tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-83615204323127465772012-02-16T02:30:52.577-05:00meaning, music, and conductingAmelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.comBlogger711100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-90914037013270073622010-07-22T16:40:00.000-04:002010-07-22T16:40:38.391-04:00

Hiya.  I've been working on this for a while, having gotten some feedback on problems posting comments.  After looking around for a better blogging service, I've moved to thoughtfulgestures.wordpress.com See you there. Thanks, Amelia

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-20845237586134766082010-07-22T07:44:00.002-04:002010-07-22T08:50:06.999-04:00

Cocteau's Belle et la Bete was on Turner Classic Movies recently.  I hadn't seen it in well over ten years, so I watched it again.  So amazing, for its time and now.  I also noticed how similar it is to the Disney version--set and costumes, character designs, even lighting.  Some shots were lifted verbatim from Cocteau.  Because if you're Disney, you use the best there is; you get Jerry Orbach

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-77474443648156420482010-07-21T08:48:00.000-04:002010-07-21T08:48:00.392-04:00

Allegra wanted a feminine tuxedo and I found one. I would totally wear a tuxedo if I could look like that in one.  Ooof, that's feminine.

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-37058948984741452482010-07-19T08:07:00.010-04:002010-07-19T08:07:00.763-04:00

Interpersonal intelligence is the capacity to sense the feelings of others and respond appropriately.  Of course conductors need this.  We work with people!  We are the leaders of a little community, making music together as a team.  The better we are at sensing people's feelings and responding in healthy and healthful ways, the better job we do.  Is high interpersonal intelligence required?  

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-54126975295155470872010-07-19T00:00:00.000-04:002010-07-19T00:00:35.224-04:00

I sang in a choir once with the NY Phil under Lorin Maazel.  Daphnis and Chloe.  He was good.  It was fun.  He made $3.3 million his last season??? I.  Had.  No.  Idea. A conductor can make that much money doing something so... fun?!  Wow.

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-37172417959566349532010-07-18T07:45:00.003-04:002010-07-18T15:12:31.873-04:00

So, this week was the second episode of The Choir on BBCAmerica.  There was some funny reality--the bass section all singing different pitches, a kid quitting and trying to act like he's cool, the astonished expression of a girl standing next to a professional soprano.  Cute.  Real.  I liked those moments. I'd like to mention a couple of English Oddities. First, Gareth clearly has almost no

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-55305642861603719512010-07-17T07:31:00.003-04:002010-07-17T07:31:00.358-04:00

A few weeks ago, I began a conversation about the role of a conductor in expressive leadership, and it has continued.  I've been trying to sort out exactly what the difference in perspective is, and I think I've got it. I still don't think there's any controversy.  My perspective on the blog, and in the "Thoughtful Gestures" article, is of a conductor who can count on the performers to know how

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-70869712348104069532010-07-15T08:43:00.011-04:002010-07-15T10:18:47.621-04:00

I love Walt Whitman.  Maybe it's the clarity and eloquence that convince me, but the content of his writing rings absolutely true to me.  So I'm going to fall back on him today. O my Body! I dare not desert the likes of you in other men and women, nor the likes of the parts of you; I believe the likes of you are to stand or fall with the likes of the Soul, (and that they are the Soul;) I

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-53537630946505525872010-07-14T07:34:00.024-04:002010-07-14T23:20:31.690-04:00

In this, "What Women Want," the fifth and final installment of What We Wear Wednesdays, I'll finally be discussing the thing that I was trying to say when I started writing about the question of performance attire.  How women dress in general is a major question and a huge industry.  How women dress for formal occasions is even bigger. I have already bemoaned the wedding gown as an aberration

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-70812731842431454012010-07-12T07:37:00.011-04:002010-07-14T23:17:22.062-04:00

I'm postponing Multiple-Intelligence Monday so I can write about this article from yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer. I have mentioned before that I was born and raised in Delaware, which made Philadelphia my home city.  Doing my master's at Westminster just reinforced that.  So I keep up with Philly things.  I like David Patrick Stearns' writing and classical music criticism in the Inquirer,

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-13063103944706818252010-07-11T12:04:00.002-04:002010-07-14T23:17:57.615-04:00

So, The Choir finally broadcast its first episode on BBCAmerica.  I am sort of disappointed in it, and I'm gonna blog about it, as promised. First the things I really do like:  Gareth is young and enthusiastic and he genuinely and passionately believes, as I do, that community singing is good for people and should be available to everyone.  His beliefs are powerful and positive and I totally and

