Watch this nearly 30 minute documentary and, I hope, enjoy.
The “first note” part … so fun! And yes, it does sometimes sound like an animal dying. But it’s a first note, and they do get better as they learn! I really enjoy hearing the very first note from my beginning students. It just makes me smile. Or grin. Or laugh. In any case, it’s great fun!
Our students who stay in band for more than one year
“In our band are twice as likely — if they stay in band for more than one year — for their second year, they are twice as likely to graduate than their peers…”.
Teachers like this have my utmost admiration. It’s a lot of work, and I know it’s challenging and exhausting. I’m grateful for their hard work.
Conceived by James Ross
Movement Design by Liz Lerman
Vincent E. Thomas, choreographic collaborator
Martha Wittman, performing collaborator
Enrico Lopez-Yanez, Young Man
Jedidiah Roe, Lighting Design
Video by Christian Amonson, Artslaureate, http://artslaureate.com
Audio recorded and mastered by Antonino d’Urzo, Opusrite™
Performed May 2 and 4, 2014, at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center
Highlights:
Country Fair: http://ter.ps/5sm
Simple Gifts: http://ter.ps/5sn
Movement is inherent in the act of making music; yet, its impact is often overlooked in the orchestral setting. In 2012, Liz Lerman and the University of Maryland Symphony Orchestra (UMSO) explored the relationship between movement and music in a fully choreographed and critically-acclaimed performance of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of the Faun.” The musicians of UMSO were the dancers as well as the players. They discovered that playing from memory while moving onstage, while challenging, actually improved their ability to communicate with and listen to each other. Classical music critic Anne Midgette of the Washington Post called the performance “one of the standout performances of my many years in Washington.”
In May, 2014, Lerman and her team of collaborators (James Ross, Vincent Thomas, Martha Wittman, and UMSO) delved deeper into this connection between movement and music in “Appalachian Spring,” a work that was originally commissioned by Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge in 1943 as one of three new ballets to be choreographed by American modern dance icon, Martha Graham; the music was composed by Aaron Copland and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1945. This performance by UMSO alternates between the 13-instrument and the full orchestral version of the suite. The choreography is influenced by American folk dance, the gestures musicians make while playing their instruments, and the unmitigated sense of hopefulness in the music itself.
BUT … does it bring me the joy that going to the opera does? No. Does it bring me the thrill that I get when hearing some incredible symphonic work? No. Does it make me cry like a (often silly) musical does? No.
BUT …
“The maps they gave us are out of date by years.”
Yes, indeed. Things need to change. Those of us the arts need to rethink. And I hope we do it soon. We “artists” seem to be frozen in a different century. We don’t have to be.
And yes, “economic dignity” sounds good to me. I don’t need “opulence”. Really.
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Oboe sheet music for beginners to experts. Solos, ensembles, play alongs, and methods at Sheet Music Plus.
Hear Me At Work
Here are just a few recordings from the past. It's rare I have anything I'm allowed to share, due to union rules.
