CoNNeCTioNS - Music for People

CoNNeCTioNS
T h e
N e w s l e t t e r
Spring/Summer 2007
o f
M u s i c
f o r
P e o p l e
$5.00 ISBN 1076-2485
IN THIS ISSUE:
Julie Weber - Enough
Congratulations to our MLP Graduates Eve Kodiak - Inviting the Repetition
Excerpt from Return to Child - Authenticity/Right Relationship
David Darling - Our Happiness in Music is Now!
Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli - Scoring for Picture: Improvising to Picture
A letter from our Executive Director
Eric Miller
Satellite Success!
For many years, Music for People has had a vision of small
groups working and playing with improvisation techniques in
many diverse geographical areas. With the arrival of 2007, the
first three workshops in the new MFP satellite series launched,
bringing new faces to the work in intimate and dynamic local
environments. In Recording and Improv here in Phoenixville, PA,
four of us experimented with different recording rigs while jamming
on some gypsy chops brought in by Cathy, a new player. It
was fun music-making and participants went home with new
recording skills on their own machines. Later in the month, Lynn
Miller guided a group of 8 into deep vocal improvisations as they
explored a rich musical territory. This session always seems to get
to the heart of vocal sounding and expression. February kicked
off with the Flying Free workshop in NY, where Joelle and six of the
city crew got into the healing end of improv, as usual for this time
of year. What a fun way to spend a Saturday in between regular
MFP workshop! Check the Satellite schedule or web page for
an upcoming workshop. Grads and staff are sure to be offering
more of these as time goes on and David’s “Finding Your Long
Lost Musician” is already filled with a waiting list!
Catch you on the next orbit!
Musically yours,
Eric
Music for People promotes
an improvisational approach
to the expressive arts —
especially music — with the
goal of empowering people
to take part in, rather than just
be passive observers of, the
arts. Gathering momentum
from the workshop and
concert experience of cellist
and Grammy-nominated
recording artist David Darling,
MfP was founded on the
conviction that music is a
natural creative expression
available to everyone.
We formed a network in
1986, became a nonprofit
organization in 1988, and
created a training program
in 1991. MfP has more than
80 certified graduates of the
Musicianship and Leadership
Program in the United States,
Canada and Europe where
they present programs for
schools, community groups
and businesses.
David Darling
Artistic Director
In This Issue
Page 2
Page 3-4
Page 5
Page 8-9
Page 10-11
Page 12-13
Page 14-17
Page 18-19
Page 20-21
Page 22-23
Page 24 Who we are...
Eric Miller
Julie Weber - Enough
Excerpt from Return to ChildAuthenticity/Right Relationship
David Darling - Our Happiness is Music is Now!
New MLP Graduates
Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli
Scoring for Picture: Improvising to Picture
Eve Kodiak - Inviting the Repetition
Dr. Sera Jane Smolen - New Directions Cello Festival
Announcements and News
Workshops & Gatherings
Calendar
Cover Photo Credits: Julie Weber
Top Left Photo:Karen Olsen, Right Top Photo: Melanie Moriano, Pam Blevins Hinkle and Clint Goss,
Lower Right: Lynn margileth and Heather Keller, Bottom Left: Mary Knysh, Julie Cook, David Rudge and Lynn Miller
Page - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
Eric Miller
Executive Director
Julie Weber
MLP Chair
Mary Knysh
MLP Europe Chair
Lynn Miller
Graduate Coordinator
Bonnie Shea
Office Manager
Music for People
PO Box 397
Goshen, CT 06756
Toll Free: 877-44MUSIC
Phone: 860-491-3763
From the Musicianship and Leadership Program Chairperson Julie Weber
October grasses
The question of enough comes up again and again.
Good enough, talented enough, skilled enough, smart enough, strong enough, courageous
enough, enough money, enough time, attractive enough, thin enough, ___ enough. Enough is a
funny looking and sounding word that gets blown out of the mouth with the same kind of quality as
the feeling it evokes in us.
With all of the qualifiers that we use to measure our lives and our selves, our general self-worth, it
takes some adjustment to be in an environment where we release this question and turn it into – at
this moment…it is enough.
One of the wonderful things
about being with young
children is that you naturally
fall into being your authentic
self. Who one is at the
moment is enough. Make a
squirrelly face in a room full of
kindergarteners and you will
have a room full of giggles and rolling on the floor. They are easily amused and this turns out to be a
good thing. When I was a young teacher, a second grader once said to me, “You are very happy,
you smile a lot with us.” I realized at that moment that I let those young ones see parts of me that I
kept hidden from others. There was a mutual trust that didn’t demand the inhibitions that are built in
the adult world. This was a great moment of awakening. I thought it would be good to be like that
all of the time.
There is a place that is waiting
for each of us for us to be who
we are in perfect satisfaction
and at peace with ourselves.
We sit with each other at the
Music for People workshops
offering our sounds, offering our
silence, offering our vulnerability and our courage. We travel considerable distances to witness
each other going through our steps, waiting for the moment when each of us step into the circle. If
we have been around for MfP awhile, we know that a lot of one’s stuff has preceded each step out.
If we have been in this MfP community for a while, we also know that each time we expose our
tender underbellies, put ourselves out there, at risk, it is not about how great our skill or performance
is. The moment we step in, the greatness has occurred.
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page There is a place or time of knowing, where we give into process and let go of control, where we
operate in faith and we trust that the water will support us when we step out of the boat.
We are waiting and watching for
the moment of truth where the trust
becomes the carrying force.
When that moment becomes longer,
----well ---we are in another place where the
question of enough does not come
up.
If you have been around this process
for a while, you also know that we
will repeat this cycle of questioning, trusting, stepping in, risking over and over again.
The poems of David Whyte, “Enough”, “ It Is Not Enough” and “Faith “ can be found in his book
Where Many Rivers Meet published by Many Rivers Press.
Page - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
Authenticity/Right Relationship
MfP encourages all participants - musicians and
leaders too - to be as authentically themselves as possible.
The leader that is authentic to his or her self gives
permission and encouragement to all members of the
group to find their own authentic expression. Authenticity
includes honesty about our own skills and limitations as well
as our own likes and dislikes, needs and fears.
But as true to ourselves as we try to be, we are
always embedded in some sort of environment.
Right relationship allows us to be sensitive to
that environment and to harmonize with it.
Right relationship includes integrity, restraint and
appropriateness. In musical practice right relationship
includes intonation - the ability to play a note right
on pitch, or to play a perfect interval. It also includes
respect for instruments -like learning to take your
rings off before you play a hand drum.
When we lead a group, we find ourselves in a
psychologically charged environment. By stepping into the
position of leader, we take on a multitude of roles
(see “Roles of the Leader” on page 73). These roles are like
masks - at once concealing our authenticity and heightening
facets of our true nature. These masks also allow for the
psychological mechanism of projection.
Perhaps the most important aspect of right relationship
for a leader is Integrity. Integrity establishes interpersonal
boundaries between the leader and the members of the group
and helps avoid any misuse of the leader’s influence over others.
