Thursday, December 15, 2005
A Fulfilling Day....
......all day, down at NYU yesterday, at the Steinhardt School of Music , where I have been asked to teach a course in Song Analysis in the coming Spring Semester...
I spent all day down there on West 4th Stree, and I learned a lot about NYU and how things are run from a University point of view....a genuinely fun and interesting day for me from morning til night...
First i went to the Business Admin Floor where I was given a rather substantial "New Employee Packet" to fill out, and so i settled down with my hot chocolate and took my time, relishing each form, reading each word....(I had first made the friendly acquaintance of Naomi, the head receptionist,who, as it happens, is an amazing artist of felted hats and jewelry, some of which she was actually wearing and i wanted to buy it all right off her it was so beautiful...)...so I filled out forms and then more forms....soon, I handed them in and was given more stuff to take home and read about what it was like to work for the University proper and the benefits i could expect.....
Then Bill W. took me to lunch with John Simpkins, another adjunct who has been teaching there for 5 years or so, and who will be teaching the other Sophomore Section of Song Analysis....a terrific Mexican lunch, terrific conversation, and lots of my questions answered, as well as getting to know John better...a smart and focused, articulate and obviously caring man, who spends his summers directing musical shows at theaters all over the place....this is the first time he will be teaching Song Analysis, as well as continuing to carry his Styles Class....the lunch was not only congenial, but instructive for me as well...it feels very comfortable,
these continuing conversations about the shared philosophy of teaching singing actors to become better at all they do.,..the entire instrument, nutured and schooled, not pushed and produced...it's so deeply easy to talk to the people I have met there so far.
Then they took me to a gathering that they have once a week, required for each and every student to come to, both in the Opera and the Musical Theater sections...a weekly confab, where performances occur,of the students as they progress, or discussions, lectures...always about some aspect of the school's goals with the students: a school-wide reminder of how important it is to integrate what they learn in their acting classes into their private voice sessions and vice-versa...this is of major concern for them all: how to integrate, without forcing the voices into places they are not ready to go yet...
THEN: I went back to Bill's office for more chat about the same subjects,,,,they are really exploring this and the best ways to teach it....and he gave me papers concerning classes he want me to visit and private teachers he thinks I could benefit from speaking with over lunch...I will of course do as he says...if I am to learn more about the 15 kids I will be teaching, the best way to do it is from the P.O.V. of their private voice teachers, all of whom (at least the ones I met at the Faculty Tea I will tell you about in a moment) seem deeply articulate about and concerned with opening up the emotional life of their students and making them as fully expressive as possible, while still keeping the voice on a healthy and properly produced growth path....many jokes are made about how the kids soon learn not to pit their voice instruction against their acting and dance training, because they soon realize that the teachers, all the teachers , talk to each other about each student all the time! Soon,an integrated approach is embraced by all, including the student, and a proper respect for nurtured and patient growth is instilled in even the most impatient young performer. I like this.
THEN: the MOST WONDERFUL FACULTY TEA!!!! MORE DISCUSSION! I will tell you about this later...gotta run to an audition!
xxev
I spent all day down there on West 4th Stree, and I learned a lot about NYU and how things are run from a University point of view....a genuinely fun and interesting day for me from morning til night...
First i went to the Business Admin Floor where I was given a rather substantial "New Employee Packet" to fill out, and so i settled down with my hot chocolate and took my time, relishing each form, reading each word....(I had first made the friendly acquaintance of Naomi, the head receptionist,who, as it happens, is an amazing artist of felted hats and jewelry, some of which she was actually wearing and i wanted to buy it all right off her it was so beautiful...)...so I filled out forms and then more forms....soon, I handed them in and was given more stuff to take home and read about what it was like to work for the University proper and the benefits i could expect.....
Then Bill W. took me to lunch with John Simpkins, another adjunct who has been teaching there for 5 years or so, and who will be teaching the other Sophomore Section of Song Analysis....a terrific Mexican lunch, terrific conversation, and lots of my questions answered, as well as getting to know John better...a smart and focused, articulate and obviously caring man, who spends his summers directing musical shows at theaters all over the place....this is the first time he will be teaching Song Analysis, as well as continuing to carry his Styles Class....the lunch was not only congenial, but instructive for me as well...it feels very comfortable,
these continuing conversations about the shared philosophy of teaching singing actors to become better at all they do.,..the entire instrument, nutured and schooled, not pushed and produced...it's so deeply easy to talk to the people I have met there so far.
Then they took me to a gathering that they have once a week, required for each and every student to come to, both in the Opera and the Musical Theater sections...a weekly confab, where performances occur,of the students as they progress, or discussions, lectures...always about some aspect of the school's goals with the students: a school-wide reminder of how important it is to integrate what they learn in their acting classes into their private voice sessions and vice-versa...this is of major concern for them all: how to integrate, without forcing the voices into places they are not ready to go yet...
THEN: I went back to Bill's office for more chat about the same subjects,,,,they are really exploring this and the best ways to teach it....and he gave me papers concerning classes he want me to visit and private teachers he thinks I could benefit from speaking with over lunch...I will of course do as he says...if I am to learn more about the 15 kids I will be teaching, the best way to do it is from the P.O.V. of their private voice teachers, all of whom (at least the ones I met at the Faculty Tea I will tell you about in a moment) seem deeply articulate about and concerned with opening up the emotional life of their students and making them as fully expressive as possible, while still keeping the voice on a healthy and properly produced growth path....many jokes are made about how the kids soon learn not to pit their voice instruction against their acting and dance training, because they soon realize that the teachers, all the teachers , talk to each other about each student all the time! Soon,an integrated approach is embraced by all, including the student, and a proper respect for nurtured and patient growth is instilled in even the most impatient young performer. I like this.
THEN: the MOST WONDERFUL FACULTY TEA!!!! MORE DISCUSSION! I will tell you about this later...gotta run to an audition!
xxev
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