It was so fun every time Dad brought out the records to play. We heard Jay and the Americans, Harry Belafonte, Tijuana Brass, Beethoven's 6th symphony, Gospel quartets, Tommy Dorsey, soundtracks from Guys and Dolls, Oliver, Camelot, Music Man, and many others. As I got a little older and perhaps a little more sophisticated (whatever that means!), we heard Scheherazade, Brahms First Symphony, Mozart Horn Concertos, Maynard Ferguson, Woody Herman, Mannheim Steamroller, Bill Watrous, and Barry Tuckwell recordings. But inevitably, during family listening times, Dad would pull out two fun recordings: Gossamer Wump and Florence Foster Jenkins. I still find Gossamer Wump insanely funny and ironically musically advanced. In a way, however, the greatest laughs were reserved for Florence Foster Jenkins, the laughingstock of the musical world.
It was an old record, showing her in a silly angel looking costume. On the back was the story of her life and the famed recording that took place in Carnegie Hall. As a child in a musical family, I recognized at an early age that the voice was off-key and lacked in quality on many levels. The poor diction, awful tone quality, guttural attacks, inaccurate note placement, and shockingly bad interpretation of the musical lines made its way into my memory, resulting in continual humor. In a strange way, the familiarity with the bad, enhanced the good, helping shape me into a musician with high standards of performance. Although an instrumentalist more than a vocalist, I have worked diligently to avoid being laughed at or accused of having low standards of excellence. Always in the back of my mind, I did not want to be, nor do I still want to become Florence Foster Jenkins. The name alone typified humor, poor performance, musical disaster, and finding false joy at the awful noise. It was fun to imagine the musical joke known as Florence Foster Jenkins.
But all that changed this past Friday night when I saw the movie. Outstanding film with excellent acting, line delivery, music, accuracy, and historically portrayed. Bittersweet presentation with a nice balance of humor, confusion, human foibles, and character growth. In the midst, we find characters we like and those we don't. The problem is that suddenly the brunt of my humor and a strong, albeit negative, influence on my career, became a real person with real emotions, challenges, confusions, insecurities, false confidence, energy, fear, and all the qualities that make us human.
A child prodigy on the piano, Florence married at a young age only to have her husband give her syphilis. Defying medical odds, she lived with the disease all the way to her death at the age of 76. When her husband died, he left her in good financial condition which she used to live comfortably while being a generous patron of the arts and the musical society. Loving music but unable to continue to play the piano due to an accident, she turned to singing. Voice lessons and contacts with famous people led her to have an inflated view of her own talent. Unable to tell her the truth, her friends and acquaintances fed her own fragile but desperate desire to be known as a great singer.
Her charm, her positive demeanor, her love of the arts, and her ability to spread good cheer likely caused much of the falsehood and deferment that was offered to her. Although conjecture, it is also possible that the syphilis affected the nerve center in her brain that caused a lack of discernment and self-awareness. Whatever the outside and inside influences, Florence Foster Jenkins was a very poor singer who thought she was outstanding. Funny, yes indeed, but not really. Her sold out concert in Carnegie Hall was filled with those who laughed inwardly and cheered outwardly. The one critic who told the truth destroyed her and she died within a month of the concert. Would hiding the truth have been preferred? Perhaps.
Do I regret the laughs? Mostly yes. Was I laughing at her expense...yes in a way. Was my joy at her terrible singing, sincerely joy? Maybe so. But now, these many years later, I no longer can laugh with any kind of sincerity. After all, she may have been quirky, but she supported the arts. Mostly she was a special person in many ways and it is time to put aside the laughs and embrace the great qualities.
Sunday, January 22, 2017
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
First day of semester
Today begins the first day of the semester and I have that same feeling of incompleteness and concern that I always do on the first day. Academia has become excessively complicated the last few years and managers experience severe stress in making sure everything is ready for the first day. Are the classrooms ready including enough desks, proper lighting, heating or cooling, technology working? Are the teachers ready for each class? Have I assigned every class correctly or did something slip through unnoticed in the scheduling? Will there be a class with students and no teacher? Or will there be a teacher but no students?
Have the part-time teachers completed all the paperwork in order to teach? Have I turned in their compensation correctly? Do we have accompanists assigned for all voice lessons? Instrumental lessons? Will the full-time teachers have a full teaching load? Too much? Not enough? Are concerts and events correctly scheduled for the semester? Have we accidentally built in any conflicts or problems? Are the pianos tuned? Anything not working in any classrooms or offices?
Are the students registered for the correct classes? Are they receiving the expected financial aid? Are there any class conflicts? Do I have systems in place for solving problems? How much budget money is left? Do I have enough to take care of office needs? Faculty issues? Upcoming travel needs? Student worker funds? Are all bills paid from last semester? Anything outstanding?