Excerpted from Return to Child
*******Music for People’s book of improvisation and group-leading activities *******
© 2004 Music for People. Permission is given to reproduce this page
for educational purposes. Musicforpeople.org
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page NAKED AND RAW
Like a child on the precipice
With no hand holding mine
I must leap into the nothingness
And reach for the divine
In spite of fear and trepidation
Of a failure yet to come
I must find the strength inside myself
To leap and not to run
For the only way to live,
really live right to the end
Is to make each moment real
and refuse to pretend
Is to offer to the universe
my entire naked me
Is to let the risk of dying
into nothingness just be
I may dash myself on jagged rocks
I may have to burn to thaw
And then I’ll stand here before you
Naked and raw
So look straight on through me
I may shiver I may quake
Or strike me, if you must strike
I may bend or I may break
Hurt my pride, It’s nothing to me
If it keeps me falsified
For I must present the same to you
As I know I am inside
Like a woman on a precipice
Demanding to be free
I will leap into the nothingness
And claim my divinity
© Mindi Turin 2006
Page - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
Music for People
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With gratitude,we acknowledge the generosity
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GRAND
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BENEFACTORS
$5,000. +
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Dan Bruce
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SPONSORS $1,000. +
Bonnie Allen, Carol Purdy
David Jacobi, David Kandel
Dorothy & David Rice
Ingrid Bredenberg, Jan Morton
Jim Oshinsky, Libby Francisco
Lucie Michaelson, Naomi Bennett
Nelson Cleary, Peter Crist
Robert & Melisa Barnhart
Sadja Greenwood, Sarah Tenney
Suzanne Timken
Thank you to the financial supporters
of Music for People!
Alison Cardinet, Alison Rose, Ange Chianese,
Anna Brzeski, Barbara Barnes, Barry Green,
Benjamin Smith, Beth Kingsley Hawkins, Bill
McJohn, Bonnie Allen, Carol Tarr, Carolyn
Amala Viola, Catherine Monnes, Chantal
Drapeau, Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli,
Colette Hay, Daniel Bacon, Daniel Kerley,
David Jacobi, David Kandel, David Rudge,
Doe Phillips, Donald Leventhal, Dorothy
Sikora, Eli Epstein, Elisabeth Heiberg, Elise Witt,
Eric Roberts, Eugene Carr, Eve Kodiak, Gerry
Dignan, Glen Hughes, Helena Cunningham,
Henrik Stubbe Teglbjaerg, Holly Foster, Ingrid
Bredenberg, James, Handley, Jan Magray,
Jane Buttars, Jeff Greenberg, Jeffrey Curtis,
Joan Renne, JoAnn Spies, Joelle Danant,
Joelle Maya Aubry, John LaRocque, Jon
Globerson, Josee Allard, Julie Weber, Karen
Kohlhagen, Katherine Weider, Kathy Brown,
Kevin Makarewicz, Kira Van Deusen, Larisaa
Oryshkevich, Laura Warfield, Lauren Hooker,
Lee Berentsen, Linsey Francesca Paik in
memory of Frank Joseph Gaeta, Lizbeth
Francisco, Lois. Hartzler, Lucie Michelson,
Lynn Margileth, Maaike Mulas, Marcie
Boyd, Margaret McClamroch, Marie van
Vuuren, Mark Lindner, Mary Azima French
Jackson, Matt McCauley, May Ho, Michelle
Present, Mindi Turin, Monique Poirier, Music
Together, Nan Cardella, Nancy Dotlo,
Naomi Bennett, Ned Leavitt, Nelson Cleary,
Nicholas Watts, Orna Lenchner, Pamela
Holmes, Pat McGinnis, Patricia Mulholland,
Patrick Whitehead, Patsy Lawry, Penny Jones
Barbera, Peter Fairchild, Robert Backus,
Roberta Guthrie, Rodney Farrar, Ron Kravitz,
Sadja Greenwood, Sally Childs-Helton, Sarah
Swersey, Sarah Tenney, Suzanne Bernhardt,
Sylvia Winsby, Talia Schenkel, Ted Zook, Thom
Radice, Thomasina Leavy, Tina Smelser, Vera
JIJI, William Croft
MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIPS
Jan Hittle
Emily Metcalf
Carol Purdy
Julie Weber
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page From our Artistic Director David Darling
Our Happiness in Music is NOW!
In his book “Touching Peace,” Thich Nhat Hanh writes that humans have a
tendency to believe happiness is only possible in the future. We are always
planning toward a future goal of happiness rather than understanding that we
can have that happiness right now. We can bring that future into the present
moment, or as Thich Nhat Hanh says, we can cultivate the sense that “we have
already arrived,” and that each moment of our lives can have a feeling of
happiness and content.
Music for People has always taught a similar philosophy about each individual’s ability to make
music in the same way – to show how everyone can be happy and complete in their music making
Now!
Entering into a music making moment can be an extraordinary time of bliss when our entire being
is engaged in deep listening. We can receive and surrender to the sounds without negative energy
or a feeling of unworthiness, and without being distracted by our mind’s chatter. When we turn
off the old tape loops that keep us from hearing the music deeply we can react to the sound in a
balanced way, inhaling and exhaling, letting the breath keep us relaxed and in flow (Mindfulness).
This sort of mindfulness in our practice allows us to both hear and play each tone and its related
tones in harmony, melody or groove in a deeper more complex way over time.
The western human has so much negative energy to overcome because we live in a society that
is all about war, suffering, violence, racism, media and movie programs that are poisonous and an
untruthful exaggeration of life and nature. We have very little experience of nature’s beauty and
nature’s organic way. Many of us, especially children who have been spending time with television
and Nintendo, loud music, and other kinds of unnatural excitement have no understanding or
experience of something as simple as a walk in the park or a forest or a river.
Because we are overwhelmed by complex and loud sounds and over-stimulated by the multitasking
needed to keep up with the modern environment, we may think that simply experiencing or
creating one tone of music is boring. It’s not. It is a miracle. When we make a sound with our voice
it is even more of a miracle because our singing or chanting or humming comes from the heart, a
place of healing and communication.
When we come to our music each day in a non-greedy way, with time to listen and relax and
experiment and go with the flow, the experience will be inspirational and inviting. We will hear
things we have never heard and we will want to come back to it again and again. Happiness
comes from learning each measure of music or each phrase so deeply that it becomes part of our
breath with no possibility of strain or negativity. It is so beautiful to play or sing one phrase or one
measure of music that is completely in flow. When we stumble through pages of music or many
moments of sound it is because we are not centered and mindful; we become lost and not within
our true nature.
Nothing is Difficult. Everything is Experience.
When we come to our music realizing that we are happy and can be even more deeply happy it
creates seeds of positive thinking in our brain and inner being. Each time we commune with our
music in this happy place, we water a seed and it continues to grow and begins to crowd out our
old feelings of negativity and unhappiness. Soon only seeds of happiness and positive thinking are
left in us and we know that we have arrived and are now able to be mindful of the miracle of life,
music and ourselves.
Page - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
As we wake to another day and the day after that, all the negative seeds die away because we
have refused to water them any longer. Happiness in our music is possible if we water only the
positive ideas of the naturalness of life, nature, and music.
All love, health and blessings to you and your loved ones.
