Archive for the 'Performance' Category

The performer/audience, duck/rabbit paradigm

Sunday, July 21st, 2013

In an earlier posting about amateur music ensembles (“Learning to be an Amateur” March 23, 2013), I asked the question, “How do you motivate amateurs to seek perfection, unlike professionals whose livelihood depends on it? We know that everybody wishes to be perfect in every way, but reality often has its own way of disrupting […]

World Music week at UBC

Saturday, April 6th, 2013

Last week Professor Hesselink of the Ethnomusicology Department announced an exciting program for a World Music Week. It will feature four dynamic groups representing traditional China, Bali, Korea, and sub-Sahara Africa. The week of special performances is a chance for the hard-working ensemble members to display their passionate commitment, wrested from their precious time normally […]

The Sociomusicology of an RCM Music Exam

Saturday, March 9th, 2013

Many students of mine have arrived at the School of Music via the well-travelled road of the Royal Conservatory of Music examination system. And almost all of them trod down this path as youthful pianists. For those not in the loop, I should quickly summarize the august institution that is known simply as the RCM. […]

Re-enactment. Boon or bust?

Sunday, March 3rd, 2013

There have been several times in my life when I decided that re-enacting the original context of a music composition’s performance was an exciting and viable option. I once called it Theatre of Music (as opposed to Music Theatre). When you hear or read the word “re-enactment”, you might recall vacations or school day-trips when […]

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