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by Mimi-West

Heritage Treatment Center Presents the Power of Musical Theater

Published:   May 20, 2012
Categories!:  Culture, Education, Fine Art, Knowledge, Musical Performance, Personal Development, Singing

Heritage School Logo

Heritage School Logo

Some schools merely instruct, but Heritage inspires.  This weekend I took my family and some friends to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Heritage Center Stage.  It was charming, cute, and full of heart—but we didn’t just have a good time.  It changed our entire outlook on the world.

Heritage is a residential treatment center for at-risk teens.  Having heard about the school system through friends, I had been eager to check out their facilities for years.  Yet I didn’t know how; you can’t just walk into treatment centers without an invitation.  As soon as a friend offered me tickets to the musical, I invited as many friends as I could to go with me.

From the moment my group and I entered the theater, we knew we were in for a treat.  Nothing excites me more than seeing kids involved in positive activities, and I knew this family-friendly show would be no exception.  We came excited and we left gratified beyond our expectations.

What I didn’t anticipate was that I would cry as soon as the curtain opened.  The narrators entered the stage with little kids, singing together about the story that was about to unfold.  Joseph entered through a floor-born cloud, and as a parent, I just couldn’t restrain the tears.  My teenage friends sitting next to me enjoyed mocking my sappiness.

Thankfully the sentimental tone changed quickly with the more light-hearted song Jacob & Sons.  From then on we danced in our seats, laughing at antics and growing fond of each character.  Since it was closing night, we got to see the master of ceremonies present gifts and publically thank those involved with the production.

After the show, we discussed our favorite aspects, and it quickly became clear that we loved everything about it.  The kids did a fabulous job engaging the audience through singing, acting, and dancing.  Most of the kids had little or no formal training, but the audience immediately latched on to their genuine, dynamic personalities.  The moral support was unanimous.

Evidently, the adults involved in production infused love and expertise into everything.  The costumes were brilliant, the scenery epic, the choreography inventive, and the lighting and sound precise and well-executed.  I found the transitions between scene changes particularly clever.  The orchestra blew me away, and even more so when I discovered it was just one person—Rosanne Abraham—on a keyboard.

On visiting the Heritage school, I knew I would learn something interesting, and maybe even meet some nice people.  I’m pleased to say that I was moved beyond expectation by the production itself and by the warm spirit that resided there.  My Heritage visit will forever stand as a case study of the power of the arts to change people for good.

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by Mimi-West

7 Reasons Everyone Should Play Piano

Published:   May 16, 2012
Categories!:  Classical Music, Music Teacher, Music Theory, Musical Performance, Personal Development

Play Piano

Studying piano carries so many benefits. Why doesn't everyone play piano?

I’m an advocate of having every musician play the piano.  This powerhouse instrument packs a powerful punch of benefits.  These are merely the top seven:

1)      It has more notes.  The piano keyboard represents every note available on other instruments.  There is no instrument that has a note that the piano does not have.  This reason alone gives a strong case for everyone to play piano.

2)      What you hit is what you get.  The piano produces the most immediate results of any instrument.  You simply touch a key and the note sounds—no tone training required.  With most other instruments, you have to spend weeks just trying to make a sound and many more years striving to perfect it.  Not so when you play the piano.

3)      Get the big picture first.   This straight-forward quality of piano playing makes it ideal for sight reading.  If you play a different instrument, you can always plunk out your part on the piano first.  If you’re learning an orchestral piece, you can even play the other instruments’ parts.  After getting an overview of a piece on the piano, then you can worry about creating all the other musical features on your primary instrument.

4)      You can play chords.  Since the piano allows you to play multiple notes at a time—unlike a saxophone or bassoon—it is by far the best instrument for learning music theory.  Theory teachers frequently use the piano to play chords and explain other concepts.  The keyboard is ideal for visualizing the music you’re analyzing.

5)      Impress more friends.  Keyboard instruments are the most versatile of all instrument families.  The piano by itself is used in all genres—classical, baroque, rock n’ roll, jazz, pop, hip hop—you name it.  If your primary interest in studying music is to impress your friends, the piano is a wise choice.  You are more likely to impress a diverse crowd of individuals.

6)      Branch out.  The ability to fit into many styles is not the only benefit of playing piano.  You can easily learn other keyboard instruments like organ and harpsichord.  Mallet and other “layout” instruments such as the marimba and xylophone are easy to learn after studying piano.

7)      Play virtually anything.  Electric keyboards have an added bonus: built-in voicings of other instruments.  If you get bored with the grand piano sound, you can switch to cello, accordion, or even a sophisticated drum kit.  Record yourself playing one “instrument”, add another voice on top of that, and you’ve got a whole orchestra at your fingertips.

