Brian Reeve Preident-elec
That Life-Changing Moment
There I was sitting next to a former student in a building then known as the RLDS Auditorium with my head resting near a 32’ organ pipe. Mahler 2 was on the menu, the Resurrection, a five- movement exploration of life in all its complexity, written for orchestra, choir, and soloists. The choir does not enter until midway through the final movement, over an hour into the work. As the choir sings we hear the individual reborn, triumphant, the music building to a musical climax so intense Mahler himself could hardly believe he wrote it. The organ only plays during the final few minutes of the piece but what a few minutes it is. When the massive Aeolian-Skinner organ finally entered that night and the choir cried out together “Aufersteh’n” (Resurrection) I could not sing, only weep. To this day I cannot listen to Mahler 2 without welling up at the end.
That moment was overwhelming: the sheer power of triumph; the genius of Mahler’s writing; the music so beautiful it hardly seemed possible.
As musicians, we spend our lives chasing moments like these. As music educators, we spend our working lives creating moments like this. For us the goosebumps
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may be the result of gorgeous student music. For many, though, our chills reveal less about musical perfection and storytelling, and more about ensemble spirit and communication, those rare occasions in rehearsal or performance when the entire room is completely and totally invested. That type of musical dialogue between performers and conductor is exhilarating.
One reason I think we do not experience goosebumps more often is because most of us spend our working lives knee deep in the weeds. We love the weeds. We’re teachers! Teaching posture, note names, bowing, vowel shapes, breathing, fingerings, and intonation is the foundation upon which our musical house is built. The aforementioned Mahler 2 performance was not the first time the members of the Kansas City Symphony and Symphony Chorus had played or sung. A great many MMEA members lived in the weeds for that life- changing experience to happen.
One danger, though, is that as we get better and better at teaching fundamentals – the weeds - it can become all too easy to stay there. After all, thanks to researchers we already know a great deal about fundamental teaching. For one
example, we know that expert teachers give feedback more frequently than non-experts due to a faster pace of instruction, and that the feedback offered is more specific (Duke, Henninger 2002). But taking music making beyond fundamental technique and rudimentary expression can be elusive. I believe it requires at least in part the ability to make our students and us vulnerable. Indeed, another factor in my Mahler 2 experience was the passion and poetry of our chorus director, Arnold Epley.
Are you leading with passion and poetry? I know I can do better. Our students will recreate the fundamentals we teach them out of habit. So join me. Let’s get out there and live outside of the weeds. Teach with emotion. Teach with passion. For what students will ultimately remember is being touched by music.
Reference:
Duke, R, & Henninger, J. (2002). Teacher’s Verbal Corrections and Observers’ Perceptions of Teaching and Learning. Journal of Research in Music Education, 50, 75-87.
MISSOURI SCHOOL MUSIC | Volume 71, Number 4
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