Musicians' Perspective: Week 3, Day 5

We started today by performing and doing a Q&A for Jay's Music Appreciation class. We got into some pretty "big" topics when one of the students asked if we imagine and picture what we are trying to communicate when we play. She explained that we she dances (she was a dance student) she has a clear image of what she is dancing about. We agreed and used this as a way to point out similarities between all art forms, and encouraged the students to collaborate with their peers in other disciplines in such a diverse artistic environment like PHSA.

We taught our masterclass today on performance anxiety and performance techniques. We heard a couple more performers before teaching another 3 hours of private lessons. One of Midori's lessons included one with a singer, and the lesson went really well. She introduced the concept of "support" to the singer, a technique used by wind players and singers where the abdominal muscles are engaged to support the air stream. After a discussion on support, the singer produced a completely different, full and beautiful sound. The student explained that she was imagining singing in a big concert hall and trying to sing so clearly that the people in the very back row could hear. Midori was thrilled and praised the student for such a drastic improvement.

That evening, the dancers went to meet with former first lady Imelda R. Marcos, while we (Brian and Midori) stayed behind to sit in on a mock-competition for the pianist, Matthew. He played fantastically, and we only had a few comments. We were confident that he would do well in the competition, and as it turns out, he ended up getting second place!

After Matthew was done performing, Brian taught an extra lesson to Drew, the only clarinet player at PHSA. He had a great time focusing on one of his favorite pieces for clarinet: the Debussy Premiere Rhapsody. By tweaking just a couple of things in Drew's playing, he was able to get Drew to play with much more projection and control. Drew and Matthew were just two of the extraordinarily talented students we heard during our time there, and we are excited to see where their talent takes them in the next several years! During Drew's lesson, Midori was able to spend some quality time with the other students, getting to know them outside of the classroom.