(This article is inspired by the thoughts and ideas of Thich Nhat Hanh’s book “Touching Peace”
Practicing the Art of Mindful Living. Parallax Press, Berkeley, California
“All those who are unhappy in the world are so as a result of their
desire for their own happiness. All those who are happy in the world
are so as a result of their desire for the happiness of others” --Shantideva
Plan ahead for summer fun at
Art of Improvisation to be held
July 29 - August 3, 2007
SUNY Fredonia, Fredonia, NY
Register online at http://musicforpeople.org/aoi_reg.html
AOI 2006: Photo Credit: Julie Weber
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page Congratulations to our new MLP Graduates, October, 2006
Tom Weiser has an extensive background composing, performing
(flute, piano, vocals, and drums), and facilitating vocal and instrumental
improvisation. As the lead singer, keyboard player, and songwriter for
a Rock n’ Roll band called ‘The Decoders,’ he performed regularly in
Boston and New York, and toured Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Tom
studied composition with Pulitzer Prize winner David del Tredici, and
earned an MA in Composition from CCNY. He was the lead drummer
for a well-known African dance school and studied drumming in San
Francisco, New York, Paris, and Brazzaville. Tom has been leading
musical improvisation workshops in New York City since 2001. He has had
the pleasure of participating in workshops led by Bobby McFerrin, Ysaye
Barnwell of “Sweet Honey in the Rock” and scat pioneer Jay Clayton.
Mindi Turin is a licensed psychologist, an
Chantal Drapeau is a Quebec
professional artist.
She has been
experimenting
and creating with
self expression
through audiovisual media for
over 20 years
as a performing
arts leader and
independent film
maker. The art
of improvisation,
a source of
inspiration for her films and workshops, has led
her to take on training with Music for People.
She has discovered that musical improvisation
flowing from the breath is an extraordinary,
accessible way of self connection. She is
further developing her breath and voice work
with the « Option-Voix » method in Montreal.
Within a sacred container, Chantal allows
people to connect to themselves by listening
to silence, where the breath is born and soars
in a melody, a rhythm, a spontaneous song
This is the discovery of our own inner music
in all its unique resonance and authenticity.
Chantal is now offering workshops through
Musique du Cœur (Music from the Heart) in
the Laurentian region.
Page 10 - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
interfaith
minister, and a
musician. She
has 60 years of
life experience
and 34 years
of training and
experience in
facilitating the
personal and
spiritual growth
of individuals
one-on-one,
in groups, in
couples, and in
families.
For the past 6 years, Mindi has been delving
deeply into music, and has found it to be
a joyous and compelling path for personal
expression, fulfillment, and growth, as well as
one of creativity and intellectual stimulation.
Through her 4 years in the Music for People
program, she has developed skills in the area
of music improvisation, both as a participant
and a facilitator. Mindi continues to develop
her skills as a singer/songwriter, guitarist, and
harmonica player. She has been performing
in a variety of venues in her community in
Central New Jersey.
Mindi seeks to integrate the use of sound and
rhythm into her work as a psychotherapist
whenever appropriate and possible, as
she finds it is, in addition to being inherently
enjoyable, a powerful means of promoting
self awareness, healing, and person growth.
Lynn Margileth is a multifaceted educator and guide in many areas of her adult life. She has
taught art and music to students of all ages, working as a professional artist, public school teacher,
staff developer and arts administrator.
She has a private practice in New York City as a
Pathwork Helper, in which she facilitates clients’ conscious,
healing life choices. This path of self honesty, purification
and meditation is is based on the teachings of Eva
Pierrakos and Bert and Moira Shaw. (www.the5050work.
com)
Lynn holds a NY State Wilderness Guide license and
has led backpack quests in the Adirondack mountains for
those seeking healing and wholeness though profound
and sustained contact with nature.
She is a singer, songwriter, guitarist and percussionist
whose performances weave together original, traditional
and spiritual music. She performed with the Mob of Angels
and appears most recently on the CD, “Welcome Brigid”
by Katy Taylor. Other CD’s on which she performs are
“In the Beginning” with Layne Redmond and the Mob of
Angels, “Be Still and Know”, a Pathwork CD of spiritual songs and “Framedrums without Borders”,
an international compilation. Her recent graduation as a Facilitator of Improvisation from the
Music for People program affirms her belief that rhythm and sound is in each one of us waiting for
the right time to emerge.
Let the beauty of what
you love be what you do.
Rumi
When you do things
from your soul,
you feel a river moving
in you, a joy.
Rumi
Heather Keller is a multi-
instrumentalist and group facilitator
whose work is infused with a sense of
spiritual depth, contagious rhythm, and
soulful play. Her work in the Portland
area, through the Children’s Cancer
Association’s Music Rx Program, serves
seriously ill children with music as a
model of comfort care. Heather’s music
is inspired by the community spirit of MfP.
Stay with friends who support
you in these. Talk with them
about sacred texts, and how you
are doing, and how they
are doing, and keep your
practices together.
Rumi
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page 11
Scoring for Picture: Improvising to Picture
Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli
An elderly woman is lying in bed. Her weak breathing sputters and stops. A young couple looks on
weeping. Suddenly, the lifeless woman sits up, looks at us, and whispers “Where are you taking me
now?” The sound of applause slowly trickles in as the scene pulls back to reveal an audience sitting
in a theater enjoying the final moments of a play.
Does this scene provoke your musical imagination? Do you hear sighing vocal melodies? Startling
percussion bursts? Silence? To paraphrase Music for People’s Bill of Musical Rights, there are as many
versions as there are people. Finding the melody, rhythm, and texture that will serve to heighten
drama is the film composer’s art. As a composer for a dozen feature and short films, I face this
challenge regularly. One of my recent films, Elipsis, confronted me with the scene described above.
My musical solution arrived during a classic “Music for People” moment.
A few months ago, while the film was still being edited, the director, Eduardo Arias-Nath, visited my
studio in Los Angeles to preview some initial ideas. These demos consisted of synthesized “mockups” of acoustic instruments (to be recorded later by live players). In the middle of our viewing,
Eduardo’s cell phone rang. “I have to take this,” he said with regret (and this guy wasn’t even
from L.A.!) While he was busy getting updated on some other part of the production, I began
quietly improvising at the piano, not paying much attention to what my fingers were producing. I
was simply passing the time. Eduardo stopped his conversation and interrupted me: “What is that
you’re playing?” “I have no idea,” I replied. “That would be great for the theater scene,” he said.
He’s kidding, right? Do these random notes really make him think of an elderly woman taking her
last breaths?…Cool. I pressed record and quickly got the idea down. Sure enough, it worked! The
theme became one of the cornerstones of the score, later subject to continuous variation as the
film required. A few weeks later, when I was recording the Elipsis score with a 30-piece orchestra, I
marveled at the journey I had taken with my accidental theme.
Despite the fact that this musical discovery took place without watching (or even consciously
thinking about) the scene in question, I increasingly rely on improvisation to discover the right
musical accompaniment. Although my imprecise, often chaotic performances will eventually get
taken apart and re-arranged for other instruments, the act helps get my unfettered feelings “on the
page.” (As a side note, I heard a Hollywood horror story about a well-known film composer who
once handed his arranger a tape of a similarly raw vocal performance, leaving it up to the arranger
to transcribe it – meters, melodies, textures – for full orchestra. Yikes!) Once my improvisation provides
the tempo, tone, and some melodic content, I let the intellectual craft take over. My improvisations
sometimes bare little resemblance to the final music, but I always hope some spirit of that first
performance remains.
