Color plays an important role in our everyday experiences. It’s a language that can attract your attention or change your mood. For artists, it serves as an important communication link between their art and the observer or listener.
The paradigm of the 21st century is so unique and changing so rapidly, we have no way of knowing where we will end up.
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Creating Art Together
There are thousands of artists, day after day, who are getting out of bed running full speed ahead, knowing in their hearts that they can prevail over circumstances that come their way. They commit and they accept responsibility for what they accomplish.
In the summer, the arts pop up everywhere—you’ll find budget-friendly arts festivals in nearly every community in the United States and throughout the world. They often reflect the arts and cultural scene in the cities, states, and countries where they are located, mixing local talent with acclaimed artists.
Conductors’ batons cast a type of spell, but not in the Harry Potter sense. They create and control a form of magic when used to lead a band or orchestra. Many people love to watch conductors wave the baton—it certainly looks like magic because it appears that with a simple wave of a “wand,” the musicians obey your every wish and the music soars easily.
There is no doubt about it—when you go to a Pops Concert, it’s time to have fun! I recently attended a Boston Pops concert sitting at a table near the front of Symphony Hall for the early-ꞌ60s-themed program that was inspired by the television hit, Mad Men.
What is going on back there? I was in middle of playing an important solo passage when I noticed movement and whispers coming from behind and below—we were on risers a couple of feet off the main floor of the stage.
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Whose Lesson Is This Anyway?
When I first started to teach music lessons, I was shocked at how much I learned. I found that the true test of whether I really understood what I was doing as a performer was when I tried to teach it to someone else.
Last week I attended a Boston Early Music Festival performance of Handel’s opera, Almira. The opera is rarely performed and, according to experts, has never previously been staged in the U.S.
Several years ago I conducted my first full ballet—Sleeping Beauty. At the time, the considerable growth I experienced by accepting this role was a bit foggy. I was so fully engaged in simultaneously capturing the beauty of the music and the dancers that it took some time to sort it all out.