Music in Shakespeare's world

   The Boston Symphony Orchestra started the ambitious mini-festival focused on music inspired by William Shakespeare last Thursday night- through February 13th. It's dedicated to celebrating Shakespeare on the 400th anniversary of his death, and this program's focus is the great comedy "A Midsummer Night's Dream." 
   The first concert of this series begins with Weber’s classic Overture to “Oberon,” continues with Hans Werner Henze’s Eighth Symphony, and the last one is Mendelssohn’s much-loved Overture and Incidental Music for the same play, in a new stage adaptation directed by Bill Barclay. You will enjoy music, singers with the costumes and the staging on the stage. Only one night left.
The last chance to watch it is on Tuesday 2nd.

 Touch the mystery.

Striking Light, Striking Dark

https://www.icareifyoulisten.com/2016/01/striking-light-striking-dark-striking-words-zen-drum/

This was an article about the new album "Striking Light, Striking Dark: Striking Words to a Zen Drum. They discuss the collaboration of the music and poetry and go into the history of the instruments. It also includes details about the inspirations involved in the album's process, and the effect that it has had on its audience. The music is very mystical and transcending, and the texts are very clear, emphasizing the importance of the poetry. Some of the pieces did not seem to have a set form, but just sort of followed the words about nature and surroundings, etc.

There are someone saying classical music needs to address a calcification in it's culture and training apparatus. It relies on an academic culture that is old, very white, and generally very dismissive of change.
I think all above the opinions are reasonable for the future of the classical music, only if we insist on the great major and attract more people to classical music to stimulate the people’s enthusiasm, and we should be confident to the great future of classical music.


http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2014-07-22/future-classical-music

Different feeling via same music

The English folk singer Nick Drake.

CreditEstate of Keith Morris/Redferns, via Getty Images

What Makes Music Sad?

  
  When we hear some music of works,  you can feel sad or happy to express the composer's works. Music often not passed out pleasure, often  pass out your inner most authentic self. When I saw this article's first paragraph, The man in the picture is that the English folk singer. This picture give me the feeling that in addition to photographers, only one person sitting there very melancholy; vision tends to affect you hearing, listening to his work if you do not know the composer in the case of any background and did not see this picture, I believe there will be a different judge. 
  
  This article be honest, for me there is profound hard for me, but I think I understand the author wanted to say the problem that the audience often go through their own subjective sense of judgment, in fact  for the work I think this is good, because everyone do not feel the same even it's a same thing. 

 The idea and feeling is not the same, he can reflect the impact of the audience to have a lot of different way.

Reasons to be excited about the future of classical music

As Art''s changing and growing some musicians and funs from different country give us some opinions about why they're excited about the future of classical music.


Julie Amacher who is a program director for Classical MPR and Classical 24 said the reason to be very excited for the future of classical living art form is there have more and more new and varied audiences become accept and have passion to classical music. Now a lot of works of art spread through different media, even through movie and game.The spread of new and varied form and way can let more people come into contact with the classical music, especially the Teenager. Schools can through many ways to let students come into contact with the classical music. Students crossing the differences of language to share the universal language of classical music. Even if there is no chance or condition to reach the scene of the concert，they still pay attention to classical music Through tweets, Facebook posts, e-mails, and phone calls.This is especially important to the development of classical music in the future.

http://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2014/02/28/future-classical-music

Reference:
http://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2014/02/28/future-classical-mu

Galapagos in C

Interview with Michael Harrison

This was a really great read about Michael Harrison's new piece Galapagos in C. The piece combined music with architecture and artwork as it was performed right in the midst of the art museum at Rhode Island School of Design. The author of the article asked Harrison five questions dealing with the process of the collaboration, his background as an architecture teacher, the main elements of the piece, the combination of the architecture with the music and the direction he believes music will going towards after this collaboration. I was really interested to see how similar he believes music and architecture really are, and his idea of musicians and non-musicians being able to come together to create music.  He stated that there was a "tangible excitement in the air," which I feel probably came from how new and different this was for everyone involved. I think it will become important for "classical" music to continue to integrate with new elements to keep it fresh for the audience and involve more people in the music making.
There is also a video on the link which I would definitely recommend watching!