I tried an experiment a few years ago that really helped sensitize me to the power of music with
the moving image. I took a few recordings of classical music, playing each one simultaneously
with a random film scene with the sound turned off. I was delighted to see the music take over the
drama and bring emotions and plot turns that didn’t exist before. Even when the music and image
obviously clashed, it was a kind of revelation: with the right (or wrong) soundtrack tragedies become
comedies, romances become horror films, and Westerns become Film Noir. If you really want to
see something interesting, replace that Oldies soundtrack on your parents home-movie DVDs with
Mahler’s Sixth Symphony and watch the once mundane episodes of your childhood unfold on an
epic scale. I chose classical selections for my ad hoc scores, but any music will (or maybe won’t)
work – why not try it with your Music for People Homeplay?! (Another aside: There is an urban legend
that says if you play Pink Floyd’s album The Dark Side of the Moon along with The Wizard of Oz there
is astonishing synchronicity between them, but I’ve never tried that particular experiment.)
Page 12 - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
If you want to take the activity a step farther, try a live improvisation to any film scene. Does your
music react to each little action, “Mickey-Mousing” the events like a cartoon score? Or are you
simply providing an over-arching emotional backdrop that plays through the action? Record them
and play it back with a different scene. Study the effect. It’s the accidental simultaneities that
are the most entertaining – one Ah! after another. Silent films are especially ripe for this treatment
because the style is purely visual, not relying on dialog to tell the story.
It’s difficult to describe the magic that happens when you put music to a moving image. The lack of
mainstream films without music in some form seems to prove that they belong together. Even in the
most famous example of a score-less film, Hitchcock’s The Birds, the music is conspicuous because
of its absence: the film uses silence to create suspense. One of the films that inspired me early on
was Close Encounters of the Third Kind. In a particularly stirring scene toward the end of the film (at
1 hour and 23 minutes to be exact), the two principle characters, Roy and Gillian, finally arrive at a
mountain that had previously only appeared in mysterious, imaginary visions. Though the audience
does not yet know what the characters are looking at, the camera pans in on their yearning faces,
accompanied by quiet rumblings from the orchestra. John Williams’ score then embarks on an
ecstatic crescendo as the camera slowly reveals the mountain, arriving in a moment of recognition
on a soaring three-note musical motif. The orchestra hushes as Gillian mutters “I can’t believe it’s
real.”
I’ve had the opportunity to study many masters of
film music via a recent development for which I
am especially grateful: the DVD featuring isolated
music score. By playing the music-only audio
track and turning on the subtitles, I am able to
enjoy full-length films without all of that obnoxious
dialog and sound effects. Since most films don’t
have wall-to-wall music, I sit in silence for long
periods. This makes music’s presence even more
startling and powerful. Some recommendations
for isolated score DVDs include Superman (the
original Christopher Reeve one – it is wall-to-wall
music!), North By Northwest, L.A. Confidential,
and The Matrix. There are always multiple editions
of DVDs so make sure it says “isolated score” or
“music-only track” somewhere on the jacket
before you buy. A complete list of available
isolated score DVDs is available on the web at:
www.soundtrack.net/dvd
As the reader has no doubt surmised, I find the process of matching music to film endlessly
fascinating. It’s an activity that continually helps me “return to child.” My list of film score
recommendations is longer than space allows, but here are a few highlights: In addition to
commonly known classics like Citizen Kane and the Star Wars saga, there are more recent gems like
Enigma, Catch Me If You Can, Punch-Drunk Love, and…Elipsis (currently in theatrical release in Latin
America – coming soon to a DVD outlet near you!) For those who are serious about getting into film
scoring, I recommend the following books: From Score to Screen by Sonny Companek, On the Track
by Rayburn Wright, and Listening to the Movies by Fred Karlin.
–Christopher Anderson-Bazzoli is an Emmy-nominated composer based in Los Angeles. He is
currently in the Mentor Year of the Music for People Musicianship and Leadership Program. Further
information and listening is available at his website: www.posthornmusic.com
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page 13
INVITING THE REPETITION
Eve Kodiak
“Diggety diggety diga diga diggety diga da diggety da!” David Darling knows that no one
in this workshop will be able to repeat that complicated riff. His face is beaming with a mischief that
says, Improvise your own – I dare you!
I am caught in a moment of cross-cultural confusion. Calling out an unrepeatable phrase
is the opposite of what I do when I teach. But I’m used to working with students for whom exact
imitation is a triumph of auditory awareness. Creating a new phrase is no problem, because they
never fully heard the original.
Being caught in the eddy of a new paradigm is a good time to examine one’s own. It’s
made me wonder about repetition: what it is, what it means, and how it functions in music and in
life.
The Creative Repetition
According to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, the highest form of human creativity is repetition.
“The primary imagination I hold to be . . . a repetition in the finite mind of the eternal act of creation
in the infinite I AM.” *
How can repetition be a creative act?
When looking for basic truths about human beings, I always go back to babies. And as
babies, we imitate everything.
After our son was born, his father would bend over him, exclaiming, “He’s my baby boy! My
baby baby baby boy!” Several times every day, this baby experienced his father’s face beaming
within a few inches of his, articulating these happy sounds.
I frequently breakfasted with an older friend, and we’d put my son’s little car seat on the
table while we ate and talked. Once she stopped mid-bite. I followed her gaze to my baby’s face.
He was bubbling his lips with a concentrated expression. “What is that b-b-b-b thing he’s doing?”
she asked.
I suddenly realized that he was probably, to the best of his ability, repeating “baby baby
boy!” He was re-creating the joy transmitted to him by his father’s face and voice.
We naturally repeat that which gives us joy. This kind of repetition is a creative act. It
stimulates the higher centers of the brain, integrating our whole being. In contrast, to repeat
that which gives us pain is unnatural. This kind of pathological repetition stimulates the survival
mechanisms that lodge in the primitive parts of the brain. Creativity is impossible under these
circumstances, and the “best” that can happen is a kind of ritualized behavior. Dissociations,
compulsions, and acts of cruelty can be seen as negative repetitions stemming from fear and pain.
But joyful repetition is truly a triumph of the imagination. It requires the ability to recognize
something, recreate it as an image in the mind, and then to reproduce it with the body. It’s
an amazing feat, when you think about it. But the one who invents something “new” gets the
patent. We are so culturally conditioned to value originality, that we imagine it - even when it’s
developmentally unlikely.
I experienced this dynamic while training to teach a family music program.
The class was watching a video of a mother singing with her four year-old son. We were guided to
observe the boy’s grasp of rhythm, tone, and musical line, and the ways the mother modeled these
elements for him. The song was Five Little Ducks, in which Mother Duck returns every day with one
less duckling. For a counting song, it contains quite a lot of pathos. The instructor stopped the video
at the child’s last, dramatic “Quack, quack, quack, quack!“
“What do you hear?”
No one got it.
“Listen to the rubato! He’s responding to the emotion of the song.”
*Biographia Literaria, 304
Page 14 - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
I raised my hand. “That’s a Raffi song, isn’t it?”
The instructor wasn’t sure.
“I’ve listened to it dozens of times with my two year-old. That rubato is the little boy repeating
Raffi’s exact inflections.”
We argued briefly, but the instructor’s heart wasn’t in it. He stopped abruptly, and said, “You
should be doing research.”
