50th Anniversary Gala: Joseph Calleja “Che gelida manina”
Interview: Kate Lindsey, Mezzo-soprano
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
Study, listen, watch, and then remember to find yourself in all of that information being thrown at you. We can be good and being good students, but there’s a big leap to working professionally and becoming your own artist. This happens with time, certainly, but I think it’s important – after you’ve heard what everyone else thinks about how you should sing/act/think – that it’s important to have a sense of where your sensibilities stand in that creative process.
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Giving Students Choices, Can Dramatically Improve Learning
Why choice matters
Intuitively, you’d think that maybe learning is enhanced because people are more engaged and process things more deeply when they get to make choices about their learning. And there might be some of that involved, but the colored ball and painting examples suggest that this can’t be all of it.
Some notable researchers in this area believe that it’s also a matter of self-efficacy. That feeling like we’re in control of a situation (autonomy) increases the sense that we’ll also be successful at the task at hand (self-efficacy). And that when our self-efficacy goes up, we’re more motivated, our focus is heightened, and all the factors that need to be present for maximal learning all come together.
There is also the possibility that autonomy could facilitate more positive feelings in the learning process too. Which is associated with the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine, that in turn has been implicated in the memory consolidation of motor skills.
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Katherine Waterston on the Tough Times
When asked if she knows why she doesn’t receive more recognition for her work, Waterston points to her early days a struggling actress in New York and how some things haven’t changed in terms of her attitude toward her work. She says, “Self-promotion is not my strong suit, for sure. I don’t look down on it; I just don’t understand how to do it. All those years working and not working in New York—sure, it was painful, but it was also such a personal process for me because no one was paying attention. Obviously, that was difficult financially, but I’m grateful I was left alone with my work for a number of years. It’s more pleasant not to have to defend or explain yourself so much. A lot of what we do is hard to put into words. And I find that I come up short or disappoint myself in trying to even talk about it. There’s an attitude in Hollywood that those are the tough years, and these are the breezy, easy years, but it’s actually a little more complicated than that. The hell of rejection and panicking about whether you’ve really fucked it all up by pursuing a life in the arts, that stuff’s tough, but there’s also a wonderful solace in it. You get to be alone with your work.”
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Tips for Teaching Ballet | Kathryn Morgan
Interview: Gareth Brynmor, Baritone
What do you consider to be the most important ideas and concepts to impart to aspiring musicians?
That music should always be about something, be for something, be because of something. We spend years honing instrumental or vocal technique, and it is right that that is the primary focus of teaching, but what’s the point if we don’t try and use it to say something. People need the space at a young age to find what their artistic voice might be.
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Why Classical Music Lovers Are Smarter
There are some unique qualities of classical music which do make it more effective all other things being equal, but that principle can also apply to 15-minute manifestation or some other similar technique.
Classical music is more musically complex compared to rock or pop songs, which means that the stimulant effect is greater as your brain processes these songs. Rather than directly boosting your brain’s power, classical music can create a more soothing environment which is more conducive to thinking.
But do not take this to mean that you should force yourself to listen to classical music if you find it boring and uninteresting. Music, no matter from whom or where it was created, is always enervating and beneficial to your brain. Forcing yourself to listen to uninteresting music will eventually turn yourself off from doing it completely, especially as the benefits and only accumulate over time. If you would rather listen to death metal than Mozart, do not feel ashamed and turn up the volume.
Photo Source: Classic FM
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