Celebrity Series of Boston features pianist Denis Kozhukhin

Pianist Denis Kozhukhin gave an outstanding Masterclass at Longy School of Music, Pickman hall to three piano students. The Masterclass was open to public and to students of Longy and other conservatories. The concert that took place later that day was organized by Celebrity Series. Those who did not get a chance to go to the concert should definitely check out it's review here

Stardust

I have never mourned anyone I have not actually "met"- until now. I realize how many beautiful memories I attach to Bowie - the man that "has" the world. There is no wonder that numerous activities are going to be held to honor this inspiring figure. As a Bowie's fan, I was inspired by the event, which is going to be hold on Jan. 29 by MIT music and theater arts department. 

"This is a way for the musical community of Boston to channel our grief and express our gratitude to bowie in a positive way," Ziporyn said in a statement. "The generosity of these top-notch musicians has been incredible, putting their time and talent toward this project on extremely short notice. It took less than a day to put an entire orchestra together, and that's a real testament, both to Bowie's impact and to the spirit of our community." 

This is a section to the news 'MIT honors Bowie with Glass symphonies' by Steve Smith. As a musician, I am so glad that this kind of meaningful activity could happen around the area where I live. There has a such powerful strength to made these talent musicians being together for doing one thing, and it is not only about cherish the memories of David Bowie but also about the musicians are using exactly the same way as Bowie, to contributed its own talents, feelings, and love to this world by using music. 

While principally a great pop icon, Bowie has never been just that. He had created a plenty of central and vital elements both in music and fashion for later musicians and artists to learn and enjoy with. Now, after he past, as the beneficiaries of the treasures he lefts, the musicians putting music in the context of the wider world - how we love, how we feel love, how we give the feedbacks of others' love. They excites us and inspired us, just as David Bowie did. 


For more information about the concert, please check here

My first article

Blah, Blah, Blah, this is my first article!Great link

Levine, "Highbrow / Lowbrow" Study Questions

Prologue

1.      Our current hierarchical system of cultural categories (highbrow, midbrow, lowbrow) seems fixed and immutable. What cultural work is done by a historian who maintains these categories?

2.     What error might ensue?

Chapter 2

1.      What was the status of opera in Walt Whitman’s New York?

2.     What does the prevalence of parodies and arrangements suggest about a popular familiarity with opera?

3.     How had the perception of opera changed by the end of the 19^th century?

4.    What was the relative status of bands and orchestras in the middle of the 19^th century?

5.     When Jenny Lind, and other eminent European soloists, toured mid-century America, whom did they appeal to? How did Adelina Patti’s experience differ?

6.    How were typical mid-century orchestra programs constructed?  How did sacralization affect this paradigm?

7.     How did Theodore Thomas manage to draw crowds for his New York concerts? How did his philosophy change when he went to Chicago?

8.    Since the founding in the 19^th century of our country’s major orchestras, what has remained their abiding fiscal reality? Who now employs the Chicago Symphony’s funding model? How has that funding model changed, if at all, over the last century?

9.    What are some of John Sullivan Dwight’s basic beliefs concerning the sacralization of art?

10.  Through art’s sacralization in the course of the late 19^th century, what were some of the changes wrought in the public’s perception of music? musicians? the concert experience?

11.    After a hundred years’ time, which of these perceptions have remained in place?

 Chapter 3

1.      Faced with industrialization and increasing cultural diversity, how did America’s cultural elites respond at the end of the 19^th century?

2.     How might one characterize 19^th-century audiences? To what extent did arbiters of culture attempt to modify audiences’ behavior, and succeed?

3.     What unintended consequences did more docile audiences create?

4.    To what ends did 19^th-century champions of culture maintain and disseminate pure culture?

5.     How did the Columbian Exposition’s Midway Plaisance and White City symbolize a growing gulf in American culture?

6.    How was American culture perceived to compare with European examples?

7.     What racial and cultural dimensions did the ideology of culture assume?

8.    How did Matthew Arnold contribute to our understanding of Culture?

9.    How did our invented notions of culture conflict with reality?

10.  As cultural categories codified, how were new forms of expressive culture characterized? With what results?

Epilogue

1.      What reactions have been provoked by the growth of cultural pluralism in the late 20^th century?

2.     What is the logical fallacy of the cultural categories that we embrace?

Well, it's the last class.

