Friday, 11. December 2009, 07:06:23
Well here's the latest indignity in Music in the post-secondary environment.
Imagine enrolling in a music diploma for which there is a fee and then discovering that you don't get any instrumental lessons as part of the deal but have to pay for them separately.
Imagine that this post-secondary diploma was once offered for free with an hour lesson as part of the course.
How would you feel if you had to pay additionally to the fee for the course?
I think it stinks.
I can't even imagine the ethical position of the institution and how such a procedure could have been envisaged. It would be cheaper to do it all privately and you'd probably get a better music education. The only downside is if you need the piece of paper - but - hey! if you intend to be a performing musician the only thing that really counts is if you can actually do it in an audition and in performance. So for all you budding musicians out there. Take care where and how you choose your music education pathway. You may be paying a lot of money and not getting much for it.
Saturday, 1. August 2009, 12:37:35
Fazioli, criticism, clasical music, music
...
Last Sunday evening the internationally acclaimed pianist Piers Lane presented a recital in the beautiful West Australian Government House Ballroom on a brand new Fazioli 9' with Paulo Faziolo present for the occasion.
There was nearly a full house so you would imagine that a decent critique of the concert would be found in the next few days in the local newspaper...
No:
Music on the Terrace
Sunday afternoon was alive with culture at Government House Ballroom as internationally acclaimed musician Piers Lane took to the stage for a very special performance as part of the Music on The Terrace 2009 series . Launching the new Fazioli grand piano recently arrived from Italy, guests were entertained by a brilliant romantic and sensitive Lane, playing Schubert, Brahms, Mendelssohn and Chopin.
Now this is a good example of being completely uninformative.
There is no acknowledgement of one of the world's finest piano makers in attendance.
Neither is there any idea of the actual sound of the instrument let alone just what Piers Lane's performance was like.
Unfortunately, this is the standard of journalism we people living in the Antipodes have become accustomed.
It gets worse...
Where do you look for reviews of classical music concerts?
Don't go to the Music section because - clearly - Classical Music isn't music.
You'll find it in the Arts section which leads one to hypothesize that the Arts editor of the West Australian thinks of Classical Music as somewhat elitist. It certainly will be perceived that way if it is continued to be relegated to the pretentious end of the newspaper.
The approach and the reportage is lamentable.
Do similar problems exist elsewhere? Of course, but to such a degree - not likely - unless you're in sport and pop culture mad Australia.
Rider: I cycle 20kms a day and am a musicologist/harpist. What I want is intelligent journalism and a recognition that what is needed is a balance in life reflected in the reportage found in our electronic and print media.
Thursday, 24. April 2008, 01:42:24
I'm interested in establishing this blog for the purposes of anybody interested in research into Bolivian Music. My own interests are related to Colonial music but don't let that stop you if your interest is something slightly different.
My life is centred around reconstructing Bolivian manuscripts that I have in digitised form from archives in Bolivia (I live in Australia and travel to Bolivia regularly).
Currently I'm completing the reconstruction of another Villancico (a festival piece for voices and accompaniment in Spanish - nowadays it applies only to a form of Spanish Christmas Carol).
Often the handwriting is the hardest bit to decipher and that's the case with the latest one. You just have to spend a bit of time with the score trying out different ideas as there are no hyphens and often the words have been truncated. They rarely effectively align making the process quite an interesting form of 'jigsaw puzzle'.
I can't claim to be an expert in Baroque Spanish - I came to this research through Latin liturgical music. So, if you're interested in collaborating - tell me!
Here's an example of the sort of thing I'm looking at.
Música52_02.jpg
Tuesday, 11. December 2007, 22:02:17
A new book for the shelves of anybody trying to understand why we like and seem to need music is Oliver Sacks Musicophilia. Like his other books which are made up of case studies this one is no different but the intention is as his explorations are similar to those of earlier researchers into brain function. He is getting a better picture of how we process musical ideas and sounds in a way that shows just how important music is to the human organism. Forms of aphasia tell us not only about a faulty brain but give us an insight into well ones and in this case the music is the medium through which his case studies draw out threads about our aesthetic selves.
Worth more than a look for anybody with an interest in the how and why of music.
WIDGETIZE