Snow

Okay. So the economy is tanking. Well, tanked. and our 401ks are worthless and no one knows what’s going to happen and we need to pass a stimulus and the lawmakers can’t agree and it’s all terrible.

But in Idyllwild we have this little snowstorm. Okay, this BIG snowstorm and we’re stuck in our house. The truck and subaru are up on the highway, but honestly I don’t think this time that we can hike there. It’s really deep. Like, take a step, sink to your chest.

So we’re trapped.

Lately, I have to confess, I’ve been feeling really stressed, actually panicked. I have concerts coming up and have had no time, no empty brain space, no peace in which to practice. But as of yesterday, I have a house, a roaring fire, plentiful food, and a Steinway at which I can sit and make sure that all is well for the concerts.

Even if the power goes out(as it surely must) I’ll be okay. The Steinway doesn’t have a power cord.

Economy

Sorry!  I wrote this last Friday and then posted it incorrectly!

Today is Friday, the last day of the semester(!) We’re exactly halfway through the school year and I haven’t posted nearly enough entries on this blog.  I’ll try to do better.

We had our weekly all-school meeting today in the theatre.  Along with the usual list of things like International dinner, Visual artist performance show, movie night, LACMA trips, that needed to be publicized, we had lists of perfect attendance read…  (Two of my fine piano students were mentioned, one of my advisees…) Anyway, we also had a presentation by our school president about the state of our economy(the world’s) and its effect on our program(the school’s.)

I was struck by how very lucky we are to be here together.  In a time of world crisis, loss of jobs, teetering markets, I’m surrounded by creative people.  I mean our faculty and staff, people who are able to see themselves in many ways, to reinvent themselves and ways of doing things, to find new ways out of old problems.  And I mean our students–the people that have the genes to be innovators, and who we’re teaching to be the problem solvers of tomorrow.  Whether they become professional painters or broadway stars or not, they will have the vision and resiliency to succeed in this rapidly changing world.  This is because they can see possibilities and imagine what they’ve never seen or experienced.  I worry for the future of  students who’ve only been taught the tried and true solutions to problems, who’ve not been taught to be critical, to think, to wonder.

Some of the greatest works of art in our world have grown out of the struggle against the rigidity of economy.  Economy of materials, of form, of function.  A Haydn symphony is a work of wonder confined by a rigid format.  A black and white photo can be so much more magical than one in color.  An Eames chair is perfect to look at, but it’s also a perfect simple solution for something to sit on.

We’ll get through this economic crisis together, I’m sure of it.  We’ll be better teachers because of it.  We’ll be better students because of it.  We’ll be better artists because of it.

We’re back!

We’re back!

Sorry about the little blog break. I took a little time over the holidays, and then with travel complications and school complications it became a LOT of time. We’re back a week now, and although it really sounds sappy, it’s so nice to have the kids back!
Yesterday, I went to a friendraiser in Palm Desert. A friendraiser is an event run by our Advancement team, which is designed to acquaint people with our school, in the hope that they will begin to consider us in their philanthropic giving. It’s important because we wouldn’t have a school if generous and thoughtful people didn’t make charitable donations. It covers a large part of our operation, and makes scholarships possible for our students the need help in paying our tuition.

Anyway, it was a fun event held at Bighorn, possibly the most exclusive country club down in the desert. Martin, Timmy, Kitty, Ruby, Casey and Anthony went with me to perform. We had some great jazz, some classical piano, a song from Drat! The Cat!, and some virtuoso violin indulgence. Of course they played well, blah blah blah. I took some student paintings and they received a LOT of attention. But my comment here relates to what I said above. We really have interesting students. I enjoyed spending my Saturday afternoon chatting with them. Arguing with Kitty, seeing them sneak to the table of appetizers because the sandwiches in the green room didn’t have gorgonzola, giving Casey a hard time about every single thing I could think of… arguing with Kitty, arguing with Kitty….

These students understand the importance of philanthropy, a good thing, because as artists they’ll be involved with it their entire lives. And it’s kind of fun as the teacher, surrogate parent, driver, cattle prod, antagonist, protagonist, to know that these young people are absolutely worthy of all of our trust in this important work. They’re smart, good conversationalists, happy to chat about their lives, interests, and our school. Oh, and they’re salesmen too! A group of this audience is planning to come up here to Kitty’s junior recital.

Anyway, that’s our first week back. We’ve got a busy week ahead: A cello masterclass with Rohand de Saaram, piano masterclass with Byron Janis and a mainstage play. One of the original plays from the creative writing department is playing at the Loft in Redlands, plus more from National Perfomance Art Month. I’ll have lots to write about.

Collective wisdom.

Many times since I started my teaching career at Idyllwild, I’ve been confronted with the consumer driven mindset of the times we live in, and how it is and is not compatible with the responsibilities of being an educator and administrator. Specifically, the problem is this: because I am a student and this is my education, I should get to decide what my major is, what courses I get to take and which teachers I get to take courses from. It seems so practical and logical. I mean, I go online and can shop and choose whatever I want from any store, pay my money and it appears in my mailbox. If I don’t like it or it doesn’t fit quite right, I can just put it back in the box and return it for a nice refund on my card.