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-57628003710683489392010-07-10T14:28:00.000-04:002010-07-14T23:17:11.933-04:00

Language. I don't swear much on the blog, mostly on the off chance that someone who wants to employ me reads it--I don't want people thinking I use language carelessly on the podium.  On the contrary, my use of language on the podium is very, very careful. It began in my childhood, when our family sat around the dinner table having a grammar lesson.  Yes, really.  Grammar was the most common

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-54709904280606342112010-07-09T14:51:00.001-04:002010-07-14T23:17:50.383-04:00

When I wrote the interest session proposal, this is the first paragraph of the session description:Conducting and Tai Chi both use energy and intention to produce gesture that is complex, beautiful, and meaningful.  In master practitioners, the purposefulness of each is a result of conscious and unconscious awareness and will.  Both are inexorably connected to breath. This foundation of

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-864698291238961222010-07-07T08:24:00.002-04:002010-07-07T14:08:40.324-04:00

White tie is the uniform of choice for men conductors. Before I start ranting, I refer you to Fred Astair singing "White Tie and Tails" in Top Hat: EDIT: embedding has been disabled since I wrote this, but do go have a look at the first couple of minutes.  Totally worth it. The outfit does good things for a man's silhouette... broad shoulders, narrow middle, long legs... Sometimes I think men are

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-57092396743758868242010-07-05T08:07:00.001-04:002010-07-05T08:07:00.486-04:00

Musical-rhythmicMusical intelligence can refer to rhythmic or pitch-related abilities, but there is no "music" center of the brain the way that language does.  Music is a whole-brain function, which makes musical intelligence complicated.  When you sing, for example, your brain might engage aural, verbal, and social areas.  The cooperative nature of music-making is a whole other post. Take this

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-41815322547244757982010-07-03T09:16:00.000-04:002010-07-03T09:16:00.329-04:00

Monday was Multiple Intelligence Monday: Kinesthetic.  I would like to revisit that topic for several reasons. To show off a bit. To demonstrate the power of kinesthetic intelligence.  To reconnect the whole "meaning" thing in which I claim that a conductor's whole life can be about conducting.  I'm at Omega this week for a workshop in Tai Chi, about which there have already

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-62638512728234999352010-07-02T08:22:00.003-04:002010-07-02T08:22:00.157-04:00

Today is my last day at Omega at the Tai Chi workshop, and I'd like to take this chance to ask for some input. I'll be running a session at the March 2011 ACDA national conference at 7 a.m. Friday morning on Tai Chi for conductors.  I've been studying Tai Chi for a while and definitely think it has already helped my conducting, and think it will continue to help.  But when I got the e-mail

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-75345673473197744992010-07-01T09:42:00.002-04:002010-07-01T09:42:00.537-04:00

I've been trying to figure out the best way to use this, and now that I've written about Resonant Leadership, I think it's probably best to do it now.   Here's the video of Italy Talgam's talk at Ted, titled "Lead like the great conductors."  It's twenty minutes long, so if you haven't got that kind of time, I've transcribed some quotes that communicate the message.  But do watch the whole

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-21408134780107576792010-06-30T07:14:00.002-04:002010-06-30T07:14:00.488-04:00

Because the nature of my work demands that I stand up in front of people, and because I ask them to open their empathic channels to my influence, I think carefully about what I wear.  The result is a great deal of opinions about what conductors and people in general should wear.  My wedding anniversary recently passed, and I just sang at a friend's wedding next week, so I've been thinking about

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-45467300972496367142010-06-28T08:06:00.076-04:002010-06-28T08:06:00.274-04:00

Bodily-kinestheticThis is good timing.  It's just a coincidence, but this week I am at Omega in Rhinebeck, NY, taking a week-long Tai Chi workshop.  Because it's important for conductors to be good at understanding and moving their bodies. As I have said before, these intelligences do not represent fixed abilities or smartness, but rather strengths particularly relating to learning styles.  I'm

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-50929787834822646992010-06-26T06:03:00.000-04:002010-06-26T06:03:00.733-04:00

Just for fun on a Saturday... There are a lot of these complaints choirs on YouTube.  This is one of the better ones because the text actually scans almost naturally, and the tune is catchy but still interesting.  Also, I was born and raised in Delaware then worked and went to school in New Jersey (though I've never had Jersey license plates!), so Philadelphia is like my home city.

