Mine and Tony's choir warm-ups, brought to you from a practice room near you!
Friday, 21 November 2014
Sunday, 26 October 2014
Tapiola Sound, by Erkki Pohjola
Check out my slide show (in pecha kucha format) for the upcoming presentations on Choral Resource Books! My resource book was Tapiola Sound by the legendary Erkki Pohjola, which focuses on his pedagogy and experiences with the Tapiola Children's choir. Very interesting read. If you want to have a fantastic choir of your own, you have to read up how the masters of the craft did it.... right?
Thursday, 16 October 2014
Itay Talgam's "Lead Like the Great Conductors"
Oh hello there!
Welcome back to yet another instalment of Thoughts from the Tenor Clef! I get to take a departure from the world of choral music today, and we enter into the realm of orchestral conductors!
(Personal note: SO excited about this, I have my own wild dreams of one day being a conductor like some of the masters discussed in todays post!)
Today's Thoughts are in direct response to the 2009 TED talk, given by the wonderful Itay Talgam, "Lead Like the Great Conductors." Such a wonderful discussion - an absolute joy to watch. Itay discusses with the audience different methods used by some of the world's greatest conductors, and analyzes their effectiveness.
The first conductor Itay shows us is Ricardo Muti, the current conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In the clip shown, Muti exhibits an intense level of control and precision - gesturing in an awesome, overpowering way. His face is expressionless, imposing. The sound of the orchestra directly reflects this tight grip he seems to have over the players, if that makes sense. Muti has a deathgrip over them.
The second conductor is the legendary Richard Strauss. Strauss is atop the podium with no more enthusiasm than if he were at a funeral. His eyes are often looking at the score (which Itay points out, he wrote himself) and his baton work is almost lazy.
Third is Herbert von Karajon, the longtime maestro of the Vienna Philharmonic, responsible for hundreds of recordings regarded by many as 'perfect.' Itay notes Karajon's eyes are closed, and his gestures are extremely vague. The orchestra is more than likely not watching him all that much - they are watching the concert master. He gives extremely vague gestures, allowing for the players to guess what is his intention while he wallows in his own self absorbed little world.
Fourth is Carlos Kleiber, often regarded as the greatest conductor of all time. Itay shows several clips of Kleiber doing his thing, and notes his fantastic expression and infamous gestures that have never been truly replicated by a conductor since. Kleiber exhibits a different level of control over the orchestra. He gives awesome gestures with the intention of inspiring the performers, allowing them to make interpretations, although he communicates HIS intention very well.
Itay explains that artists in an orchestra are not instruments - no more than a conductor is. They all have a story - they have past experiences, and they did not just come into being to follow instructions. In reality, a conductor is only needed very seldom. In order for artists to be satisfied, they have to be given an opportunity to tell their story. Muti's orchestra that he was conducting in his clip asked him to resign at some point after it was made. They respected him very much - but playing for him was a nightmare. Karajon's reputation for being absolutely terrifying is well documented as well. His gestures were incredibly vague, but his wishes were very specific. What must it have been like to play for such a conductor?
What we can take from Itay's talk is this. Music making is more than a factory job, and the players have to be given the opportunity to play. If you conduct a high school band and your kids are getting bored and quitting, perhaps you're not really letting them play - not letting them tell their story. We cannot forget to let them make music because we get too caught up in the process. After all - when last I checked, the only person on stage without the ability to make a sound, is the one with the stick.
Welcome back to yet another instalment of Thoughts from the Tenor Clef! I get to take a departure from the world of choral music today, and we enter into the realm of orchestral conductors!
(Personal note: SO excited about this, I have my own wild dreams of one day being a conductor like some of the masters discussed in todays post!)
Today's Thoughts are in direct response to the 2009 TED talk, given by the wonderful Itay Talgam, "Lead Like the Great Conductors." Such a wonderful discussion - an absolute joy to watch. Itay discusses with the audience different methods used by some of the world's greatest conductors, and analyzes their effectiveness.
The first conductor Itay shows us is Ricardo Muti, the current conductor of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. In the clip shown, Muti exhibits an intense level of control and precision - gesturing in an awesome, overpowering way. His face is expressionless, imposing. The sound of the orchestra directly reflects this tight grip he seems to have over the players, if that makes sense. Muti has a deathgrip over them.
The second conductor is the legendary Richard Strauss. Strauss is atop the podium with no more enthusiasm than if he were at a funeral. His eyes are often looking at the score (which Itay points out, he wrote himself) and his baton work is almost lazy.
Third is Herbert von Karajon, the longtime maestro of the Vienna Philharmonic, responsible for hundreds of recordings regarded by many as 'perfect.' Itay notes Karajon's eyes are closed, and his gestures are extremely vague. The orchestra is more than likely not watching him all that much - they are watching the concert master. He gives extremely vague gestures, allowing for the players to guess what is his intention while he wallows in his own self absorbed little world.
Fourth is Carlos Kleiber, often regarded as the greatest conductor of all time. Itay shows several clips of Kleiber doing his thing, and notes his fantastic expression and infamous gestures that have never been truly replicated by a conductor since. Kleiber exhibits a different level of control over the orchestra. He gives awesome gestures with the intention of inspiring the performers, allowing them to make interpretations, although he communicates HIS intention very well.