Playing piano is key to a singer’s survival.  My voice teachers always told me that the best singers were good pianists.  Sadly, I had quit piano lessons years before learning this essential fact.  I have worked hard in my adult years to make up for lost time.  Now I teach piano basics to all my voice and violin students.

It’s never too late to start to play the piano.  Search for a piano teacher in your area today.

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by Mimi-West

How to Enjoy an Opera

Published:   April 25, 2012
Categories!:  Classical Music, Culture, Education, Fine Art, For Music Students, Knowledge, Music History, Musical Performance, Personal Development, Respect

How to Enjoy an Opera

It takes a bit of work to enjoy an opera, but doing so will change your life in great ways.

Opera going is not like movie going.  Most movie-goers want to know just enough about the plot to be interested in seeing the film.  They don’t want to know too much about how the story unfolds—or how it ends—because it spoils their fun.  Surprise is what makes seeing a movie for the first time delightful.

With opera, quite the opposite is true: the more you know about the story, the more you enjoy the performance.  If you go without knowing what’s going to happen beforehand, you will be too lost and frustrated to realize all the show has to offer.

And what does opera have to offer?  Since its early years, opera has been regarded as the presentation of all the highest arts in one place.  It features poetry, drama, acting, painting, sculpture, elaborate costumes, lavish upholstery, and these days, bleeding edge technology.  Oh yes, and music, too!

Really, opera is nothing short of an artistic smorgasbord.  So do your homework and don’t miss out on all the goodies.

Read the Synopses.  Before attending the show, familiarize yourself with the complexities of the plot.  Once informed, you can focus on the other elements of the show.  Otherwise, your eyes will be fixed on the supertitles rather than the stage.  If you already know what’s happening, you can actually listen to the music, admire the scenery, and bask in the holistic theater experience.

Get some historical background.  While not essential to enjoying the opera on a basic level, you are guaranteed to appreciate the show much more with historical context.  When does the opera take place?  What is the historic backdrop of the plot?  What was going on in the composer’s country of residence the year he wrote this opera?  Verdi, Puccini, and Wagner were especially nationalistic composers.  As such, their operas often have intriguing political undertones that were controversial at the time.

Listen to recordings.  Figure out what famous songs you should listen for.  Each opera has at least one classic aria or orchestra bit that made it so famous.  Watch several versions on YouTube and you’ll be so thrilled when you hear it during the live performance.  You’ll get swept up in the excitement of the opera experience.  You’ll finally understand why those fanatics in the box seats scream “Brava!” at the end of each aria, clapping and nearly thrusting themselves off the balcony.

Learn something about this interpretation.  If possible, read about the version you are going to see.  What are the director’s dramatic choices?  Is the show in a traditional or a modern setting?  What was the most costly part about putting this show together?  What technical difficulties did they have to get around?  All these facts will sharpen your eyes and deepen your appreciation for what is being presented.  They might even keep you from feelings of confusion or outrage at the interpretive decisions.

Watch another version.  You really start to appreciate opera when you watch different versions of the same show.  While exposing yourself to so many different interpretations of the same music and plots, you’ll even start to form your own opinions about how directors really “should” bring the story to life, and how each aria really “should” be sung.  You’ll become an opera snob before you know it!

Seeing an opera is fun, but it’s even more enjoyable to bring friends to the show.  I like to discuss the opera with my friends afterward.  They often notice things I didn’t.  When they share their thoughts with me, I really feel like I got my money’s worth.  Once you convert your friends to this way of seeing an opera, you’ll all become fanatics in no time.

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by Mimi-West

The Mahler Effect

Published:   April 19, 2012
Categories!:  Classical Music, Concerts, Culture, Dissertation Ideas, Education, Fine Art, For Music Students, Knowledge, Music History, Music Teacher, Musical Expression, Musical Performance, Personal Development, Respect

The Mahler Effect

Gustav Mahler Conducts the Vienna Philharmonic, by by Max Oppenheimer, 1935

I was so moved the first time I saw Gustav Mahler Conducts the Vienna Philharmonic at the Belvedere in Vienna, Austria.  It may not look extraordinary in a pixilated rendering, but its life-size original is breathtaking. 

The mark of a great painting is its appeal to more senses than just sight.  In this painting, not only can you see the wind blowing through everybody’s hair; you feel it.  Though non-existent, you become convinced that there’s an actual breeze in the room.  This effect blurs the separation between the artwork in front of you and your reality on the other side of it.  You are transported from your world into Max Oppenheimer’s fantasy.  It thrills and frightens you at the same time.