A school doesn’t work like that, though. Sure, we have a few offerings that can be chosen from. Elective courses, things that fit outside the parameters of our requirements. But what we mostly have is a carefully thought out course of study. Sequences of courses, courses that we have designed to prepare a student for the needs that we forsee a student having.  We have hired teachers that we know will assess, consider and challenge. We get to choose what and when you will study and who teaches you.  And that’s the way it should be.  It’s what we’re good at.

It’s like omakase at the sushi bar. There is no ordering. You trust that the chef knows exactly how to put the ingredients together and craft a sequential meal that will satisfy and entertain. At a school we put courses, teachers and students together so that a student grows in ways that they couldn’t have imagined for themselves. We’re omakase, not a cafeteria. It’s the collective wisdom and experience of a faculty and administration and their ability to make decisions in the interest of students that make a school. Not a menu or a shopping cart.

Oh, and on the topic of dietary choice, happy belated thanksgiving.

Mattresses, tutus and Midori.

Yesterday was quite a day on our little campus.  The famous violinist Midori came and gave a really wonderful class to our music kids.  4 or 5 kids played for her, and she gave really great lessons for a group of violinists, cellists, pianists, faculty, board members.  It’s always so much fun to build associations with these people who’ve had such legendary careers and are willing to share their experience.  Do you remember the famous performance where she broke a string on her violin while playing a concerto and then swapped it out with the concermasters without stopping the piece?  Then it happened again and she swapped again?  This was when she was 14 by the way….

Then last night we had the first Dance performance of the year.  It was really varied and interesting.  I’d never really thought about how the angle of a tutu on the stage could create such a visual impression.  Or that horizontal and vertical placements of mattresses (and prospective sleepers) could truly give an impression of the mental state of an insomniac.  Pretty cool stuff.

Memory.

I promised a few weeks ago that I’d say something about Memory.  Not the Andrew Lloyd Webber song.  Playing from memory.  Once again we move into piano land as I start to prepare for some winter concerts I have planned.  Ever since Clara Schumann in the 1800’s played concerts without taking the printed music onto the stage, pianists have followed her lead and played from memory in public.  Thanks, Clara.

I can really only speak for myself, but I am a MUCH better pianist and musician when I am playing from memory.  I am also a MUCH more stressed, neurotic, paranoid, careful
pianist when playing from memory.  And why not?  In a typical piano recital a pianist might play tens of thousands of notes!  So these notes (and only these notes) must be played in the right order, at the right time, with the right sound, color, etc.  Now, you may say, some of those notes are in chords.  True.  My right hand can play five or six notes at once and so can my left.  Although you do remember these chords as a whole, much like you remember words and not individual letters, each of the notes has musical purpose and has to be remembered as such.  No free pass here.

Memorizing is pretty easy.  It’s learning.  It’s understanding.  Demonstrating the results of that memorization in front of a group of interested listeners is something ALTOGETHER different.  It’s stressful, worrisome, terrifying.  It’s walking the tightrope without a net.  Okay, so nobody dies if you screw up.  Instead with memory failure, you experience embarrassment, public humiliation, disgrace, the horrible feeling of panic when you’re in the middle of catastrophe in front of an audience….

So to me, the idea of memory has two distinct components:  Learning–understanding, analyzing, comprehending, internalizing, memorizing– and testing–going through every possible scenario, testing knowledge, making sure not only that disaster is not terminal, but that there IS no disaster.  Going through every possible scenario isn’t really what it seems.  Every possible scenario is not really possible.  With tens of thousands of notes, just imagine how many possibilities that might be? Instead there are tricks, ways of seeing and hearing that provide a redunancy of resources of knowledge and confidence when you’re on the stage.

Okay, so I’ll stop there.  It’s a blog, not a textbook.  More later on what learning is—to me, anyway—and what memory testing is.

What a Week!

I know I keep using that title.  But sometimes it’s just so appropriate.

We had an excellent election theme day at school.  I turned forty-something!  I saw my very first Madonna concert at Dodger Stadium last night!  And, oh yeah, our nation elected its very first African-American President.  I won’t say much here, because in this particular week, you’ve probably had enough to read and watch.

Forty something.  No comment.  A new President.  Well, let’s just take this exciting new start and let it breed some optimism?  Regardless of party affiliation.   Our students were completely respectful of other’s beliefs and opinions on election day.  Maybe it will seep out into our world.

But Madonna!  What a blast.  You know, what a study for our students.  It’s like opera.  No, I’m serious.  What other medium do you have singing; serious, athletic dancing; stage movement; tech theater design, construction, lighting; writing;  music; film; visual art?  (Plus Britney and Justin, but I digress)  Kind of like our school.  But I’ve gotta say, if it hadn’t been Madonna, I’m not sure I would have waited until 10 pm for the start of a 7:30 show.  And yes, I returned at 3 am, but only 3 students were affected by that.  They got better lessons than usual because I was so excited!

Another chance.