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-44946855266022670802010-06-25T07:09:00.014-04:002010-06-25T07:09:00.435-04:00

I posted last week about Singing Redefined, which asserts that intention and imagination, as the sources of expression, can and should be used as a vehicle for teaching singing.  I assert that maybe imagination can be the first step in teaching conducting, because intention is what guides motion. And yesterday I posted about Resonant Leadership, which explains that being a leader requires

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-45916174836769902222010-06-24T07:13:00.001-04:002010-06-24T07:13:00.025-04:00

My sister gave me an audiobook of Resonant Leadership.  It's funny that I was glad to have it as an audiobook so I didn't have to spend time sitting and reading it, feeling guilty that I wasn't doing real work, which is just the sort of thing the book says I needn't feel.  Anyway, I got to listen while I did laundry and the dishes, so it felt doubly productive. I wanted to write about the book

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-4817120794130072332010-06-23T08:43:00.002-04:002010-06-23T11:36:39.927-04:00

Today, what conductors do not wear. Casual attire is more formal than the Twenty-first Century might lead you to believe.  People regularly go out in public in workout clothes and pajamas, much to the chagrin of fashion police everywhere; but, real casual attire is what you might wear to work at an office or fancy shop if you don't wear a suit.  Polo shirts and khakis are at the low end, dress

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-82457615162499991712010-06-22T13:28:00.000-04:002010-06-22T13:28:53.728-04:00

The sounds of words matter.  Diction matters.  When we sing, lots of emphasis is put on purity of vowels for good vocal production and accuracy of consonants for clarity of pronunciation.  I'd like to take a moment to reflect on how we perceive diction. My voice teacher in undergrad was a petite blonde soprano from Texas.  Can you imagine the assumptions people made about her?  A southern accent

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-13878915349770311182010-06-21T08:06:00.003-04:002010-06-22T09:53:21.623-04:00

Logical-mathematicalMusical ability and mathematical ability have been linked in studies for decades.  I wish I could say I rock at numbers and logic, but I just don't.  I sort of feel like I let my sex down in this way--it's just too typical for "girls" to be "bad at math," but it's just a fact for me. An example of deficiency in action: I considered doing a PhD instead of a DMA, which would

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-87811769244711800882010-06-18T20:13:00.001-04:002010-06-20T13:47:39.564-04:00

 Anyone can sing.  I've made this statement any number of times and amateurs roll their eyes at it, thinking of bad karaoke.  I don't say anyone can do it without any training at all--in most cultures, people take for granted that singing is a part of every day life, so "training" is constant from the time you're born.  But, for us in the Western world, where singing has become a competition,

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-4442396045702790242010-06-17T08:41:00.000-04:002010-06-17T08:41:00.540-04:00

I've started in on the Franck Solemn Mass in A, op. 12.  It's really quiet lovely.  I chose it for several reasons. First, it's a single, unified work, which is not a thing I have done much with this particular group.  We do a lot of concerts with themes connecting many little songs. Second, it's in three parts, which is better for this group than four.  As with many community choirs, we have

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-91504112483036194762010-06-16T07:30:00.005-04:002010-06-16T07:30:01.337-04:00

In a further attempt to pretend I have control over the world, I'm initiating another weekly segment: What We Wear Wednesdays.  Conductor attire is an issue, and though it's not the most meaningful thing I'll write about, it does have roots in history and impact on what the ensemble sees (and therefore how they respond to us). So. As I've posted again and again, the image of a conductor in the

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-71833648362508429052010-06-15T08:14:00.002-04:002010-06-15T08:21:54.331-04:00

Last week on NPR I hear a story about English archaeologists discovering decapitated skeletons that they think might be gladiators. Or possibly prisoners. There is, chief executive of the York Archaeological Trust, John Walker, says, really no way to tell either way.  So, how to answer the question?  Put it up for a vote! That was the plan.  The website is www.headlessromans.co.uk, and if you

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-61009431424029641592010-06-14T23:17:00.003-04:002010-06-15T21:03:52.156-04:00

I have mentioned that I DVR Doctor Who.  I'm sure I will find a way to write about the Doctor someday, but I have not yet been inspired with some brilliant connection between science fiction and conducting.  The other shows I DVR include So You Think You Can Dance, which will be making an appearance on Multiple Intelligence Monday; and, today, Dirty Jobs. In case you live under a rock, I'll

