Tag: Benjamin CS Boyle

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And now, a post from the Shameless Plug Department

So I got a comment the other day on my last post from someone who said she wants to read more about my process while learning new music. I’ve actually thought about this a lot, especially since I’ve spent the last couple of weeks rehearsing for a concert of all new music. to be performed this Sunday (Ack! That’s tomorrow! It might even be today — or yesterday — depending on when you’re reading this).

The reason I haven’t written about my learning process is that I’ve been too busy learning to write about it! However, I have been taking some mental notes, and I have a few ideas for some posts in the near future. It might be a little too late for me to expound on the difficulties of this particular concert, but I still have two more concerts’ worth of music to learn before the end of this festival.

In the meantime, if you’re interested in the process of creating music, watch these videos…they are interviews with Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lang as he talks about his own process writing the piece that The Crossing commissioned for tomorrow’s concert.

Crossing Chronicle #1

The Levine Project: an interview with David Lang from Jeffrey Dinsmore on Vimeo.

Crossing Chronicle #2

Crossing Chronicle Vol. 2 – David Lang on writing his new choral work “Statement to the Court” from Jeffrey Dinsmore on Vimeo.

The Crossing: Month of Moderns I
Sunday, June 27, 2010 at 4:00 p.m.

Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill
8855 Germantown Ave
Philadelphia, PA 19118

Included on tomorrow’s concert:
Bo Holten: Tallis Variations (1977)
Benjamin CS Boyle: Cantata: To One in Paradise (2005)
Arvo Pärt: Pilgrim’s Song – Psalm 121 (2001)
John Tavener: The Bridegroom (1999)
David Lang: Commissioned World Premiere: Statement to the Court – The Levine Project

Honestly, if you’re in Philadelphia and you like music, you shouldn’t miss it. Bring an extra pair of socks, because the ones on your feet will be knocked off.

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Practicing new music

One of the reasons I haven’t been as active in my blog recently is that I don’t want to bore you with the common drudgery of my daily life (get up, exercise, work, practice, more work, rehearse, go to bed, get up and start the whole day over again). But it occurs to me that many of you don’t really know much about the process of practicing music, so I thought I’d give you a little sneak peek into the mind of this singer as she learns her music.

This is the music I have to perform within the next 6 weeks:
(N.B. – I am not including any of the music I perform on a weekly basis at St. Mark’s Church, because it would just make the list too long and complicated, but if you would like to see it, you can go to the St. Mark’s website and see for yourself)

*I am familiar with the pieces marked with an asterisk.

Quite a list, isn’t it? Some of the pieces are easier to learn than others, and many of the choral pieces are difficult to practice on one’s own, because of the need to hear other parts. As you scroll through the list, I’ll bet there are only a few pieces on there that you recognize, if any! It’s the same for me, too, which means I have to start from scratch on almost every piece I perform.

So in the next few days, I’ll be sending you updates on how the music-learning process has been going for me: its highs as well as its lows. Hopefully it will give you some insight into the singer’s brain. (It’s scary in there!)