I didn't really know what to expect when I signed up for this class. I came out of DePauw with lots and lots of 21CM on the brain, but I didn't know how that could be turned into an actual class, with lectures and homework and all. Aside from my initial ADD-induced breakdowns, this class was pretty satisfying. We read interesting material, talked about interesting things, and were encouraged to find new information of our own. The blogging platform and Wikipedia article were great ways to blend academic homework with new media technology, which is a necessity in this day and age. The only thing that I missed... was getting out. I think the class could have benefitted from at least one "field trip" to a forward-thinking musical performance. With only eight people, nine including Isaiah, it wouldn't be that hard to get reservations. This is something that I did several years ago with a group from DePauw in New York. We spent two weeks going from performance to performance and documenting our reactions. Boston is chock full of opportunities and I think we could take advantage of them together.

My articles:
The Oatmeal's State of the Music Industry
The Relationship between Box Office and Repertoire
Fifth House Ensemble
Dean McCoy talks 21CM
Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
Better Concert Experience
The Chili Video
Met Stars Made Humble

The Review of The Class

It is almost the end of the semester. After 12 classes of “The Future of Classical Music,” I benefited very much from not only reading books by Cook, Hewett, and Levine, but also blogs written by my classmates. In the class, we always bring the latest information about music to each other, and discuss it; our discussions include the past and future of the classical music’s development and tendency. Sometimes there are special guests who visit, and make our class more interesting. We have had two appointments with Dean Chin to talk about how to make Longy better, how to improve the school, and obtain his sincerest responses. Although some of our questions have not been resolved, I appreciate that the school cares about students’ ideas.

I like the arrangement and the content of this class, and I enjoy the process of our discussion every time. When I finish this class, it inspired me several new points and attempts of classical music such as the presentation of the performance, audience’s reactions, and the development of the classical music.

An Unlikely Spot III

I went to an art party.

The attending crowd was a young Boston, with the additional festering ganglion of New York City.

The location was dismal and outdated, worn under the barely adhered tiling, with the heavy footed art-mongerers making their figure eights from canvas to beer table.

Large windows beckoned a predictable accident while the floor was strewn with half inflated, half painted balloons stabbed by crumpled business cards, forgotten, and never to be followed up on.

I saw the stage.  

The bands were to be expected; metal, noisy, pointless, banging on trashcans with drumsticks (the meat kind). 

It was time for my exit, perhaps with a precisely timed stumble from the balcony, when I caught sight of the next act. 

They were a band, a large band, of women and men, all dressed in black, and carrying classical instruments.

They had real instruments and sheet music.  I decided to stick around.

They fit their multitude of musicians onto the small platform, which groaned with the splintering of its base boards. 

The leader of them was scrappy and dashing,  the kind of rock star that is born out of a tuna can.  

With his slung guitar, he ordered a tuning.  

They began with a murdering buzz, light on its heels with spots of color from the up-bow.

They built and my knees softened. 

The wonted diva entered next.

She was a fragile blonde, off-kilter and poignant, but her voice boomed.  

She ornamented the music with drops of Calexico fragrance, blipping the sonar high notes on a dime. 

They played, hopping lofts of consensual classical ideas, with footnotes of their own sapor.

They swept the building, and captivated the disgruntled.    

I, being one of them, loved it. 

It ended, and I approached the Maestro.    

The frenzied frontman spoke with a pinned grin as he orated their mission to bring a new setting of classical music to the masses.

I told him, with a mixture of jest and jealousy, I may be interested in auditioning for a spot.

He politely informed me I must attend the school to join the band.  

The Last Class

Julia Adolphe has a collection of blog posts on New Music Box about her time as an undergraduate student and her experiences teaching music theory to prisoners through the Cornell Prison Education Program. Her final post, Incarceration and Musical Inspiration Part Four: The Last Class, discusses her feelings of accomplishment as well as her fears as a teacher.

Julia’s compassion for her students was evident when she wrote that the thought of her students fading away disturbed her. She wondered how or if her students would continue studying music or if they would be released from prison. She would never know if they went on to accomplish goals for themselves in any way.