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-18075284496626499142010-06-14T08:05:00.002-04:002010-06-14T08:05:00.361-04:00

Verbal-linguisticThere is where I  kick booty.  I remember vocabulary, I can spell, I'm really good at grammar, and I can pronounce the hell out of anything.  I've gotten compliments on my diction in four languages, though I really don't speak any foreign languages beyond "I'd like a beer" (which I can say in seven languages!  It used to be eight, but I can't remember Turkish anymore.  Too

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-40301114913088260102010-06-12T23:24:00.000-04:002010-06-15T21:03:17.947-04:00

I'm very sorry about the sound.  I recommend turning down the volume. I mentioned this video among the other conductor commercials, but I couldn't find it on YouTube.  Then, tonight, in the middle of a House re-run, there it was.  So I rewound the DVR, pointed my camera at the t.v., and shot.  Cheesey, but fast.  So, the sound is horrible.  Sorry. Anyway, it's just one more in a long line of

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-50344936385820113242010-06-11T08:23:00.000-04:002010-06-15T21:03:52.156-04:00

When a singer or instrumentalist practices, she goes into a room and plays scales and arpeggios and other exercises to warm up physically and work on technique.  Then she plays repertoire, applying the technique to the music and also examining musical, expressive content and using the technique to realize it. What do conductors do when they practice? Dr. Renshaw lays out a three step process

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-18566924316333353922010-06-09T07:57:00.002-04:002010-06-09T07:57:00.875-04:00

I already wrote that I taught the undergraduate choral conducting class at UConn last spring by using the tools and resources which I had found most useful for myself as a student.  So, I required the undergrads to read Zen in the Art of Archery. People often ask if it's like Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.  It's not, really, except that both are philosophical and recount a learning

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-23873424069732962182010-06-08T07:01:00.008-04:002010-06-08T07:01:00.484-04:00

I've mentioned before that I'm a Doctor Who fan.  I also have a DVR, which means I never watch commercials.  However, I usually skip through the commercials in 30-second chunks, allowing me to see moments of commercials here and there. Well, while watching Doctor Who on DVR a short while back ("Fear Her"--a great episode!), I skipped through commercials only to land on a moment that said THE

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-32922160096476720792010-06-07T08:00:00.002-04:002010-06-07T14:49:46.354-04:00

Visual-spatialVisual-spatial skills have been linked to sight-reading ability in orchestra musicians.  Before I read this particular research, I already knew that my husband is an amazing sight-reader and he can pack more in the back of the Forrester than I could ever imagine possible.  And after I read the research, I wondered if my really quite mediocre visual-spatial aptitude and really quite

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-17814013218036111942010-06-03T08:20:00.002-04:002010-06-03T08:20:00.380-04:00

I taught the undergraduate choral conducting class at UConn last spring and it was a hoot.  I assisted the basic and instrumental conducting classes under Dr. Renshaw, and I've taught conducting to high school students in a smaller way, so at least I wasn't going in absolutely cold.  Still, I took two semesters of vocal pedagogy before I taught anyone singing; I got a degree in music education

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-40254598888798378462010-06-01T21:12:00.000-04:002010-06-01T21:12:12.923-04:00

I just saw the movie Goodbye Again.  In it, Ingrid Bergman says "the problem with being an interior designer is everyone thinks they know your business." I can relate. I dated a man a long, long time ago who suggested I avoid talking about music in social situations because I tended to preach, not quite perceiving that the others involved in the conversation were just making small talk.  

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-3773756370661726372010-05-31T08:00:00.006-04:002010-06-01T21:20:42.510-04:00

I enjoy structure, so I'm creating a new format for summer: Multiple Intelligence Mondays!  I tried writing a single post about multiple intelligences, and it got crazy long.  So I need to break it up into weekly installments. For now: an introduction as to why I would bother with such a thing. Wikipedia can tell you the basics of multiple intelligence theory, in case you don't already

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-64181990428141172742010-05-28T23:06:00.010-04:002010-06-15T10:49:52.325-04:00

Dr. Jordan called me yesterday, wanting to prevent my overreacting.   "Have you seen your new Choral Journal?" he asked. "Uh, not yet..." I admitted. "Well, don't freak out.  There's a letter to the editor about your article..." As if I've ever freaked out about anything.  Lately.  Since the last time. There is a letter to the editors of Choral Journal in the June/July issue (p. 6) regarding my