Then there are the other ongoing problems. What do we do about the torn up seats in the library? How do move forward with technology? When can I get a student leader group together? Are there enough textbooks in the bookstore? Will all the students arrive? Will the new students know where to go for class?
Have I prepared the curriculum change forms correctly? Are we handling the graduate classes in the best way? Are we ready for upcoming concerts and events?
One way or another, the first day is here and we'll see how it goes!
Have the part-time teachers completed all the paperwork in order to teach? Have I turned in their compensation correctly? Do we have accompanists assigned for all voice lessons? Instrumental lessons? Will the full-time teachers have a full teaching load? Too much? Not enough? Are concerts and events correctly scheduled for the semester? Have we accidentally built in any conflicts or problems? Are the pianos tuned? Anything not working in any classrooms or offices?
Are the students registered for the correct classes? Are they receiving the expected financial aid? Are there any class conflicts? Do I have systems in place for solving problems? How much budget money is left? Do I have enough to take care of office needs? Faculty issues? Upcoming travel needs? Student worker funds? Are all bills paid from last semester? Anything outstanding?
Then there are the other ongoing problems. What do we do about the torn up seats in the library? How do move forward with technology? When can I get a student leader group together? Are there enough textbooks in the bookstore? Will all the students arrive? Will the new students know where to go for class?
Have I prepared the curriculum change forms correctly? Are we handling the graduate classes in the best way? Are we ready for upcoming concerts and events?
One way or another, the first day is here and we'll see how it goes!
Sunday, January 08, 2017
A tribute to Mary Travers
Once a month I listen to a few songs by Peter, Paul, and Mary, a popular folk group whose fame seems to rest on their recording of Puff, the Magic Dragon. Yet the more I listen to this wonderful group of singers, the more I become enamored with the singing of Mary Travers. Her rich, low voice in a contra alto range with just a touch of a gravely sound enhanced the smooth qualities of the other two singers. Her career in Peter, Paul, and Mary plus her time as a soloist was filled with an authentic approach to songs, bringing out the text in a personal way on every song.
The quality that stands out in her singing is not necessarily her lead singing but rather in her harmony. When singing harmony to the melody, she shines with a glow that emanates throughout the song and throughout her career. Unlike most supportive harmony parts, Mary's harmony singing takes on melody of its very own. Not dissimilar to the age-old concept of polyphony, her harmony is both congruent and independent, with a sensitive yet strong quality to it. Freely moving around but somehow staying within the scope of the song, Mary's harmonic support perfectly fits the melody being sung. When she takes her turn at the melody, she is of course quite accurate and appealing, honest, full, and heartfelt. Then she moves back to the role of support while either Paul or usually Peter takes the melody. The result is a vibrant musical expression that is contrapuntally complex yet oddly simple in its construction.
Somehow she infused her gentle personality in each song while retaining her musical strength. Matching vowel sounds and consonants with her ensembles, she also keeps her distinctive and original inflections of the text, finding that phrase point that brings out the meaning of the line. Marrying text with music, she explores dynamic direction of every phrase and we never hear anything stagnate. Instead each phrase, each song takes on an energy and power that finds the depth of the musical moment.
Take a few minutes to listen to Peter, Paul, and Mary sing Blowin in the Wind, Puff, the Magic Dragon, The Lemon Tree, The Cruel War, or Leaving on a Jet Plane. All of it is special, honest, tender, musical, and powerful. One of my favorite recordings is that of "I Have a Song to Sing-Oh" by Gilbert and Sullivan. It is from the opera "Yeoman of the Guard." Their odd folk-like interpretation is both funny and profound as the song weaves around adding notes and lines all the way to end. Listen not to the melody but to the harmony as sung by the marvelous Mary Travers.
The quality that stands out in her singing is not necessarily her lead singing but rather in her harmony. When singing harmony to the melody, she shines with a glow that emanates throughout the song and throughout her career. Unlike most supportive harmony parts, Mary's harmony singing takes on melody of its very own. Not dissimilar to the age-old concept of polyphony, her harmony is both congruent and independent, with a sensitive yet strong quality to it. Freely moving around but somehow staying within the scope of the song, Mary's harmonic support perfectly fits the melody being sung. When she takes her turn at the melody, she is of course quite accurate and appealing, honest, full, and heartfelt. Then she moves back to the role of support while either Paul or usually Peter takes the melody. The result is a vibrant musical expression that is contrapuntally complex yet oddly simple in its construction.
Somehow she infused her gentle personality in each song while retaining her musical strength. Matching vowel sounds and consonants with her ensembles, she also keeps her distinctive and original inflections of the text, finding that phrase point that brings out the meaning of the line. Marrying text with music, she explores dynamic direction of every phrase and we never hear anything stagnate. Instead each phrase, each song takes on an energy and power that finds the depth of the musical moment.
