David Kosolov and I delivered to viewers throughout the nation what it was like to experience Beijing through the eyes of a foreigner. In this episode, we talked about the music from ancient China in the Imperial Court and its associated rituals & traditions, capped by a trip to a well-known restaurant which was owned by the brother of the Last Emperor of China!
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDQxNDcxOTg4.html
Rehearsing P.I. Tchaikovsky’s Overture Solemnelle “1812” with the violas
My fellow teaching friend, Ellen Douglas, kindly reached out to me asking if I was willing to coach the senior viola section of the annual Seylynn Strings Festival today, where students from all of the high schools in the North Vancouver School Board converged at Windsor Secondary School (where my other teaching friend, Marissa Heaven, teaches) got together and we had this piece running right off the ground as soon as we all got the music.
Posted in Reflections
Inquiry Workshop Proposal on Beginner Brass Band Outline
Janine & I presented a workshop on beginner brass (suitable for grades 8 & 9) this past week and introduced a wide array instructional methods during our 45-minute presentation. I have to give Janine so much credit on spearheading the project and without her expertise, the delivery of the plethora of information and research would not come anywhere close to first-rate. As for myself, though I’ve conducted brass sections (in various forms in orchestral and chamber ensembles), I’ve never really had the opportunity to present my knowledge of brass as a brass musicologist and historian. Working with such a great musician like Janine, with a formidable background in all things brass really solidified my aptitude and allowed me to grow even hungrier on picking up more on brass pedagogy.
As with pretty much all the presentations I have done at UBC these past couple of semesters, I record them. Unfortunately, for this presentation, neither Janine nor I prepared a video recording device, oddly, so in lieu of that, I present a primer on how to approach a brass instrument.
Embouchure, Buzzing, and Mouthpiece
Start with “natural face”—lips lightly together, jaw slightly dropped. Have students look at themselves in the mirror, noting where their corners are
Think about “the tripod” of the embouchure
Form the embouchure—pronounce a sophisticated “m” or think about spitting something off the tip of their tongue—corners firm slightly but stay in the same place as “natural face”
Take a breath and blow air through the embouchure
Breathing techniques further explained here: The Breathing Gym as demonstrated by Sam Pilafian & Patrick Sheridan
Posted in EDUC 451B: Inquiry Seminar II
Unit Plan for Janine & Jeffrey’s Beginner Band
I had the pleasure of collaborating with Janine King twice in just as many weeks to give our presentations on a couple of topics which we believed to be a pretty popular in high school music not only around the province of BC, but also in the entire nation. Unlike the beginner brass band inquiry workshop outline which I had the grand pleasure of working alongside her with, this unit plan took on a different entity of its own over time and we ended up coming up with two slightly different versions in the end: hers going through with a streamlined unit which focused on the progress of the students’ abilities and personal development while mine adhered to aesthetic sensitivity among the ensemble and an emphasis to which the quality of the production can be swayed positively if this sensitivity is treated carefully early on.
With today being the last official day to visit practicum schools prior to the extended practicum, UBC decided to send those of us who are doing the practicum locally, out to our respective schools, and this is what I did:
Posted in EDUC 315A
Susan Ankenman of the Language & Literacy Education department led a wonderful weekend workshop which I was proud to be a part of, especially with the outpouring of support she and her team gave me (I was the only participant with no French teaching qualifications, on paper, at least) while I was there. Needless to say, the weekend was real intense (Dec. 8-10, 2017) and I was able to get much out of it. A convoy of students from the WKTEP made the long drive out and we all had a blast!
Posted in Reflections
Our semester-end project for our class with Dr. James Bigari ended on a high note. The music cohort’s very own Three Musketeers held the fort down and executed their presentation very well in this class.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YMCfKcuEU2AmpSUq2
Posted in EDST 401
One Wednesday morning, back in September of 2009, I was given the opportunity to rehearse the symphony orchestra out at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver in beautiful Colorado. I am glad I memorized (most of the) score, for I brought a tiny, pocket-sized Edwin F. Kalmus edition. Without further adieu, I present to you, Vintage Chow. https://youtu.be/BYVsysAz_Xo
Posted in Reflections
This is a clip from my graduate studies out in Carbondale, IL at Southern Illinois University as part of the Southern Illinois Chamber Music Series. This was performed at the ’16-’17 season finale, featuring the Southern Illinois String Quartet performing Antonín Dvořák’s String Quartet No. 13 in G major, Op. 106, (B. 192). In this clip, you can see and listen to us performing 3 movements:
I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio ma non troppo
IV. Finale. Andante sostenuto – Allegro con fuoco
Posted in Reflections
Well, what’s a music cohort ringing in the holidays without some holiday cheer?!
Posted in EDUC 450