The last class that Julia taught at the Auburn Correctional Facility broke down barriers for both Julia and some of the prisoners. Although nervous, Julia shared her contemporary chamber pieces with her students.  He Disappeared into Complete Silence was a piece that Julia shared. The text is based off of dark poems by Louise Bourgeois. I could only imagine the sense of fear or nervousness that composers must experience when sharing a composition.  One of the main reasons why Julia wanted to play her pieces for her students was to see if contemporary classical music could be accessible to people who haven’t had that type of exposure. 

After listening to the composition one of her students spoke to her, “As long as you write from a place of love, other people will love it too. When I hear your music, I can tell that you love what you do. I can sense how much joy it brings you to create, to express yourself, and that makes me feel good. That brings me joy. All you can do is write the music that you love.”

I really enjoyed reading this set of articles by Julia Adolphe. I can’t really wrap my head around the fact that such a young woman would have the drive to better the world in such a way. Julia’s story is truly inspiring to me. I hope that I can find my voice in helping society through music someday.

Farewell to Thee!

The semester is coming to a close faster than ever before. Time has truly flown by; so much to do, so much to practice, so much to think about. This class, in particular, has given me many reasons to stop and think. I’d like to thank Isaiah and every class member for their unique insights in discussions throughout the course. It’s been a pleasure to hear what all of you have to say on this subject of the future of classical music--needless to say, a uniting subject for a group of conservatory students.

There are two central concepts this course has caused to mull over in more depth than ever before. The first is how I relate to music as a performer, and why. So many of my concerns and opinions about how performers should make interpretive choices were brought to light. If composers are humans, too, then why are performers all but obsessed with recreating the exact intentions of the composer? I think it’s more rewarding and admirable to play the interpretation you believe in than to be a slave to the urtext (and unless the composer explicitly released an edition of a work, declaring, “these are my final markings,” how do we actually know a marking is urtext-worthy?) Composers are to be respected, of course, but where does the place of interpreter land in the hierarchy of musicians? Well, seemingly nowhere, which I think is quite unjust. Interpretation is a skill of its own. No amount of markings on a page can really express the true character of a piece, and it’s the interpreter’s job to make something human out of a piece of music. Humanity is what makes people listen. Reading about and discussing the concept of a reception-based approach to thinking about music--where the roles are flip-flopped, and musicians should actually care about how our art will be received by the public--helped me to better understand my own opinions, in a sense.

Hand-in-hand with the idea of a reception-based approach to music is that we, as musicians, have allowed our audiences to be alienated. By not caring about what they want to hear, and allowing them to feel unfit for the task of understanding classical music, we have driven away the most important group of people in music: the very people we need to listen to us. It’s every musician’s responsibility to care about his or her audience and be welcoming to anyone who wants to listen. I have more faith than ever that neither our audiences or our music are the problem. It’s how we choose to share it. It’s time to stop underestimating audiences and start welcoming them, so we can show them they know more about music than they think they do.

I leave this class feeling more empowered and inspired as an artist. Every day, every concert, every piece, every phrase, and every note is an opportunity to help someone feel something they did not know they could feel. Maybe, if I succeed, they will return to the concert hall some other time.

The Innate Quality of Muisc

What is it about music that makes it so special? What is it that makes people listen and connect to an art form older than the cave paintings?  How do we as artists tap into that aspect of music which people have subconsciously known for thousands of year?  After reading a recent article in The New York Times by Anthony Tommasini I was struck by his understanding of the effects of music.  He was discussing why the use of recent events in Opera, Movies and Theatre can be so polarizing.  Works like "Klinghoffer" and "Anna Nicole" cause visceral reactions from the audience even though their is an understanding that certain artistic license has been taken.  What has always drawn me to music is the ability of it to tell a story whether that story is a year old or 1,000 years old.  Mr. Tommasini takes that a step further because their are aspects of a story that music is able to convey without having to explain the emotions or the context outright.  He cites Nico Muhly's "Two boys," which deals with the true story of a 16 year old boy who kills a younger boy due to different voices in an Internet chat rooms.  Mr. Tommasini says that its "music taps into the inarticulate teenager's sexual stirrings and confusion." 