Take a few minutes to listen to Peter, Paul, and Mary sing Blowin in the Wind, Puff, the Magic Dragon, The Lemon Tree, The Cruel War, or Leaving on a Jet Plane. All of it is special, honest, tender, musical, and powerful. One of my favorite recordings is that of "I Have a Song to Sing-Oh" by Gilbert and Sullivan. It is from the opera "Yeoman of the Guard." Their odd folk-like interpretation is both funny and profound as the song weaves around adding notes and lines all the way to end. Listen not to the melody but to the harmony as sung by the marvelous Mary Travers.
Friday, January 06, 2017
The World at Your Fingertips
It is a joyous world in which we live. With a few clicks, we can read about virtually any subject, learn how to do just about any task, study the history behind an idea, learn the definition of a word, listen to almost any piece of music, discover what is happening across continents, learn mathematical formulas, read about or chat with a friend hundreds of miles away, study science, languages, arts, business, or health. Another click and we read about politics, fashion, trends, stock prices, food, commodities, ancestry, job openings, salaries, hacking, religion, running, disease, literature, geology, dinosaurs, hiking trails, hotels, campsites, vacations, and motivations.
There are very few subjects that are not found on the Internet somewhere. A click or two and you can learn things never before imagined. While at one time we depended on the expert to tell us how something works, we can now become that expert. The net is the ultimate professor, the classroom, the ideal (although flawed) educator, the avenue for intellectual growth, the global exposure, the social inhibitor and social influencer. When a person is online, he or she has the world at his fingertips. The expert is you.
What does this mean for the future of education? Bleak in many ways, glorious in other ways. The concept of liberal arts as stemming from the Greek philosophers of old, is that of creating the "whole" person, the well-rounded critical thinker, the fundamentally sound learner, the potential contributor to society, a communicator, a person of high ethics and integrity, a strong work ethic, and a person with ability and desire to learn new things and apply energy to the task at hand. Liberal arts should help create imagination, originality, a sense of independence and congruence. Through the liberal arts, we should know how to pare something to its essentials while keeping in mind the whole picture. Liberal arts as an ideal seeks to motivate and inspire people to make a difference in the world. It provides foundational knowledge as a step toward excellence in whatever chosen profession a person seeks.
But the net provides the liberal arts. It is here and now. Get online and find the world. Each day learn something new and discover yourself in the process. The foundational curriculum is at your fingertips. The opportunity to learn something new now sits on your lap waiting for your embrace. Tired of your career? Learn a new one. Curious about a foreign land? Search for it and explore. Not sure about a mathematical formula? Find it and it will be explained. Can't remember who wrote a song or a piece of music? The information is there. Spelling and grammar? No problem. Art, literature, periodic table, animal behavior, social concerns, politics, history? Not even sure what you don't know? Discover your strengths, your weaknesses, your areas of interest, your values. Make new friends, reacquaint yourself with the old ones.
Use the Net to your advantage and learn yourself in the process. Yes, guidance is likely needed and many times we are unaware of what we do not know in the first place. Plus we do not always know what to do with information nor how to apply it to our lives, our careers, and to our own improvement. While respect for those who have achieved in a particular area is absolute, so too should the experts respect the ease of information. We are in a new world where developing the whole person is easy, fast, and highly worthwhile. Students no longer need to have information imparted to them in a classroom. Instead, they need the recognition of what knowledge can do for them, where to find it, how to apply it, and, mostly, how to think critically about the information that is available. Through this process, they learn values, interests, their own gifts, their own motivations, and, ultimately, their own calling.
But is all learning truly on the Net? The answer is of course no, for learning can take place through books, magazines, journals, discussions, social engagements, activity, events, observations, relationships, and human interaction. It is possible that colleges and universities need to reinvent the concept of liberal arts and recognize that developing the "whole" person is a process, not a set of rules, and that the process includes knowledge blended with experiences. Yes the world is now at our fingertips and it is a big world. We need to take the tools we have been given and use them to make the world a better place.
There are very few subjects that are not found on the Internet somewhere. A click or two and you can learn things never before imagined. While at one time we depended on the expert to tell us how something works, we can now become that expert. The net is the ultimate professor, the classroom, the ideal (although flawed) educator, the avenue for intellectual growth, the global exposure, the social inhibitor and social influencer. When a person is online, he or she has the world at his fingertips. The expert is you.