In our search for the original impulse, we can lose our appreciation of the creativity required
by repetition. That little boy really heard Raffi. To hear and express Raffi’s emotional rubato was a
creative act right at the cutting edge of the boy’s development. And when he is old enough to feel
his own personal rubato, he’ll have the tools to create it.
The Intimate Imitation
I start all my piano students by ear, playing simple patterns for them to imitate. Once I had
a native African student, who reproduced every nuance and inflection of my line with unnerving
accuracy. I felt naked. It was as if this skinny black eight year-old had penetrated my soul.
The more exact the repetition, the more intimate the experience. And you never know
where this intimacy will lead.
In the mid-eighties, I was studying Dalcroze improvisation and African drumming, and
it seemed natural to share my own learning curve with my piano students. We spent weeks
on “impulse” pieces, tiny atonal explorations built on a single gesture. We improvised two-part
inventions, and created piano pieces built on African rhythms.
For a month or more, my little group worked with Peace Piece, a Bill Evans piano solo based
on a slow ostinato in C. When I taped that solo for the kids to take home, I threw in the rest of the
album. Most of the cuts included the other members of the trio, with Paul Motian on drums and Scot
LaFaro on bass.
A dozen years later, I received a beautiful letter and CD from one of these students. He
had become a professional jazz bassist. He told me that the impulse pieces we had done had
organized his internal understanding of jazz, and had translated directly into his improvisation. And
the Peace Piece exercise had led to something I hadn’t expected. “I played the Bill Evans tape
over and over,” his letter went on. “I listened into the bass lines. I absorbed Scot LaFaro’s playing.” I
put his trio’s CD in my stereo. It’s good. Suddenly, a bass riff shocks me into recognition. I hear Scott
LaFaro.
I just checked the web. My former student has put out two more albums; and his trio – piano,
bass, and drums - has been gigging across the country. A review applauds his “shifting contrapuntal
bass lines and quirky solos.”
You never know.
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page 15
The Creative Act
On a recent visit to my parents’ house, I don’t notice the new, lower lamp hanging over the
kitchen table. Bending over, I crack my head on it - hard. As I make my dizzy way toward the living
room couch, I stick a David Darling CD into the stereo.
I spend the day slipping in and out of sleep, Cello Blue vibrating through my consciousness.
I listen to the title cut over and over again, a tonic/dominant ostinato overlaid with texture. In
my semi-hallucinatory state, I can see it: it’s the landscape of The Yellow Submarine as painted
by Claude Monet. A pool of still blue-green water, fringed with trees, surrounded in subconscious
activity, gorgeously alive but static, like the last month of a pregnancy. By the tenth time through, I
begin longing for something to be born - for an animating wind to catch at the surface of the pond
– for -- butterflies!
Where to find butterflies? I navigate off the couch and
replace Cello Blue with the Chopin Berceuse. Both pieces
rest on ostinati, but while Cello Blue is made of water, the
Berceuse is made of air. As played by Evgeny Kissen, its
bass is almost subliminal - the life of the piece is all in its
flutter and sweep. What would it be like to release those
butterflies over the powerful stillness of the pond?
Over the next few weeks, I find that it is complicated.
My first butterflies turn out square, as if Beethoven had
designed them. When I dig out my Chopin scores, I am
reminded of why his runs are so maddening to learn – they
don’t repeat exactly. I notice the balance of symmetry
and asymmetry, of scale and leap, of chromatic and
diatonic motion. For a split second here and there, I
know Chopin – his inner lift and tug, his desperation and
redemption.
I find I have to invoke Chopin sparingly, or he overwhelms
the emotional ground of the piece. I need something
more impressionistic, luminous, but detached . . . Debussy!
Reflets dans l’eau has exactly the right feel, and some
really nice runs I can use.
But as I play, I’m having trouble maintaining the tension between energy and stasis. It’s hard
to improvise something that is simultaneously so slow and so fast. My butterflies sound more like
wasps.
So I put on Parker’s Mood, a sinuous twist of melody that flows inevitably through its silences.
I listen to the sax solo a dozen times, until the imprint of that never-ending line has wound through all
my neural pathways. The next time I sit down to play, something is different. I’m still not playing all
the right notes - but I am playing them from a core of stillness.
The Infinite Heart
Dropping off my son at a play date, I am invited to stay for a cup of tea. I’m exhausted, but
something draws me into the kitchen anyway. “Have you been painting?” I ask my friend.
“Well – yes.” I can tell by the set of her shoulders that she’s making a decision. “There’s this
one that’s driving me crazy.” She leads me into her studio, where a yard-long canvas is propped on
her easel.
“I just want to shoot it,” she says.
The painting is a whirl of pinky, abstract forms, divided in three sections. On the left, I see a
woman standing, looking at a central swirl of energy that circulates endlessly around itself. On the
far right is brilliant gold light, reaching back toward the center, but not into it.
“She thinks she has to generate all the energy herself,” I say. “But she needs to allow the light
to come in from the outside, to give her the strength to transform.”
My friend gestures toward the caged swirl in the center. “That’s her heart,” she says.
“I know,” I say.
We look at the painting.
“I’m working on something, too,” I say. I sit down at her out-of-tune spinet and play DavidDarling-Meets-Frederic-Chopin. My friend listens intently.
Page 16 - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
“There’s one part in the middle that’s perfect,” she says. I play her several effervescent runs,
but she keeps saying, “No, not that.” Then: “That’s it!” It’s the direct quote from Cello Blue.
Instant depression. I’m just another four year-old doing a perfect imitation of Raffi, and the
heart of the piece doesn’t even belong to me.
But as I’m leaving the house, a bumpersticker on the refrigerator catches my eye. It’s a
quote from Jimi Hendrix.
Knowledge speaks, but Wisdom listens.
I see my friend’s painting in my mind’s eye, the abstract woman looking at the swirling
energy of her own sealed heart. But the heart is not a solitary organ; it cannot energize itself. It
longs to be in coherence with the hearts around it - hearts that communicate through paintings,
through music, through sounds of children laughing, through wisdom posted on refrigerator doors.
To listen with intimacy is to honor another’s wisdom. To repeat that wisdom in one’s own
voice is a gift from heart to heart. Both the four year-old and I are creators, playing a game of call
and response with the infinite I AM. And as our personal wave ripples back into the eternal tide, we
come into harmony with the heart of the universe.
45minutes of peace, love
and musicaldevelopment
.
Discover why our family and preschool classes are
so well loved. Apply your skills to our research-based
program, join a teaching community on the cutting
edge, and support a new generation of musically
competent children. There’s a workshop near you.
the joy of family music
®
(800) 728-2692 • www.musictogether.com
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page 17
M
“New Directions Cello Festival:
No glitz. No hype. Just pure magic... Connecting a world of cellists
who are carving niches for the cello where no cellist has gone before.”
From the web site: newdirectionscello.com
Dr. Sera Jane Smolen
It has been a pleasure to have been involved with the New Directions Cello Festival since its
inception twelve years ago, with its director and visionary, Chris White. It stretches me to re-examine
every area of my musicianship.
Festivals have been held in New York (SoHo), at the Berkely School of music in Boston, at the
University of Connecticut in Storres, at Lawrence University in Appleton Wisconsin, and now, at the
Sacramento State University in Sacramento, CA.
