There’s a way, there’s road that will lead me home?
After wind, after rain, when the dark is done,
As I wake from a dream in the gold of day,
Through the air there’s a calling
From far away,
There’s a voice I can hear that will lead me home.
Rise up, follow me, come away is the call,
With love in your heart as the only song;
There is no such beauty as where you belong.
Rise up, follow me,
I will lead you home.
This poem is the text to Stephen Paulus’ The Road Home. My Chamber Choir will be singing this for a concert in a week. Each singer is digesting these beautiful words and working on musical phrases. The music sounds simplistic, yet provides so much depth; the text seems so straight-forward, yet so profoundly reflective and vulnerable.
Lately, I’ve been longing to hear great new music. New choral music to be specific. Sometimes, you just need to hear a beautiful SATB choir to fill you heart. I am excited to share my discoveries with you.
Norwegian-born composer who moved to the States to study composition at the Julliard School. As a pianist-composer, he features the piano often as an equal partner to the choir much like how Schumann or Strauss set vocal-piano pairing in lieder. Take a listen to Ubi Caritas II with Piano Improvisationsung by the Central Washington University Chamber Choir (Gary Weidenaar, director), with an improvised piano accompaniment played by the composer:
As a choral conductor and singer, this music makes me want to conduct, sing, and play it! Gorgeous harmonies and lyrical lines float on top of such well-written piano part. I think it was originally conceived as an a cappella piece; this particular version with piano works wonders. The music is uplifting, reverent, yet free, joyous, and moving. Being a pianist, I was really curious how the accompaniment is written, and how much of the video recording was Gjeilo’s improvisation. Gentle, but stylistic jazz piano licks are very nice. I found him on Twitter, so I mentioned him:
@DoremiGirl Thanks! The improv was just something I added to that particular video, but we’re releasing a transcription of it soon 🙂
I also love Luminous Night of the Soul, scored for SATB, piano and string quartet; lyrics are by Charles Anthony Silvestri (lyricist for Eric Whitacre’s Sleep) and St. John of the Cross. I feel like I’m watching a movie when I listen to this piece. Like good storytelling, this music builds well into an epic symphonic ending.
And let me say that although I never heard of Central Washington University Chamber Choir before, I am now a fan. Kudos to its director, Gary Weidenaar, and music faculty! These students are musical. How fortunate that these students had the chance to work with a prolific composer!
I think any collegiate or adult choirs would love Gjeilo’s music. Perhaps, they will also suit some ambitious high school choruses. You know, those choirs who love challenges and sing great music. If you conduced Gjeilo’s music before, let me know which ones you have performed with your group. If his music is new to you, which one would you want to give a try?
Interesting fact: The Phoenix Chorale’s 2012 album, Northern Lights: Choral Works of Ola Gjeilo, featuring was voted “Best Classical Vocal Album of the Year” in iTunes Best of 2012. Way to go, Charles Bruffy & The Phoenix Chorale!
I am grateful for composers like Gjeilo who fill our world with compositions that make our hearts dance. I look forward to learning more about his music. I’m calling his style Neo-Romantic. What would you call it?
What Mozart said here speaks volumes to what kind of master musician Mozart was:
It is a mistake to think that the practice of my art has become easy to me. I assure you, dear friend, no one has given so much care to the study of composition as I. There is scarcely a famous master in music whose works I have not frequently and diligently studied. – W. A. Mozart. Mozart: The Man and the Artist, as Revealed in His Own Words
What’s a birthday celebration without music?
Here’s a great video of Mozart Piano Concerto No. 20 D minor, K. 466 with the Camerata Salzburg, directed by Mitsuko Uchida. Ms. Uchida, an acclaimed pianist and a Grammy Award winner, is renowned for her interpretation on the music of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven. Here, she is directing and performing as the soloist. The entire performance is brilliant!
A couple of days ago, I posted a post about a project I started that combines daily photo journal with a song to go with it. I have to say that it’s been a great personal project because 1) I’m getting back to taking pictures (with my new camera) and 2) I’m researching for songs and listening to music more than usual 🙂
I invited some friends to join me in my journey and some of them have started on their blips!
Here are the pictures I posted. For the stories behind them and why I chose these songs, you’ll have to check out my blips!
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I started a playlist for my sound illustrations. I think it’ll be fun to see pictures with the music. There are 5 pictures and only 4 music selections because I started pairing songs on January 2.
