Wk 2 Comment on Eric Anderson's post

Week 1: Reading-Conducting and Performing

Sunday, May 9, 2010

As a conductor, I was absolutely captivated by Ben Zander’s story about his interaction with Tanya the violinist during the rehearsal and subsequent performance of Mahler 9. For me, one of the most fundamental elements of conducting is the combining and focusing of the musical energy of each musician in the ensemble into a single entity that is the music, that is far greater than the sum of each individual musician’s contribution.

When Zander described how Tanya’s engagement in the performance of the piece “caused a disproportionate breakthrough” in the performance by allowing him to be fully present in the performance, I completely identified with this feeling -- both the feeling of being completely in a performance and the feeling of being distracted by inattentive or disengaged musicians. I strive to be the type of conductor who gives the same intensity (or more!) that I want to receive from my musicians, and reading Zander’s deeply personal description of this really motivates me to be even more fully engaged with my bands as we prepare for out final concert of the year on June 2.

On a related tangent, the Zander video from TED is the video that I show to my AP Music Theory class during our first meeting together. It’s such a great example of how taking the time to analyze and understand some of the theory behind the simplicity of the Chopin Prelude gives the listener a deeper emotional connection with the piece. Watching this video (especially the shining eyes part) always inspires me to be a better musician and a better teacher.

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Tuesday, May 11, 2010 - 06:31 PM

Kelly McKinley

Interesting how you can engage your students by the interest that you show in a particular piece of music or lesson. I have noticed that when I'm "on", my students are better behaved, are more engaged, and perform better than if I'm tired or sick on any given day. This has been proven time and time again--nothing new on my part! The only problem is being able to be "on" all the time. It is very tiring and I find that I don't have anything left at the end of the day.