Yo-Yo Ma

I just have to say that i thoroughly enjoyed Yo-Yo Hurricane :) (what some of us called it lol) We were actually talking about this in Edwards Class and i think for me it was hard to choose just one moment. Just knowing that he was among us was a true blessing and honor. I think two moments stood out the most for me. The first would have to be at discourse when he answered the last question given by Andrew (for those of us who know him), asking about music ed and why it is so important in schools, and what can, and should we do to keep it there. His answer was truly something that i expected, but it almost brought me to tears, and i know some others felt the same because, for those of who who have such a massive passion to keep the arts alive for children, it summed up why we are going thru hell and back to get these degrees... and why we care so much about the future of our children... of youth in general. It was just a re-assuring moment for those of us who have a true passion to keep arts within the school.

The second moment of the Yo-Yo Ma Hurricane that was really really special to me was the concert. And the reason being was because it was so formal without being formal at all. Everyone was dressed up and excited for the concert as we should be. And the performers were absolutely DePauwesome lol. But what made the concert was the fact that the ambience that was set by Yo-Yo was very informal and soooooo much more personal than a regular concert setting. There were moments where we laughed, smiled, and murmured under our breath a bit about something that was funny. In any other concert setting that type of behavior would just be unacceptable, but i've never been to a concert where you could tell that the performers were enjoying themselves, and the audience was allowed to do the same. Making funny gestures and involving the audience creates a more organic, and emotional connection within a performance and that was the first time i've ever felt something like that between a performer and all of us who are in an audience. I Just really enjoyed every single bit of it.

Yo-Yo Ma Reflections

1) You are WONDERFUL!

2) I miss you!

3) I APOLOGIZE.  I have not gotten the recordings from our last session up on Moodle.  I have been overwhelmed with Hurricane Yo-Yo (the getting ready was like 100-mile-an-hour winds ripping through our usual schedules), and a couple of other hurricanes as well, and this slipped my mind.  I'll get right on it.

4) And now, the reason for this post.  Yo-Yo Ma.  The visit. Was it DePauwsome or not?  If so why, if not, why.  If both, explain.  I'll be writing my own reflections, and probably will post  a lot of them on my own blog at www.ericedberg.com.  Which is an interesting blog, I'm told, regardless of YYM. :)

Writing about experiences helps you to process them.  And in the act of writing you form thoughts and make realizations you would not have otherwise.  You while you are not required to write here, you are certainly invited and I hope you'll take advantage of the opportunity.  I want to know what you think!

DePauwpalooza: kickasstic? Depawsome? (Comment required)

Hey!

One of the best friends I made while I was living in New York last semester is Gail Wein, who after a career doing many things in music, including producing for NPR, is now a terrific publicist.  At some concert we were at, we liked it so much that in talking about it she said, "It was  . . . kickasstic!"  And with that neologism (or so we thought, I just Googled it), one of our favorite words was born.

And you all came up with "DePawesome." (Or is it "DePauwsome?)

So we had the first DePauwpalooza yesterday.  I want to know about your experience of it--the whole thing and especially the drum circle, in which so many of you participated so enthusiastically. Kickasstic? DePauwsome?

One of the most kickasstic things about for me is that the idea came from students and then the Dean said, that's great, let's make it happen.  Dr. McCoy had the idea for the SoM picnic (where my "homeroom" section of MUS 130 was going to do a drum circle, but I was out of town and the drums didn't get unlocked), and then a group of CLA and SoM students who have been meeting with him since last year asked why we couldn't have one for the whole campus.

When I went to a week-long "playshop" with Arthur Hull, he talked a lot about how a good facilitator/leader listens for and senses what the group (community) needs and then uses her or his leadership role to provide that.  A good leader takes responsibility for the well-being of the group, and uses the power that comes with the role to serve the group. To me, this was a perfect example of that.  You all have just been here a month or so; I've been here 24 years (!) and one thing that's really clear to me is that we've needed more sense of community, both as the SoM and the campus as a whole.

So Dr. McCoy listened, talked to people, got faculty excited about the idea, and made this big music party happen.

And at the heart of it was a drum circle, the quintessential participatory, bring-people-together, community-building music activity.

I absolutely LOVED all the SoM ensembles and the Urinetown cast, too!  Great job, everyone!

I could go on and on--let me know your thoughts. Tell us a story of what it was like for you at DePauwpalooza.

Musicking

:) I definitely can appreciate this term. We actually talked about this in Foundations to Music Ed. I absolutely can understand what he is getting at, but at the same time i definitely understand the same point that most of us are making in our post... I do think that the composer is a vital role in "musicking" and without the composer then you have nothing to interpret as a musician. However in that instant that the music is being played i do believe that the input is coming directly from the musician so at that moment, yes it is the performer. But we also have to remember that that performer isn't always performing something that they have created. Often times it is just their interpretation of something that someone else has created. So i do believe that everyone is vital to his term... and it makes complete sense.

Musicking

I wasn't too sure about Small's definition of "musicking." Granted, he gets credit for making up the word, but I don't really think everyone involved in the whole musical setting gets the same amount of musical credit when everyone isn't doing the same amount of work. The composer writes the music and has this idea in his/her head, but it's completely up to the performer how to interpret the dots that the composer wrote out, so depending, I would say that the performer plays a bigger part, and 90% of listeners don't know how to actively listen to music in a way that makes them know what's going on anyway. Granted, I agree that music has a lot to do with the relationship between composer, listener, and performer, culture, etc., but if a performance is missing one of these elements, by Small's standards, does it count as music? I just keep thinking about the granny dozing in the fourth row of the symphony or the kid who was dragged to his little brother's band concert and I can't help but doubt that there's much going on in the way of a musicking relationship under these circumstances.

Musicking (comment required)

Almost forgot to post this.  Add comments here about the Christopher Small "Musicking" reading.

Reposting from earlier in the week:

Friday we'll be talking about Christopher Small's idea of "musicking"--redefining music as a verb rather than a noun.  We'll read the text of this lecture.  It's full of ideas.  Lots and lots to think through and start to absorb, so you may want to get started soon. There's also a fabulous book if you want to explore the ideas more.  Highly recommended.  Christopher Small's ideas have had as profound an effect on who I am as a musician as has the work of Arthur Hull and David Darling.  (And all those classical people, too.)

Sigur' Ros

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZBYG0DDPJc&feature=fvst

This is that group I was talking about earlier in group today :) If you like them you should totally check out other stuff they've done... and the Lead singer actually broke off and did his own thing for a bit and his name was Jonsi :)