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-20973849032039826112010-05-28T08:34:00.002-04:002010-05-28T23:25:15.745-04:00

I have a metronome that cost $100.  I bought it in 2005, in the last semester of my master's degree.  It's a Seiko SQ 100-88 digital quartz metronome.  I bought it because it's loud. I'm sure you all know what metronomes are, but I won't let it be said I talked over anyone's head, so in case you don't: a metronome is a device that clicks at a stead speed which you set.  We measure speed in beats

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-27277718704040349242010-05-27T12:42:00.003-04:002010-05-27T12:50:42.352-04:00

What are they up to over at the NY Phil tonight?  I don't really know.  Ligeti and singers and staging, oh my.  It's so fun that Alan Gilbert is this excited about his programming.

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-20429024914836997332010-05-27T07:31:00.001-04:002010-05-27T10:23:27.457-04:00

Just as conductors appear in commercials and movies, they make appearances in cartoons.  A lot of appearances in cartoons. For an easy synopsis of how a conductor should appear in a cartoon, Bruce Blitz says he should be a determined mad professor with a baton: Sesame Street knows they have to make each character very clear, so they adhere strictly to those guidelines. Tex Avery agrees

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-80631747556505932672010-05-25T00:26:00.003-04:002010-05-25T01:38:11.397-04:00

Gustavo Dudamel has been on t.v. and in the news lately, having just begun at the L.A. Philharmonic, which is a pretty good gig.  People are amazed--this man doesn't look like a conductor!  He's not white or old and his hair is curly!  The PR machine likes him because of that--oooh, diversity!  He's controversial because people are excited about him, and then critics ask if it's hype.  "Are we

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-40320954780719551952010-05-24T09:50:00.001-04:002010-05-24T09:59:19.164-04:00

There is a culture of devotion to ensemble music-making.  Band geeks, choir kids, community choir singers who devote hours to fundraising.  I write about it in the "Thoughtful Gestures" article, how entrainment unites ensembles into passionate, powerful bodies.  But there's an added dimension to that, and that is devotion not just to the ensemble, but to the conductor. I don't think this is true

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-1910196928614009052010-05-21T09:54:00.000-04:002010-05-27T12:17:43.687-04:00

I don't like Glee.  It doesn't have much to do with conducting--at least they don't try to make the guy a conductor!--but it's related to the Mr. Holland post, so I'm just gonna get it off my chest. Some caveats: Jane Lynch, who plays the cheerleading coach, is hilarious in everything she does.  A Mighty Wind.  Forty Year Old Virgin.  Two and a Half Men.  She even played Julia Child's sister in

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-26239426211223818192010-05-20T08:10:00.002-04:002010-05-20T08:55:10.774-04:00

I do not like Mr. Holland's Opus.  Mr. Holland would and should get fired for letting a kid get on a bus to New York.  Mr. Holland is a crappy conductor.  These fundamental problems ruin, for me, any redeeming value the movie might have, but they are not the end of the problems. Ha!  I'm watching the YouTube video below and my husband just asked from the next room, "What are you watching?" "Mr.

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-21022093170975492942010-05-18T08:21:00.001-04:002010-05-18T08:42:59.928-04:00

I just read about this, though it happened last week. Gustavo Dudamel "pulled a muscle in his neck... heard a loud pop and lost sensation on one side."  Dude.  The man is younger than I am, and already pulling muscles!  I told you a conductor is an athlete! Alas, the price of passionate artistry is high.

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-15603223055731220532010-05-18T07:59:00.003-04:002010-05-18T08:09:29.529-04:00

A conductor relies on emotional contagion. Since the discovery of and research on mirror neurons, we've come to believe that they are partially responsible for emotional contagion. Wait, I feel like I've written this before.  I have.  So I'll just paste an excerpt from my article, "Thoughtful Gestures," found in your April 2010 Choral Journal: Contagion is a notion derived from medicine. 

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-56779435789606905312010-05-17T09:06:00.004-04:002010-05-18T11:09:05.251-04:00

I'm going to be writing about music teachers in movies this week.  There will be many disparaging remarks made.  Before I do that, I want to make it clear how highly I respect real-life music teachers who spend every day in classrooms all over the country.  They work with kids, they wrestle with administrators, they seek repertoire, and try to make art in the middle of a bureaucratic nightmare.