Guest artists have come from Switzerland, India, Japan, Brazil, France, Canada, and all
over the United States. Gatherings of operatic divas, or of virtuoso clarinettists might be one thing,
but this tribe of improvising cellists is joyful, wild, free, friendly and audatious year after year after
year. In the hallways, on the sidewalks, in the dorm late at night, there’s hardly a moment without
cellos jamming somewhere. It’s got to be the only place you will hear a spontaneous rendition of
Innagada Davita with 10 cellos at 2am.
Each annual festival is held during a long weekend in June (Friday noon through Sunday
afternoon). In addition to three concerts, there will be twenty or so workshops, jam sessions, teacher
training and masterclasses, as well as a showroom filled with electric cellos, electronics, CD’s, music,
and new inventions. In addition, there is an all-cello Big Band rehearsing each day, including
everyone (participants, guest artists & staff), preparing the Sunday afternoon concert. New
arrangements for cello Big Band arrive each year, featuring participants as soloists.
The non-conformists, the geniuses, and wild men (and women), the composers, virtuosos,
and innovators all stretch the instrument to express in new dimensions, and occupy new territory.
The cello may be part of a muti-media presentation, or a jazz band including many genres. It may
be a folk instrument, a “voice,” dance partner, or an instrument for world music. It may be heard
as an instrument for the streets, a partner for poetry, or theater. The concerts feel like history in the
making, and take my breath away. I have had to say, like Rainer Maria Rilke, after he saw a new
sculpture for the first time: “now we will have to live a little differently!”
There are cellists attending from age 8 and up, beginners, recording artists, world reknowned
soloists, teachers, professors, classical musicians, public school teachers, amateurs, and free-lancers.
There is a place for anyone who is game for a glimpse into new directions for cello.
As the education co-ordinator and assistant director, I have had the privelige of interviewing
many of the guest artists. Each guest artist is invited to give a begninng workshop, as well as a more
advanced one, or a jam session too. We have had workshops on an incredible array of topics.
There have been some underlying themes whose mysteries undergo examination over the years,
again and again.
What is the art of improvising over chord changes, and what is the best way to learn this?
How many ways can pizzicato be used on the cello, and what are the techniques to develop this?
How does a performer prepare for an unaccompanied, totally improvised cello solo? How do we
integrate complete freedom of expression with the discipline of playing the cello accurately? How
do we learn to live artistically with elecrical components, gadgets, loopers, computers, pedals and
boxes? If we were not trained in school for all of this cool stuff, how should we educate our young
cellists now? Should we order chaos musically, or not? How do you discover, or invent your own
musical language?
Page 18 - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
Master educator, Alice Kancak, has studied the creative processes of famous artists,
musicians, scientists, and mathemeticians. Her observation is that, underneath every scientific
and artistic discovery is the search for truth and beauty. I often ask people what got them started
improvising with their cellos. People have taken their cellos into the Grand Canyon, to the circus,
up into the attic, on retreat, out in the field, under the stars, into the far reaches of Paris, Brazil and
India. People have translated many dialects onto the cello, creating new languages, laws, colors,
costumes, causes and effects. Many many penetrating truths are found there, and so many kinds of
beauty.
Is the cello a melodic instrument, percussion? ...a strummed instrument, a singing instrument?
bass? sound making object? ...a cosmic thing? …a comic thing? yes. At New Directions Cello
Festivals, all of this is very fair game.
To learn more about this year’s festival, go to newdirectionscello.com
Dr. Sera Jane Smolen performs four centuries of music. She has been involved in projects spanning
spanning a number of musical genres, including world music, and interdisciplinary projects with
poets, painters, and dancers. An active recording artist, she released an internationally acclaimed
CD, Souls of Birds, with her partner Tom Mank.
She received her PhD. in Music Education from the Union Institute. She currently is in
demand around the country and Canada as guest clinician, and is the Assistant Director of the
New Directions Cello Festival. A book she arranged, called “Fiddling Tunes for Cello and Guitar”
has enriched the repertoire of styles available to cello students and teachers. She leads workshops
called “Teaching music as a Living Art” on Pedagogy of improvisation and composition.
www.serasmolen.net
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page 19
ANNOUNCEMENTS & NEWS
MLP Graduate David Rudge: Improv. Collective Performs at NYSSMA
The Improv. Collective was founded by Dr. David Rudge at SUNY - Fredonia 6 years ago. Since then
it has grown from 6 students to 30, performing twice a year, and has become known throughout the
School of Music as a very hip group! It includes Music Education, Performance, and Therapy majors,
as well as some wonderful non-music majors. Last year we were invited by the New York State
School Music Association to perform at their Winter-Conference in December at the Convention
Center in Rochester, NY. Choruses, bands and orchestras are always invited via taped audition, but
this is the first time a group of improvisers has ever been asked to perform. 4,000 music students and
educators were at the event, and hundreds came to our clinic and performance, which started
with one soloist--an amazing Chinese student playing her Yangqin (dulcimer), and ended with the
audience of administrators and teachers smacking each other with boomwhackers--then standing
and cheering! People were amazed that Fredonia has such a unique performing ensemble, and
were very moved by the performance.
MFP Member Vera Jiji would like to announce her forthcoming book, Cello Playing for Music Lovers:
A Self-Teaching Method. (Trafford Publishing). Vera says, “I think the book will interest MfP members.
In earlier chapters, readers learn to find their way around on the cello, read music and appreciate
the role of scales and chords. In later chapters, they learn to play about 60 songs, ranging in
character from “Blowin in the Wind” and “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” to a Bach Sarabande.
Improvising and playing chamber music are also considered.”
MfP Member Eve Kodiak: My piano solo CD, Meditations for a New Year’s Day, is out. It includes
some MfP-style improvisational forms, including a version of “Parker’s Mood” chopped up and
superimposed over a descending bass line, a pixilated version of two Bach gavottes spread out
over seven octaves, a sort-of-a-steady-state piece that treats the piano like a kalimba, and many
examples of drone and ostinato. You can listen to bits of it on my website, www.evekodiak.com,
and at www.cdbaby.com (just type me in on the search engine). Or at the MfP store.
MfP Member: Kira Metcalf-Oshinsky has a chance to sing out in her school musical, Babes in Arms.
Kira will get to solo on some musical theater classics, including The Lady is a Tramp and Johnny One
Note.
MLP Grad and MFP Staff member Jim Oshinsky’s song, A Toast to New Orleans was used in a
segment of a TV show on the Madison Square Garden network. The show was part of a series
highlighting the 50 greatest moments in MSG history. The piece that included the recent benefit
concert for victims of Hurricane Katrina opened with Jim’s song, supplemented by visual images of
the flooding, rescues, and aftermath.
Music for People is now on MySpace. Please visit us at www.myspace.com/musicforpeopleorg and
add yourself to our “friends.” We will be adding more music clips, videos and pictures as we go
along. All of the upcoming workshops are listed as well as the satellite workshops. If you don’t have
a MySpace page, this would be a great time to start one. It’s easy and fun to collect friends from all
over the world and to share your music with others.
The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism awarded David Darling with a grant from
the Artist Fellowship Grant Program to support the creation of new work in music composition.
Congratulations David!