Often at our school it’s easy to get caught up in our jobs, the role we’ve defined for ourselves, or the one that’s been defined for us.  We find ourselves thinking that it’s the English department’s job to teach writing, the Theatre department’s job to teach acting, the dorm parent’s job to offer emotional support, the Admission department’s job to find great kids, and so on.  But really, that’s not the way it works.  A music history teacher that assigns a paper is instantly a writing teacher.  A Dance teacher dealing with a kid’s  insecurity about performing is teaching emotional coping skills and building (and I despise this term) self-esteem.  Admissions and marketing folks advise students, caring for them, bringing them Halloween candy.

We all have so many opportunities to participate in the teaching of these creatures that have found their way to our school.  One of the most fun requires the least effort: attending shows, concerts, plays, recitals, readings, and films.  Why is this instructive? A performer(and I include all of the disciplines as performers) needs an audience.  The mere presence of an audience changes the energy in a room.  Suddenly, a performer has a MIRROR!  Does the energy you’re giving come back?  Do they laugh in the right places?  If they don’t can I learn from that?  Is the audience moved by my work?  Entertained?  Bored?

Does having a great audience of my peers and teachers make me a better person?  Maybe or maybe not.  But consider this:  As a kid I was a miserable student in anything physical involving anything other than my hands.  I was inept at basketball, football, tennis.  I could go on but it’s depressing.  But it would have made all the difference to me if those gym teachers knew I could sort of play the piano.  I would have felt better about me.  I think they would have felt better about me.

Positive personal growth.  And YOU get to participate.

Our Country’s Good.  Friday and Saturday at 7:30, Sunday at 2.  IAF Theatre.

Presented by the Idyllwild Arts Academy Theatre Department Company.

November 4.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re heading into an election.  Here at the school we’re busy planning our second break-out theme day of the year which will coincide with election day.  On November 4th, we’ll cancel academic and arts classes and spend the day studying, celebrating, criticizing, analyzing, satirizing, replicating and breathlessly observing the election.  Some kids are giving candidate speeches.  Others are studying political cartoons, satirical websites.  Faculty and kids are teamed up to study all of the propositions on the California ballot.  My group, along with Melissa Wilson, chief of all things graphic, is reporting the entire day, doing interviews, on-the-spot photos, commentary, and then will publish a paper in the afternoon!  I know nothing about this, so our kids better teach me how!

Sometime during the day we faculty will all get to town to vote, along with our 18 year-olds on campus.

Then at 5 or so, we’ll all start to watch the election returns together.  On a televisionless campus, this requires a satellite feed.  Well worth it. This could be the most electrifying day of the year.  Certainly it will make history.  We’re either going to leave November 4th with and African American President or a Female Vice President.  Such an event surely must be worthy of notice for all of our artistic disciplines!   If you’re around on election day please stop by.  Just be sure to have on your  “I just voted” sticker!

Who are those older people?

Who are those older people?

We’re heading into family weekend, and usually on family weekend the music department has its first orchestra concert.  This year is no exception and Peter has planned a wonderful program of Janacek, Ginastera and Beethoven.  If you’ve been to an IAAO concert before,  you’ve probably noticed a few older faces in the group and wondered why they were there.  I mean, can’t these kids play by themselves?  Of course they can.  But these older players serve a number of purposes for us.  They provide an educational opportunity that’s rich in tradition.

First, the amount of music written for a chamber orchestra is pretty limited, music written for 30 or so players.  In fact, most of it is limited to a much older style, the Baroque and Classical periods, Bach through Mozart and Beethoven.  Later composers wrote for larger groups with a larger, louder concept of sound.  These extra players enable us to expose our young people to all eras of music, a broader palate of technique, strength, color.  Second, sometimes a piece of music calls for an instrument we don’t have in residence at the school, like harp, but the music provides an educational opportunity to make it worth it.  Enough said.  Third, and this is really the thing:  Intermingling a few older players with more experience into a youthful group instantly makes the rest of the players better.  Notice I didn’t say makes the orchestra better.  I said it makes the players better.  It’s an important distinction.  Students that normally would forget to have a pencil in rehearsal suddenly always have one.  Violinists sit a little straighter, react a little more quickly.  Horn players mimic the seasoned behavior of their stand partner.  I remember when I was a teenager the first time I sat down and played a two-piano piece with my teacher. Wow. I remember the place, the time of day, what the piano was like, the red carpet on the floor of the piano studio.  I could INSTANTLY play 10 times better than I could have 5 minutes before.  I knew at that moment what true musical energy was and that I’d never given it before then.  I was a better player.

Our orchestra continues in the rich tradition of music festivals such as Marlborough and Aspen.  In the Aspen orchestra the faculty actually sit in the principal seats and the students fill out the sections.  We tend to do it in reverse, adding a violinist at the back, a horn player sitting there to assist if the student doesn’t budget the energy quite right, an extra percussion player helping to coordinate the always-complicated percussion player choreography.  But it doesn’t matter, the result is the same.  Our students, like the students at Aspen and Marlborough make months of progress in one weekend.  It’s like the musical fast track.  And at the same time we get to enjoy the music.  It’s Beethoven 7 this weekend.  Doesn’t get much better than that.