He then goes on to talk about "Klinghoffer" and that it "attempts to ruminate on a seemingly endless conflict and on what motivated these terrorists, without in any way explaining, let alone excusing, their actions. Music, with its murky, innate powers, is uniquely equipped for such and effort."

Music can help us understand the unexplainable.  I think this is what I have been trying to articulate since my begging posts here on this blog.  Music is more powerful then we remember to give it credit for and it is this power that we need to remember every time we put together a program, recital, concert or performance.  We need to go back to the basics of what music is and focus on what the music is explaining to us even when it is unexplainable.  When we utilize the innate qualities of music we will be able to evolve/continue our art form and keep the seats filled.  There are not many art forms or outlets that the quality that music has. People will always search for it somewhere and we have to be that somewhere that they can find it. 

Click Here for the article.

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

For many of us, our years of higher education are coming to an end. After semesters of work and hours of practice, we are soon to be masters of music. We have spent this semester looking towards the future of classical music, we have discussed and debated many points of view with a healthy dose of zeal because this isn't just a hypothetical future, this is our future. The future that is soon to become our present.

What can we take away from all that we have explored? What lessons can be applied as we take our first tottering steps out of the know into the unknown? Though it may sound cliché, my biggest take away from this class is that the future will be what we make. It is both exciting and daunting to discover that the world that we are about to join on a professional level is in a state of flux. But this is where we can find a certain sense if freedom.

As people are looking for new ideas and new solutions, ways to modernism the classical world, there is new area opening up to us. The marriage between music and technology is no longer only in the hands of people that officially majored in that field, with current advancements with a little know how it is within the reach of you and I.

As Harry Slater wrote in his article Music graduates are more employable than you might think.

"With unique skills and a broad range of graduate jobs on offer, music students have better prospects than people imagine."

I think at least on some level most of us have a fear in the back our minds. We worry that we won't actually be able to make it in the music field. And we wonder how long we will be, pardon my scare quote "starving artists."

But as I read Slater's article I realized how marketable we actually are. Even jobs outside the field of music hire music graduates for their skill sets. Now if you are like me, you really don't want to go into a non- music job upon graduation. However, knowing that I probably could get a job in other fields if it was necessary is completely liberating. I don't have to approach my musical career with any fear. I can create, explore, and discover, taking risks without a fear of failure.

My fellow 2015 graduates, I leave you with a quote, as Ms. Frizzle from the show Magic School Bus,puts it so well. "It's time to take chances,make mistakes and get messy!"

I look forward to meeting you all in the inspiring daylight of our post-Longy lives.

For more information visit http://bit.ly/1gGPXcJ

Questions for Dean Chin

Questions for Dean Chin

1)      What are your thoughts on multi-arts presentations such as the video along with the LCO at SeptemberFest? Modern dancers or art installations accompanying live music? Do you think these collaborative efforts could help music students learn from other art students?

2)      I really enjoy the TAP class and was wondering if there is a way for Longy to create more outreach projects in other ways?

3)      How did Longy reach the decision/create/develop the new training orchestra program?

Questions for Dean Chin

As an educator, is there a singular item (skill or attitude) that you wish that more Longy students  would master or acquire prior to graduation?

I've heard around the water cooler that I "won't recognize Longy in 10 years."  I sense that the administration has big plans for our school.  In a nutshell, where is Longy going? Will its core mission change?  Are there any imminent faculty or staff appointments you can discuss that reflect that change / movement?

I second Doug's question.  Where do you see the future of live performance heading?  And given that, how should we students position ourselves to be at the vanguard?

Can you please discuss the Longy Alumni community?  What resources might be available to us at graduation?

What steps might you recommend for those of us who hope to ultimately wind up in an academic/administrative position like you?

dean chin questions

What do you think of formal concert attire?  And for that matter, have you seen, or do you expect to see musicians of today and tomorrow move away from the traditional  gown and tuxedo staple, a spotlight on a stage, and thoroughly waxed instruments reflected on a spotless hardware stage?  

How can we as musicians, as true artists, explore the limitless space of what visual art can add to our practice, performance, and pedagogy?  

In the future of classical music, will tradition trump individuality and innovation?