I still have an hour and a half to wish you this 😉
So what music have you been listening to? Since my last post, I’ve been rehearsing with my students for many performances that will take place in the next two and a half weeks. I’m trying hard to enjoy each day – the challenges and the joys that come with teaching.
I’m posting two versions of Angels We Have Heard on High. One song, two different styles and pacing. I love both renditions by these great musicians.
Music teachers, this type of music making would be fun to do with students – play a song taking turns at the piano! Would we dare to open our grand piano at school to experiment using the strings and the soundboard so that just one piano will be “the” band? Yes!
This is an unlikely duet (two guys!), but the color of the their combined voices is like butter. Who would have thought Brian McKnight and Josh Groban? Awesome. I like that these singers reached the song’s climax without compromising the feel of the song. But then again, we are talking about Brian McKnight and Josh Groban!
Did you like either of these renditions?
I will post more music recommendations for Christmas,
If you’re like me, you’re wondering how 2013 has gone by so fast. And if you’re a teacher like me, chances are you will be busy during the 20 some days in school and not really enjoying the holiday season. Music teachers, you know what I’m talking about :-).
I’m making an effort this year to ready myself for a month-long celebration. I want to be awake and be present hearing the sounds and laughters from the children around me (especially my own), cry with those who are suffering, and living the moments with friends new and old during this month.
I have much to be thankful for!
Here are 3 ways that will help me to celebrate during December:
If iTunes Radio is new to you, you should try it. Although I’m a Spotify user, I use the iTunes Radio in the car because Spotify radio is only for paid users (read about it here). I love the iTunes Radio because
It’s free streaming music
It plays very few commercials (and most of the commercials are music/music concert related)
I can use it in the car
And I can look at the history of what I listened to and find new favorites
You can start by listening to featured stations like Guest DJ – Kelly Clarkson who picked her Christmas favorites. It’s fun listening to celebrities’ playlists and commentaries. You can also start a station by clicking on the + sign (see image below). I’ve loved using the iTunes Radio since October (iOS 7 update) and found many stations that helped me to find new Holiday favorites. Can you tell how I’ve been looking for special holiday songs by looking at my stations? LOL!
iTunes Radio
The Radio also works like Pandora when you star a song you like – the station will play more songs like the one you starred. Enjoy the season with music!
2. I read an interesting blog post titled “Kindness Elves: An Alternative to Elf on the Shelf Tradition” this morning. I love this post because the blogger shares her pursuit of kindness and character-building activities to kids during the Christmas season. I share her sentiments about Elf on the Shelf being a bit creepy and about the whole behavior modification (or manipulation) through using Santa or Elf-watching. I’m all for wonderment and making magical moments for children. What I don’t like is that many things we do in our culture enable the children to play the entitlement games. So what struck a chord with me is that her variation on the Elf on the Shelf is about Kindness Elves “who love to help and notice kindness in others”. I emailed the post link to my colleagues at my school already and want to see the kindness in my students each day. So here we go! Let’s look for kindness and give help to those who need it!
3. Give a thought to giving. Anna, the Kindness Elves blogger, said that we give presents because we love those people not because they deserve to get them. I agree. Instead of buying random gift cards, wouldn’t it be great to find a meaningful gift? I know how hard it is to find a great gift, but I found one today. So here I want to share it!
I sure didn’t have to take 5 to fall in love with this amazing product ;-). I learned about Koostikfrom Kelly Tenkely (@ktenkely) who wrote a post about her dad’s craftsmanship here. I love that Koostik products are handcrafted in America with natural resources, aesthetically uber cool, and are highly functional. I think smaller models will be good for cars without Blue Tooth. I’m hoping to order one in the next day or two for my husband. I just have to make a decision for which device…(I hope he doesn’t read this post).
December 2nd update
The good folks at Koostik and I’ve been tweeting back and forth about some specs so here they are:
The Original is 8.5″ x 3.5″ x 2″ and is approx. 1 pound.
The Pivot is 7.25″ x 3.25″ x 2″ and is less than one pound.
They are super friendly and great with questions and follow-ups. Shhhhh – I ordered mine – you should, too!
So how will you spend your December? If you find meaningful gifts (the ones you make or find), please share them with me in the comments. Also share some good music you may find on the iTunes Radio. And please join me in celebrating the goodness of life with children.
May your December heart be filled with goodness, kindness, and music!
*January 14 edit – MentorMob changed its educational site name to LessonPaths early 2014. All links from this post are still valid!