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-85198424911640712402010-05-16T08:38:00.004-04:002010-05-18T07:56:14.126-04:00

I got a t-shirt for my birthday a couple of years ago that says MAESTRO on it in a sort of Broadway playbill style font.  I think it's funny, so I wear it to the gym and, as below, when I romp my dogs. Maestro is an Italian word that translates literally to "master." A Google search tells me that it's derived from the Latin magister, which means teacher, tutor, or master. And 

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-90821972727122286532010-05-14T07:43:00.003-04:002010-05-16T11:45:40.983-04:00

I need to be an evil scientist in my next life.  There must be a way for me to harness my useless excitement over other people's research.  Honestly, this kind of stuff thrills and tickles me: Biomotion Lab.  They study motion and what it communicates.  And my question is, "when will they start to study conductors?"  Because all we do is move and count on our ensembles to perceive stuff.  And

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-72262614237697479982010-05-13T06:37:00.002-04:002010-05-14T08:52:33.024-04:00

I haven't seen Avatar.   I know, you can mock me later.   My understanding is that the Na'vi have this thing where they say to each other "I see you," and being seen is a big deal.  Recognizing a person's value, their self, is powerful and important.  I just wrote about the responsibility of a conductor to humanity, and there's this huge movie that talks about valuing each individual's

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-65334342264663239422010-05-11T07:57:00.000-04:002010-05-11T07:57:57.696-04:00

I recently told someone that I believe pharmaceutical companies deserve to profit from new drugs they develop.  I think research is undervalued, and people who discover and/or create something new should be rewarded for their contribution to humanity.  I have personally benefited from pharmaceutical interventions, and I'm grateful to the companies to did all of that expensive research to come up

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-36173281310873051692010-05-09T17:34:00.000-04:002010-05-10T11:03:40.577-04:00

I like John Terauds' blog because he writes about musicianship like it's a way of life.  Which it is.  I appreciate any blogging about conducting, and I enjoy the headline: Empowerment the secret ingredient to happy results from conductor and orchestra He has, in fact, hit the nail on the head (one of the nails, anyway) when he identifies empowerment, but allow me to quibble--er, I mean, clarify

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-84309438776998185092010-05-09T12:22:00.001-04:002010-05-10T11:03:31.810-04:00

It's Mother's Day, and one of the many things my mother taught me was to do my own taxes, and--if I itemize--to deduct professional expenses.  Thanks, Mom! Making music as a conductor, singer, or instrumentalist, is inescapably physical.  After I started having neck/shoulder pain that interfered with my work, a massage therapist who happens to sing in my community choir suggested that a massage

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-48829254167246739132010-05-07T07:07:00.001-04:002010-05-07T12:15:42.490-04:00

There's so much to write about, but I'm dying to talk about this. My tenth grade biology teacher assigned the entire class to write a paper.  The title of the paper was to be "The Beauty, The Wonder: The Menstrual Cycle."  So now that phrase is stuck in my head and I apply it to anything whose beauty and wonder is under-appreciated. I love the International Phonetic Alphabet. I love it. Its

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-68071614844690011152010-05-06T08:47:00.010-04:002010-05-18T08:00:54.146-04:00

For most people, music is fun, a hobby, entertainment.  They don't lead others, so they don't understand what it takes to lead others, and it would never occur to them that special training might be required.  And so they hire their accompanist or the section leader to be their conductor.  Sadly, the odds are slim that an excellent accompanist or singer is also an excellent conductor, yet those

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-72355863880111601822010-05-04T08:07:00.019-04:002010-05-04T21:06:36.537-04:00

In the public consciousness, a baton is part of the definition of a conductor, along with crazy grey hair, white tie and tails, and wild arm flailing.  A description of a performance might say that an ensemble played "under the baton of so-and-so."  In reality, some conductors use batons, some don't, some do both.  Certain pieces, or movements of pieces, may call for a baton and others for hands.