Check out David Darling’s first video posting at YouTube ”Abolish War” at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy8TL6yPz9g
Beyond the Wood (BTW) consists of all MLP grads, Elizabeth Byrd Webster-cellist, Ron Kravitzpercussion, Paul Butlar-winds, & Stuart Fuchs-guitar. BTW Gives interactive spontaneous world
fusion concerts and workshops. Their workshop, assemblies, and small group lessons apply MFP
techniques and philosophies. Some of their performances include the Breckenridge Music Festival,
Carousel Concerts, and Ron Underground. In 2005 they recorded their first CD, Summer Snowflake in
Breckenridge, CO. Selections can be heard on their website, www.BeyondTheWood.
Page 20 - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
http://www.salsa.net/medialab/WebJam/webjam-1.html
You are invited to participate in a A Musical Collaboratory
with the Media Lab of the South Central Texas Chapter of the Internet Society (SalsaNet)
and David Darling
Abolish War Chant
play mp3 at http://www.salsa.net/medialab/WebJam/AbolishWarChant.mp3)
This is an experiment in musical collaboration based on A Bill of Musical Rights developed by David
Darling. Download file and add your own track or tracks. Post it on the web and email URL to
[email protected]
Book Review by Jim Oshinsky:
Arthur Hull, author of Drum Circle Spirit, has a new book out called Drum Circle Facilitation: Building
Community Through Rhythm. This is a quantum leap in perspective, standing on the shoulders of
his previous book. He is exceptionally articulate and specific in his presentation of group leading
techniques. At the same time the book’s pace and tone are fundamentally humble and human.
Written in Arthur’s reader-friendly style, it is packed full of anecdotal examples from several
experienced drum circle leaders, who share what they have learned in their highlight and lowlight
moments. As used in the Village Drum Circle Facilitators Playshops (their equivalent of our MLP),
the book introduces a visual and gestural shorthand code for concisely and precisely describing
what takes place in the unfolding sequence of a facilitated drum circle. It also presents a series
of “triplicities,” or triads of concepts to be considered and balanced together while leading.
Professionals will appreciate the inclusion of material on the career building and maintenance
aspects of leading that go beyond the circle and out into the world. This is must-read stuff. It is selfpublished by Village Music Circles, and is available through their website at drumcircle.com.
Quotes:
I absolutely love (and am falling in love
with) the economy, simplicity, naturalness
and availability of this amazing, gorgeous,
resonant, always present instrument called my
voice! How cool is that! Michael DeMaria, MLP
Apprentice
....I almost forgot how much fun and how
rewarding they (MfP Homeplays) are to do. I
spent a full day on each, and it really brought
me back to a musical center.
Clint Goss, MLP Leader
I recognized early on that the training was an
organic process which required my faith and
trust. Each year builds so beautifully upon the
teachings and learnings of the one past.
Heather Keller, MLP Graduate
We Want Your Input!
We want to hear from you! Submit news,
poems, articles, pictures, suggestions and
advertisements to MfP:
[email protected]
Keep in touch with Music for People! Join [email protected].
Membership in Yahoo! It’s free.
To join, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/
and click on Sign Up.
About Connections...
Connections, Music for People’s newsletter, is
published two times a year. We welcome articles,
interviews, quotes, poems, vignettes and other
tidbits of wisdom relevant to music, creativity
and improvisation. An average feature article in
Connections is approximately 1,200-1,500 words.
Please include a 2-3 sentence author biography.
A photo or drawing of the author or the workin-action is great. Please include credits for
photographers and artists. If you are sending
someone else’s material, please secure written
reprint permission from the publisher, author or artist
and send it to us with the manuscript. For more
information about submitting materials, contact the
MfP Office: [email protected]
Ad Rates and Sizes...
Please submit ads for Connections electronically as
a black & white graphic file with a minimum 300 dpi
setting OR as camera ready art. Ad payments are
made to Music for People.
Rate
Size
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Full Page
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10% Discount MfP Members
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Calendar Listings are free to all members.
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page 21
Music for People Community (G)
(L)
(M)
(E)
(A)
Workshops and Gatherings
=
=
=
=
=
MLP Graduate; Certified MfP Teacher
Leader
Mentor
Explorer
Apprentice
Email the MfP Office, [email protected], with information about your gathering! It’s free!
IN CANADA :
SHARON LITTLE (G) - London, Ontario Mary Azima French Jackson, (G) - Guilford, CT Make Your Own Kind of Music workshops, one-on-ones,
Creative worship services every third Sun. of month from 2-4
­distance learning (phone and tape), children to adults.
at Shoreline Center for Wholistic Health, 35 Boston St. (at
Drum circles. Find Your Creative Voice – through the
end of Guilford green). Call or email to confirm: 206-643-
voice to the Creative Fire Within (private ­sessions, groups,
8033 or [email protected]
seminars, speaking engagements). No musical experience
necessary. [email protected] or 519-785-0797
Georgia
ELISE WITT (M) - Pine Lake (Atlanta), GA
MONIQUE POIRIER (G) - Montreal, Quebec
“Singing for Fun” classes and workshops use MfP principles
Workshops in improviation open-to-all. Also piano
along with elements of Tai Chi, Yoga, Alexander Technique,
workshops and individual lessons in piano improvisation.
dance and theater. Discover the rainbow of colors in your
[email protected] or 514-341-5943
voice and our collective voice. Discover, explore and
expand your own voice and find yourself part of a glorious
LISE ROY (G) - Montreal, Quebec
Separate weekly gatherings for beginners and long-time
improvisors and individual sessions. 514-523-7517
impromptu choir. Classes held at Rising Phoenix Tai Chi
Studio, Little 5 Points Community Center. Contact: Elise Witt
[email protected] (404) 297-8398 * www.elisewitt.
WORKSHOPS AND GATHERINGS LISTED BY STATE:
com
CALIFORNIA
SINGING FOR FUN IN OUR NATURAL ENVIRONMENT: Singing
SADJA GREENWOOD (G) - Bay Area, CA Monthly gatherings
and Natural History Workshop with Elise Witt & Mary Elfner
on Saturdays or Sundays. Always fun! Free.
on Ossabaw Island, Georgia, MAY 4-6, 2007. Contact
415-868-0493
Contact: Mary Elfner: [email protected] or Elise
ARIEL “Orna” LECHNER (M) - Oakland, CA Witt <[email protected]> (404) 297-8398 * www.
Monthly improv gatherings on Sundays at 11:00 AM. Bring
elisewitt.com
your spirit, voice and instrument, veggie munchies optional.
Call: 510-655-2952
ILLINOIS
CONNECTICUT
EVE KODIAK (M) - Chicago, IL
RANDY BRODY (G) - Weston, CT YOU ARE THE MASTER CLASS,April 21 and/or 22, Mary
2006-2007 Fall/Winter Community Drum Circles, March
Sauers Studios on Michigan Avenue in Chicago, a couple
19, April 16, May 21, June 18 (call for future dates). Time: of blocks from Symphony Center and the Art Institute.
7:30-9:00pm Location: Norfield Grange, 12 Good Hill Road,
Contact [email protected] or 603-878-4726.