As you analyze the windy effect of this painting, a riddle emerges.  The Golden Hall doesn’t have windows, so . . . aha!  The epiphany appears.  It’s not a literal gust of wind that Oppenheimer paints so eloquently.  It’s the unearthly whirlwind of passion that sweeps up each orchestra member—and you, the viewer.  It’s rather Pentecostal in nature.  The solemnity of said passion is expressed in everybody’s prayer-like closed eyes and bowed heads.

One would think this painting has inspired so many orchestra members around the world to grow their hair out–as indeed, many have.  What is more becoming of a musician than a swooshy, aerodynamic hairstyle?  As a violinist sways with each bow stroke, his hair punctuates each movement.  What a brilliant way to get the audience more visually involved in the performance!

Few paintings capture the dynamic movement of orchestral music as well as this masterpiece does.   The wind effect is largely to credit for this.  The brush strokes themselves are lively and add to the sense of mobility.  The timpani player’s multiple mallet heads clearly illustrate a rapid drum roll.

Max’s decision to squish everybody together helps, too.  Each player’s individuality becomes irrelevant as they perform, move and breathe as one musical organism.  Mahler is the nucleus, the DNA code, the brain and heart, the mastermind.  Every line in the painting points directly to him, as he’s placed conveniently at the center of all activity.

Despite the sheer amazingness of this aesthetic gem, hardly anyone has heard of it outside of Vienna.  I couldn’t find any historical information on the painting online, and a search through print materials was equally hapless.  Perhaps I was wise to forgo my original dissertation idea in college.  I wanted to explore how artistic portrayals of Gustav Mahler reflected European ideologies of the time.  Due to the lack of reliable information, I abandoned the project.  I hope one of these days some more daring student will pick up where I left off.

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by Mimi-West

How to Make It through a Sad Song

Published:   April 12, 2012
Categories!:  Classical Music, Musical Expression, Musical Performance, Personal Development, Singing, Skills, Technique

How to Make It through a Sad Song

Singing a tragic tune is rough. Just one teardrop will muddle the clarity of the voice. Learn the tricks to get over the tears.

When I began studying the role of Lily in The Secret Garden musical, I could not get through her songs without bawling.  Lily is a ghost who haunts her grieving husband and abandoned child.  Since I have a family of my own, Lily’s songs hit a nerve each time I attempted to sing them.

Sometimes you’ll have to sing a song that makes you burst into tears.  Unlike straight drama, you can’t get away with crying while singing.  The tears and snot drip right into your vocal instrument, interfering with voice production.  Gross.

In some contemporary singing styles, rawness can add color, but not in classical singing.  Crying just doesn’t . . . work.  When caught in a tearful dilemma, being convincing is not the singer’s problem; it’s figuring out how to be less expressive!

Take these steps to heart the next time you must get through a sad song without losing it:

Step 1: Cry it Out

Suppressing the urge to cry just makes you want to cry more.  Don’t bottle up your feelings.  Spend an entire day crying over it.  If necessary, spend a whole week crying over it.  Treat this predicament you’re in as seriously as you would the grieving process.  If you don’t give time to releasing your feelings, they will continue bothering you when you perform.

Step 2: Let it Wash Over You

Listen to as many recordings of the song as possible.  If no recordings are available, record yourself singing it and listen to yourself over and over again.  This is good to do when learning any song, but especially as you’re learning music that makes you emotional.

Step 3: Sing it Over and Over

Sing the song and allow yourself to weep.  The sting will lessen with time.  Meanwhile, you’ll learn how to sing through your crying.  This skill will rescue you in emergencies when you get emotional during performance.

Step 4: Write it Out

Verbalize what you are feeling.  Write down your thoughts and read them aloud to yourself.  Feel free to share these thoughts with a trusted friend.  Articulate what you’re feeling in the mirror.  You can never understand your feelings too much, especially as a performer.

Step 5: Do Something Else

If after cycling through these steps you still don’t feel better, do something else.  Take out the trash.  Go for a walk.  Work out at the gym.  Talk to a good friend.  Volunteer at a soup kitchen.  Take a bubble bath.  Do anything to get your mind off the song.  An active pastime followed by a relaxing exercise is most recommended.

Step 6: Meditate and Draw

Close your eyes and imagine yourself performing the song.  Visualize yourself doing so successfully.  What do you sound like?  What do you look like?  What do you see around you?  Take note of as many other details as you can.  Act like a little kid and draw what you see.  Let your right brain indulge in this sensory experience.

Step 7: Try Again

Since you’ve taken time to cry it out, think deeply about it, forget about it, and ponder it, you have hopefully taken the edge off the pain by now.  Try singing the song again.

Step 8: Rinse and Repeat

If you’re still bawling, don’t give up.  Repeat these steps in whatever order helps you the most.  If your efforts seem futile, don’t be shy about seeking professional help.  There may be unresolved issues that need addressing—not just so you can get through the song, but so you can live a happier life.

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