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-62773338125949139052010-05-03T07:15:00.002-04:002010-05-03T07:15:00.074-04:00

The image at the top of my blog is of Leonard Bernstein, composer, teacher, conductor, and generally extraordinary artist. As a conductor, he is famous for his expressiveness unbridled by technical restraint. Thanks to YouTube, I can let him speak a little for himself: Anything I say about him or what he does feels a bit trite, but I must say that my goal as a conductor is to be that kind

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-87875793111999895732010-05-01T08:33:00.069-04:002010-05-01T08:33:00.180-04:00

Conducting doesn't work unless the conductor accurately expresses what she intends to express.  And even that depends on the musicians in the ensemble interpreting the expression accurately and translating it into musical expression.  I've already described how mirror neurons facilitate empathy, which is how you feel what other people feel.  That means that we are built to communicate in this way

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-941796340869378112010-04-30T07:03:00.004-04:002010-04-30T07:03:00.041-04:00

The undergrads in my choral conducting class have their final exam today, so I wrote them an e-mail yesterday. If you have any last minute questions, I'll be on campus this afternoon, or you can always call or e-mail me.  In general, though, the work is done.  Getting up in front and waving your arms around is the smallest part of the work of conducting.  Preparation is what makes that work:

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-71675018319357550692010-04-29T07:12:00.005-04:002010-04-29T10:59:10.786-04:00

Anatomy is a big deal for a conductor.  Because we're athletes, dontcha know.  Which parts of your body go where, and having a sense of how they move, how big they are, how much they weigh, how they are perceived by others when still and in motion... we need to know these things. Arms and arm-waving are the things most readily associated with conducting, so I'll talk about arms first.  But

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-655333865953631662010-04-28T06:56:00.001-04:002010-04-28T07:52:14.803-04:00

A conductor's instrument is his body.  Though our work isn't usually aerobic or anaerobic, it is physical.  We rely on bone, muscle, ligaments, tendons, and fascia to be healthy and comfortable so that we are free to use them in whatever way is expressive. When I say a conductor is an athlete, of course I don't mean to imply that we're big hulking muscle  men.  And women.  Rather, I mean our

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-81031985058076526742010-04-27T07:59:00.004-04:002010-04-27T09:26:54.442-04:00

A conductor embodies the expressive intent of the composer and displays signals to that effect. Singers in the choir must be able to see and interpret them, and here's how that works: The brain is made of specialized cells called neurons.  Cells communicate with electrical and chemical signals that can be measured, which is how we have learned that certain parts of the brain work on certain

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-37289936163983274392010-04-26T04:19:00.007-04:002010-05-25T00:43:28.448-04:00

A conductor's job on the podium is communication.  Never mind, for now, what we communicate.  Let's just talk about communication. Ross Buck, social psychologist and professor of communications at the University of Connecticut, wrote a book titled The Communication of Emotion (1984).  I think that would be a great title for a conducting textbook.  There's some stuff in it that I think every

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-75382890182699654832010-04-25T05:17:00.004-04:002010-05-18T07:47:04.392-04:00

I use this phrase when I try to explain what a conductor does.  In this end, this is all it is: embodying the expressive intent of the composer.  That's what conductors do; that's our real job. Am I done now?  Everyone understands about meaning, music, and conducting? Perhaps I might clarify further. Emotional intent is expressed by the composer through rhythm, pitch, texture, timbre,

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-62125832717567680922010-04-24T05:31:00.006-04:002010-04-24T13:40:35.854-04:00

I started out by saying that the thing about conducting is that people don't know what it actually is.  Still, the image of a conductor is kind of captivating: the maestro, the one who's in charge and makes it all happen! Perhaps the mystery is part of the appeal.  Conductors are popular as characters and metaphors, saturating pop culture with abundant examples of misconceptions.  Perhaps I'll

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-5242764158137419492010-04-23T07:07:00.001-04:002010-04-23T07:07:00.195-04:00

The thesis of my article in this month's Choral Journal burned a hole in my brain for three years before I started writing. In summer of 2006, I was at the gym, on the elliptical machine, reading O Magazine.  There was a story about mirror neurons, which I had never heard of before.  I read the article and thought, "I am sure that that is how conducting works." Jump to fall 2008: I'm in my

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8361520432312746577.post-7812212042610455352010-04-22T14:58:00.002-04:002010-04-22T15:02:50.569-04:00

I decided to start a blog because I envied my sister's outlet for useful knowledge that could otherwise so easily go unspread.  Because the thing about conducting is that no one knows what conducting is except conductors, and half of them don't even know much about it because they fell into conducting accidentally and never really thought about it.  The thing about conducting is that, although

Amelia NPhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14660179068154082190noreply@blogger.com0