singers and wind players. They all speak, read and express the same language--a language that helps them have a voice, a wish for change and a seek for peace.
Unfortunately, in the US, classical music is considered a "dying art"--literally. Patrons of professional symphonies and chorales are growing old, and music of MTV is taking over the tastes of younger generations. This is not to discount the validity of pop music, but the values that are taught through the rehearsal and performance of classical music is being lost, bringing me to the culmination of the topic of my blog.
Like the professional music world, music education in the US is dwindling. The No Child Left Behind Act led many school districts to cut funding to their music programs. Of course there always exists the argument: better test scores and more motivated students are results of school music programs. (I can elaborate on exact statistics later).
Still, I can't finish this blog without mentioning my first example of change:
Recently, an example has been made of the Jose Abreu's El Sistema in Venezuela--a program that consists of 125 youth orchestras and training programs throughout the country that has absolutely changed the nation. Much of the students of this program have formerly been involved in gangs, crime or originate from extremely impoverished areas. The El Sistema has produced hundreds of professional musicians since it's conception in the 1970s, including conducting prodigy Gustavo Dudamel--the newly appointed conductor of the LA Philharmonic.
Is it coincidence? That the product of the most notable music program in the world is coming to Los Angeles--home of a school district that projects a complete cut of all of its public school music programs within the next ten years. I hope not.
In this blog, I hope to discuss the happenings within the Los Angeles area in regards to the promotion of the professional arts as well as education. I also hope to address the actions of different music education organizations such as the MENC (National association for music educators), the Music For All Foundation and others. I also hope to share my own personal stories of how the music I encounter as a student changes and inspires passion in my life.
Many blogs on this subject are written by large organizations of seasoned music educators. (People I might affectionately call "old, white men"). I've grown up in a musical environment, and am currently studying to earn my Bachelors of Music in Oboe Performance. In my experience, music teachers have the power to transform a music piece as well as the musicians playing it. My ramblings of passion, inspiration, teamwork and dedication might seem farfetched, but I hope to somehow portray how I came to be such a zealous advocate through the entries in this blog. I am so excited to share my thoughts about the importance of this beautiful art with the world!
I am a studying for a Bachelors of Music degree in Oboe Performance at USC Thornton School of Music. This blog was created as part of the required Advanced Writing course for USC undergraduates.