Weston, CT. Admission: $15.00 adults / $5.00 seniors (65+)
and under 12. Info: 203-270-8820
Plan Ahead: 14th Annual Drums Around the World, Aug 25,
2:30-5:00, Taylor Farm Park, Norwalk, CT
KEVIN MAKAREWICZ (G) - Greenwich, CT
Seasonal and Ritual Dance & Music. Private sessions and
residencies. Kirtan, Rev Will Burhans and Kevin Makarewicz,
May 4 7:30-9:30PM- thecairn.ne/KIrtan07_05_04.php,
“Breath & Voice Workshop” May 5th 10-2, 203-698-2465
INDIANA
SALLY CHILDS-HELTON (G) - Indianapolis, IN
Improv gatherings are held at 7:00 PM on a somewhat adlib schedule in the home of Sally and Barry Childs-Helton,
5271 Primrose Ave. Please bring snacks. All welcome. Please
call 317-251-8099 or email [email protected] to be
added to the notification list for upcoming events.
MASSACHUSETTS
VICTORIA CHRISTGAU - Litchfield, CT
SARAH TENNEY (G) - Cambridge, MA
Ongoing workshops, gatherings, ­residencies and private
Improvisation gatherings. Call: 617-876-7847 or e-mail:
sessions. Call: 860-567-3441
[email protected]
Page 22 - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections
NEW HAMPSHIRE
TOM WEISER (G) - New York, NY JAHNA MONCRIEF (G) - Alstead, NH
Vocal Improv Lab -- an open circle of a capella
Music Outside the Box! Intermediate and Advanced
improvisation. Sessions last 2 hours. Held twice monthly
musicians on violin, viola cello and double bass are
in New York City. For information e-mail Tom Weiser at
invited to join the Contoocook Valley Regional School
[email protected]
District String Ensemble on Monday afternoons at 3pm,
JOELLE DANANT (G) - Brooklyn, NY at ConVal High School. Classic chamber music and MfP
$15 registration, e-mail: [email protected] or Call:
style improvisations are all part of the fun Performances
718-783-5231 3rd Sunday of each month in Park Slope. 2:00
are in December, March and May. Please contact Jahna
to 4:00 PM. Unleash Your Vocal Muse -- vocal improvisation
Moncrief if you are interested! [email protected] or
workshop. Every other Thursday, 7:30-9:30pm in Park Slope:
phone 603-588-6630 x6414.
Sacred Singing Circle (non-denominational). Tuesday 7p-9p,
Improvisational Movement & Singing from the Inside Out
NEW JERSEY
ANGE CHIANESE (M) / MINDI TURIN (G) - Trenton/
Lawrenceville, NJ
Ange and Mindi alternate hosting an improv gathering on
the first Sunday of each month. Contact Ange (angezip@
aol.com) or Mindi ([email protected]) if you are
interested in coming.
JANE BUTTARS (G) - Princeton, NJ Music from the Inside. Explore music and movement
DAVID RUDGE (G) - Fredonia, NY The Improv. Collective meets weekly on the campus of
SUNY-Fredonia. We give two concerts per year. This is a
student organization with David Rudge as its advisor. There is
also a Free Improvisation class that meets each week 3:004:30 PM on Thursdays.Guests are always welcome! For more
information call: 716-673-4644
PENNSYLVANIA
improvisation and develop self-expression and music skills. Suzanne V. Bernhardt (G) northern Philadelphia
Workshops, residencies, private sessions, piano improvisation
suburb. Private workshops in overall self-expression, distance learning by speaker phone or tape. For details: creative development, and life integration, including
609-683-1269 or [email protected]
MFP techniques as well as improvisational theater and
dance approaches. I also teach “Theater as Spiritual
KEN GUILMARTIN (M) - Princeton, NJ Practice” at Bryn Athyn College, (brynathyn.edu) and
Fun, participatory workshops in early childhood music
for the community, at Mitchell Performing Arts Center and movement. Increase your understanding of music
(mitchellcenter.info), which is open to larger community
development in young children; learn developmentally
involvement. 267 502 2588 or suzanne.bernhardt@
appropriate instruction using Center for Music and Young
brynathyn.edu
Children’s Music Together curriculum. Workshops offered
through U.S. and Canada. Call CMYC: 800-782-2692
ERIC & LYNN MILLER (G) - Phoenixville, PA Workshops and gatherings. Call for details.610-933-8145
DOROTHY SIKORA (G) - Red Bank Area, NJ Monthly gatherings, vocal, drum circles and improv
HENRIK STUBBE TEGLBJAERG (L) - Phoenixville, PA , A Musical
gatherings open to all. Have fun, Sing, play music.
Journey: every last Sunday of the month in my home,
732-222-8703
4-7PM, ACll or email for directions: [email protected],
603-933-9199
NEW YORK
JULIE WEBER (G) - Woodstock, NY YOU ARE THE MUSIC - music improvisation and music
learning experiences - No matter your musical experience
- begin, reawaken or deepen your relationship
with music in a relaxed, supportive atmosphere.
Workshops • Lessons • Individuals • Ensembles Professional
Groups • Community Building • Staff Development
e-mail: [email protected] or Call: 845-473-4572
Emily Metcalf (G), Jim Oshinsky (Hon G) , - Baldwin, NY.
RON KRAVITZ (G) - Philadelphia, PA & Wyndmoor, PA
Group Motion Workshop Dance improvisation with live
music every Friday night throughout the year at 3500
Lancaster Ave. Phila. Pa. 19104 Ongoing since 1968. Lead by Manfred Fischbeck and Brigitta Herrmann www.
groupmotion.org or 215-387-9895
Music in the Moment (The Songs Within You).
www.
musicinthemoment.com Improv gatherings many Saturday
mornings, 1012 E. Southamptan Ave. Wyndmoor, Pa. By
appt. 215-233-0777
Periodic MfP house parties. 516-623-6912 oceansky@
optonline.net
Connections - Spring/Summer 2007 - Page 23
CALENDAR OF IMPORTANT DATES
Mar 30 - April 3, 2007
MfP Switzerland Program
Kientalerhof,
Kiental, Switzerland
May 4-6, 2007
Class 3 - Adventures in Improvisation
Musicianship & Leadership Program
Stony Point Center
Stony Point. NY
May 9-10
Intro to Music for People
Satellite Workshop
Trimurti, France
June 22 - 24, 2007 Class 4 - Adventures in Improvisation
Musicianship & Leadership Program
AND Improvisation Camp
Immaculata University
Frazure, PA
July 16-24, 2007
Kientalerhof,
Kiental, Switzerland
MfP Switzerland Program
July 29 - Aug 3, 2007
Art of Improvisation
SUNY, Fredonia, NY
Oct. 12-14, 2007
Class 1 - Adventures in Improvisation
Musicianship & Leadership Program
Omega Institute
Rhinebeck, NY
Feb. 8-10, 2008
Class 2 - Adventures in Improvisation
Musicianship & Leadership Program
Immaculata University
Frazure, PA
May 2-4, 2008
Class 3 - Adventures in Improvisation
Musicianship & Leadership Program
Omega Institute
Rhinebeck, NY
June 27-29, 2008
Class 4 - Adventures in Improvisation
Musicianship & Leadership Program
AND Improvisation Camp
Immaculata University
Frazure, PA
Music for People
P.O. Box 397
Goshen, CT 06756
USA
Toll Free: 877-44MUSIC
Phone: 860-491-3763
www.musicforpeople.org
Page 24 - Spring / Summer 2007 - Connections