Final thoughts on collaboration

Reflecting back on last week's presentations, I am pretty impressed with not just the talent in our class, but also the willingness to explore different ideas, take risks, and collaborate. I was especially impressed with the way all projects integrated different performance mediums in an innovative and seamless manner.

If I had one request for the class, it would be that we would have had it in a different location. My experience as a freelance accompanist and conductor throughout New York has taught me that, obviously , we have to take what space we can get, and that certainly applies to the spaces for our classes at NYU. I've had my share of classes in less-than-ideal locations, but all credit to Dr. Gilbert, Chianan, and our class for making it work.

My question, is as technology continues to advance and long-distance collaboration in the arts becomes more and more commonplace, how much will the "setting" matter? I noticed that so many of our collaborators seemed to have trouble making out the kind of space we were in--of course, that could have been due to the use of two cameras. If only we had a larger open space, say, the choral rehearsal room on the 3rd floor, the possibilities for expanding our work (in a literal and artistic sense), would be great!

How Do you Get to Carnegie Hall? YouTube, YouTube, YouTube...

How cool is this? Following nicely on the heels on our collaborative projects yesterday, this article talks about the YouTube Symphony Orchestra, a project intended to bring together the classical music scene on the internet and help promote online community.

Michael Tilson Thomas (right), one of my favorite conductors not only for his technique and musicianship, but also for his willingness to push the boundaries of classical music performance (witness his awesome collaboration with the San Francisco Symphony and Metallica!!!), is but one collaborator who is contributing to this. Read more below!


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/02/arts/music/02orch.html?ref=arts


The YouTube Symphony

Extended techniques...collaborative arts!

For my "narrative" project, "Three States", I am relying on collaborative efforts between the dancer and the flutist, who must utilize extended techniques to portray three states of matter--in order, solid, liquid, then gas.

In looking forward to our presentation of these projects, I found a terrific site that highlights exactly the kind of extended techniques I was looking to explore--this is a terrific explanation, in both notated form, and in QuickTime video form, of the kinds of extended techniques I am hoping my flutist will utilize in her improvisation!

Above is an example of the type of notation used for one of the most common types of flute extended techniques--the use of three slashes through a note stem, or flz for "flatterzunge" indicates "flutter tonguing."

Extended Techniques for Flute, John McMurtery

Music and Macbooks!

So following the interesting and successful experience of my collaboration with Yuko using GarageBand and IMovie, I have been keeping my eyes open for other possible applications using MacBooks for live music making.

This site, (http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/slork/index2.html) lists a very intriguing premise...using MacBooks literally as "musical instruments", rather than merely as a platform for applications such as GarageBand and Logic Pro. Members of the Stanford Laptop Orchestra ("SLOrk"), utilizes an interface such as keyboards, mousepads, USB controllers, or even the tilt of the monitor, on their respective MacBook in a different way to create a unique sound. It's a mix of programming knowledge and musical performance, but as their leader, programmer Ge Wang, notes, “The ensemble is really two classes in one,” says Wang. “There’s programming, there’s computer music, there’s composition and arrangement, and on top of it all it’s a performance class. The best part is there are no requirements to join, just an excitement about music.”

As a musician myself, I can't help but note with some envy how easy it is for members of SLOrk to collaborate, create, and perform together--and all this is possible among musicians of widely varying experience levels, musical interests, and, thanks to technology, different locations. As the line between technology and music continues to blur, how long is it before musicians clamor for a similar kind of versatility, ease of use, and "hands-on" experiences from "real" musical instruments?

A Work in Progress: Images of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring

Ever since my first viewing of Disney's original "Fantasia", I remember watching the Rite of Spring segment and coming away with a wealth of mixed emotions. Unlike the other pieces in the movie, whose connection between musical sound and animated imagery seemed so obvious and tailor-made--"The Sorcerer's Apprentice", "Night on Bald Mountain", even the supposedly abstract "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor"--I remember watching Rite of Spring and thinking, "This is an actual piece? What does this music have to do with dinosaurs?" And most pressingly..."How and why would anyone listen to this piece without the visual to along with it?"

In my Collaborative Projects in the Performing Arts class, I am hoping to be able to explore this connection between classical music and animation/visual imagery. This is the first attempt at trying to match up a classical work with relevant images--obviously, a work in progress. :)

I am hoping to try this project with other pieces in the future, for possible use in my own curriculum at my high school where I currently teach. These pieces range from Debussy's "La Mer" to Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra", to Beethoven's symphonies, to name a few areas of interest. But for now, The Rite seemed like such an obvious place to start.

Enjoy! (and remember, this is just a start, there is so much more to come...this is a WORK IN PROGRESS...)

Entracte

And so the journey begins! I look forward to a great semester with my fellow arts collaborators....