MentorMob is a great site to create a learning playlist for your students. You can paste any link (video, audio, article), upload images or PDFs, and create short quizzes to test what the students have learned. I think it’s ideal for any level of students. It’s not only great for teachers with IWB or SMART Board, but for teachers to create playlists for learning-centers.
Why I like this app:
All YouTube or Vimeo videos I selected for my students are in one place without the clutter of suggested videos or comments.
Documents or slides for learning can be directly added to the playlist so that teaching and learning time is not wasted.
Easy to view the entire playlist collection on the sidebar.
Sharing the playlist with students and parents is easy.
Here is an image of my playlist. Uploaded Doc that will be followed by a video of the music the students will listen to. There is a list of videos and docs on the left side. The circled tools are for editing, sharing and more (copy, delete, or change privacy).
Create an Edu account. It’s easy!
Go to mentormob.com and click on the EDU site (left bottom).
Sign up using your email, Google, Facebook, or Persona accounts.
To create a playlist:
Click on the “Create” button on the top menu.
Fill in the title, description, type, category, & tags.
Decide whether your playlist will be public (can be viewed by all) or unlisted (only people you share the link will be able to view it). I like to share with teachers so I leave mine in public.
Hit the “Save and add content” bar.
Click on the + sign to add links, documents, or articles.
Add step info/ challenge questions.
You can click on the pencil to edit any step on the playlist and modify any way you want it.
You can embed your playlist on your blog/class website and have centers-like activities set in your classroom
One negative:
If your class blog is a WordPress.com like my blog, you will not be able to use its iframe code to embed the playlist. Fortunately, I use Edublogs and Google Sites so it’s not a problem when using MentorMob for school. The embedded playlist would look like this:
So for my music classes, I no longer use the YouTube playlist I created for my students. MentorMob is great with customer service on Twitter (@MentorMobEdu). I like browsing through playlists created by other teachers in other subjects, too.
I listened to Beethoven Clarinet Trio, Op. 11 for the first time earlier this week. It was my first hearing the work; I was struck by magical textures of clarinet, cello, and piano. Listen to the second movement, Adagio, if you please:
If you don’t use Spotify, listen to it via YouTube (audio quality isn’t great, but this is one of the best examples I can find):
Graceful.
Tender.
The movement is just beautiful.
This is how I will describe my experience in Washington DC since Tuesday. I’m fortunate enough to be included in this year’s cohort of NAIS Teachers of the Future (ToF) program. 19 of 25 ToFs made it to DC to advocate our loves: students, passion, teaching, and learning. This particular group of educators were not only talented, they were personable and engaged. Our discussions continued over meals beyond session times. For most of us, this summit was the first time we interacted with the National Assocation of Independent Schools, its President, and staff. From large group sessions to small group breakouts (unconference model), we shared, discussed, and brainstormed ways we can better serve our students, schools, and the educational community. NAIS, thank you for making this possible!
The movement is just beautiful.
Each teacher’s passion and purposeful initiatives sparked interest and excitement during this vital, two-day retreat. It’s my hope that this movement of the independent school teachers will be more than a single spark. ToFs, let’s keep the fire going. Just like Beethoven’s tender music, let’s keep the fire smoldering in tenderness…for our students and for the independent school community. Our work is just beginning…let’s make it count!
You can follow our discussions and posts on NAIS Connect site. Look for posts from Teachers of the Future discussion group.
As we usher in the new year, I stop to think about all that has happened in the past year. I am grateful for all the triumphs and struggles I have experienced. With each passing year, I am learning to see how precious life is and no matter how I feel about this crazy world, much grace shown to me.
I am thankful!
So let’s ring in the new year!
My hope for 2013 as a teacher, mom, and wife is to
1. lead with my ears,
2. follow kindness with my words,
3. and not react immediately.
Listeningis probably the most important musical skill I teach each day. I would love to listen to those in my care with purpose. I need to do this!
Kind wordscan abate sticky situations and bring life to even the young. I want to practice kindness!
Not reacting immediatelywill be the hardest, for sure. I want my anger to straggle along….ever slowly. I want to live a grace-filled life!
I will leave you with a musical (really, life) thought from Edward Elgar:
“My idea is that there is music in the air, music all around us;
the world is full of it,
and you simply take as much as you require.”
Take time to listen to the music around you. Let the music move you. Share the good and help those around you. Best wishes for 2013!
sing imagination 