What does this mean for the future of education? Bleak in many ways, glorious in other ways. The concept of liberal arts as stemming from the Greek philosophers of old, is that of creating the "whole" person, the well-rounded critical thinker, the fundamentally sound learner, the potential contributor to society, a communicator, a person of high ethics and integrity, a strong work ethic, and a person with ability and desire to learn new things and apply energy to the task at hand. Liberal arts should help create imagination, originality, a sense of independence and congruence. Through the liberal arts, we should know how to pare something to its essentials while keeping in mind the whole picture. Liberal arts as an ideal seeks to motivate and inspire people to make a difference in the world. It provides foundational knowledge as a step toward excellence in whatever chosen profession a person seeks.
But the net provides the liberal arts. It is here and now. Get online and find the world. Each day learn something new and discover yourself in the process. The foundational curriculum is at your fingertips. The opportunity to learn something new now sits on your lap waiting for your embrace. Tired of your career? Learn a new one. Curious about a foreign land? Search for it and explore. Not sure about a mathematical formula? Find it and it will be explained. Can't remember who wrote a song or a piece of music? The information is there. Spelling and grammar? No problem. Art, literature, periodic table, animal behavior, social concerns, politics, history? Not even sure what you don't know? Discover your strengths, your weaknesses, your areas of interest, your values. Make new friends, reacquaint yourself with the old ones.
Use the Net to your advantage and learn yourself in the process. Yes, guidance is likely needed and many times we are unaware of what we do not know in the first place. Plus we do not always know what to do with information nor how to apply it to our lives, our careers, and to our own improvement. While respect for those who have achieved in a particular area is absolute, so too should the experts respect the ease of information. We are in a new world where developing the whole person is easy, fast, and highly worthwhile. Students no longer need to have information imparted to them in a classroom. Instead, they need the recognition of what knowledge can do for them, where to find it, how to apply it, and, mostly, how to think critically about the information that is available. Through this process, they learn values, interests, their own gifts, their own motivations, and, ultimately, their own calling.
But is all learning truly on the Net? The answer is of course no, for learning can take place through books, magazines, journals, discussions, social engagements, activity, events, observations, relationships, and human interaction. It is possible that colleges and universities need to reinvent the concept of liberal arts and recognize that developing the "whole" person is a process, not a set of rules, and that the process includes knowledge blended with experiences. Yes the world is now at our fingertips and it is a big world. We need to take the tools we have been given and use them to make the world a better place.
Sunday, January 01, 2017
Productivity for 2017
New Years resolutions abound on this day and with it lots of excitement about the future. Time to lose weight, exercise more, repair relationships, manage money better, take a risk, get new tires, paint the house, and the list of goals continues. But for me, I am resolving to be more productive and to drive myself a little harder. This February I start school again with the pursuit of a Doctor of Business Administration. It will take four years to complete and I have no real reason to pursue it other than a desire for greater knowledge in that area.
Connected to productivity, I would really like to compose a short opera, publish an article, and perform a recital, and do more for people. I would also like to form an LLC with someone and pursue a business venture of some kind. Lots of goals for 2017. Of course the usual...lose weight, exercise more, repair relationships, be positive, and spread good cheer. All these and more for 2017. Not being an overly reflective sort, I will say that 2016 was a difficult year. I lost several friends and had some work challenges that gave me pause and sapped my energy.
But never one to look back with regret nor with nostalgia, I will keep pushing forward to greater heights and opportunities. Yes, 2016 was an emotional bear market in many ways but I predict a bull market for me and my family in 2017. Not to be overly stock market oriented, if we look at emotions, challenges, relationships, and changes as a chart, we will see many declines and increases. In the end though, life is not a chart but is about people and about faith. As a person recently told me, we talk about faith but we don't always apply it. Time to apply faith with a strong work ethic.
I look forward to 2017, to learning more, to growing, and mostly to be the person God wants me to be.
How about you? Goals?
Connected to productivity, I would really like to compose a short opera, publish an article, and perform a recital, and do more for people. I would also like to form an LLC with someone and pursue a business venture of some kind. Lots of goals for 2017. Of course the usual...lose weight, exercise more, repair relationships, be positive, and spread good cheer. All these and more for 2017. Not being an overly reflective sort, I will say that 2016 was a difficult year. I lost several friends and had some work challenges that gave me pause and sapped my energy.
But never one to look back with regret nor with nostalgia, I will keep pushing forward to greater heights and opportunities. Yes, 2016 was an emotional bear market in many ways but I predict a bull market for me and my family in 2017. Not to be overly stock market oriented, if we look at emotions, challenges, relationships, and changes as a chart, we will see many declines and increases. In the end though, life is not a chart but is about people and about faith. As a person recently told me, we talk about faith but we don't always apply it. Time to apply faith with a strong work ethic.
I look forward to 2017, to learning more, to growing, and mostly to be the person God wants me to be.
How about you? Goals?
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