Itay explains that artists in an orchestra are not instruments - no more than a conductor is. They all have a story - they have past experiences, and they did not just come into being to follow instructions. In reality, a conductor is only needed very seldom. In order for artists to be satisfied, they have to be given an opportunity to tell their story. Muti's orchestra that he was conducting in his clip asked him to resign at some point after it was made. They respected him very much - but playing for him was a nightmare. Karajon's reputation for being absolutely terrifying is well documented as well. His gestures were incredibly vague, but his wishes were very specific. What must it have been like to play for such a conductor?
What we can take from Itay's talk is this. Music making is more than a factory job, and the players have to be given the opportunity to play. If you conduct a high school band and your kids are getting bored and quitting, perhaps you're not really letting them play - not letting them tell their story. We cannot forget to let them make music because we get too caught up in the process. After all - when last I checked, the only person on stage without the ability to make a sound, is the one with the stick.
Tuesday, 16 September 2014
The never-ending struggle of getting adolescent boys to sing
Well hello there my fellow bloggers!
I hope you're all having just the BEST day. I myself had the most sudden burst of inspiration to write music today - a melody just walked into my head! 7 hours later I've definitely got the start of something great, (I'm probably the slowest composer since Beethoven) and I've neglected all the things I had planned to do today. Goody.
But that's not why we're here. Perhaps I'll give an update sometime in the future... or perhaps not.
Today I have to draw attention to a fairly recent post on the choralnet.org forum, one that really jumped out at me because it hit rather close to home!
On September 15th, Lauren Melberg, a first year teacher from Wisconsin, wrote to the ChoralNet community about her 7th grade choir. Lauren is having perhaps the most unheard-of dilemma ever to arise. She posts:
"Currently in my 60 voice 7th grade choir, I have 36 young men. Over half of these young men are strong singers who love to sing. My issue lies in balancing their voices with the 24 women I have...there are a few strong young ladies, but the majority of them are pretty quiet."
Well if that's not the most bananas thing you've ever heard of, I don't know what could be. A 60 voice grade 7 choir with 36 strong male singers? Have we just stepped into the twilight zone???
The reason why this post resonated so strongly with me is because in my own experience, and in what I'm sure are most cases, adolescent males have to be grappled with to sing in choir. Growing up, there was more than one occasion in which I was the only one on the risers carrying a Y-chromosome. Singing in choirs is just not within the parameters of what society imparts upon young boys as something "cool," or "manly."
So! For those of us NOT experiencing issues similar to Lauren... (a.k.a. everybody else in the world) what was your experience with this situation!? Did your music teacher have to beg the boys when you were in middle school to get them to join you in choir? Did it work? What about High School? And what are some methods out there to get those strapping young lads to put away the Xbox controller and pick up a choir binder?
Please leave a comment below - even if just to tell me you think I'm daft.
Until next time!
I hope you're all having just the BEST day. I myself had the most sudden burst of inspiration to write music today - a melody just walked into my head! 7 hours later I've definitely got the start of something great, (I'm probably the slowest composer since Beethoven) and I've neglected all the things I had planned to do today. Goody.
But that's not why we're here. Perhaps I'll give an update sometime in the future... or perhaps not.
Today I have to draw attention to a fairly recent post on the choralnet.org forum, one that really jumped out at me because it hit rather close to home!
On September 15th, Lauren Melberg, a first year teacher from Wisconsin, wrote to the ChoralNet community about her 7th grade choir. Lauren is having perhaps the most unheard-of dilemma ever to arise. She posts:
"Currently in my 60 voice 7th grade choir, I have 36 young men. Over half of these young men are strong singers who love to sing. My issue lies in balancing their voices with the 24 women I have...there are a few strong young ladies, but the majority of them are pretty quiet."
Well if that's not the most bananas thing you've ever heard of, I don't know what could be. A 60 voice grade 7 choir with 36 strong male singers? Have we just stepped into the twilight zone???
The reason why this post resonated so strongly with me is because in my own experience, and in what I'm sure are most cases, adolescent males have to be grappled with to sing in choir. Growing up, there was more than one occasion in which I was the only one on the risers carrying a Y-chromosome. Singing in choirs is just not within the parameters of what society imparts upon young boys as something "cool," or "manly."
So! For those of us NOT experiencing issues similar to Lauren... (a.k.a. everybody else in the world) what was your experience with this situation!? Did your music teacher have to beg the boys when you were in middle school to get them to join you in choir? Did it work? What about High School? And what are some methods out there to get those strapping young lads to put away the Xbox controller and pick up a choir binder?
Please leave a comment below - even if just to tell me you think I'm daft.
Until next time!
Thursday, 11 September 2014
Welcome!
Welcome everybody to my very first ever of all time blog! This blog is being completed in partial requirements of Music 2520 - Voice and Choral Methods at Memorial University of Newfoundland as I work towards the completion of my Bachelor of Music Education, however an emerging young musician may as well start a blog sometime! I anticipate that my only followers I will ever receive will be my fellow classmates (which leads the question as to why I'm bothering with the formalities...) but of course, all are welcome! Much of what will be discussed here will be hot topics around the choral world as we address what exactly it means to be a choral musician in any capacity - conductor, singer, accompanist, what have you. But I absolutely plan to expand to issues and happenings outside the choral world. It's all very exciting isn't it? Stay tuned for our adventures!
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