No Berklee Global Jazz Institute gathering is just about the music-though you'll find plenty of it here. Rather, in keeping with artistic director Danilo P rez's holistic vision for the institute, events like December's Symposium for the Interconnected Arts and Music Performance explore the role of music in living well, enriching communities, and building a better world.
This years symposium, curated by BGJI faculty member Patricia Perez, offered a diverse slate of presenters and topics, from Ron Savage's talk on the value of community service for musicians, to faculty saxophonist Tia Fuller's whirlwind tour of the underrepresented role of female musicians in the past century of jazz music. Below are just a few key takeaways from the full day of conversations about music and its place in society.
1. You Can't Go Wrong by Doing Good Ron Savage, dean of the Professional Performance Division, could certainly rest on his laurels if he wanted to. An acclaimed drummer and educator who's played with some of jazz music's greats, he would seem to have solidified his contributions to the music world. But Savage's message at this symposium was that such accomplishments are really only part of the value of a musical life. He reflected on something his father said to him as a young man: What good is a man who won't help his neighbor? It was this challenge, Savage said, that planted in him the seed for a service-oriented life.
When you put yourself in position to do good, good things happen in your own life, Savage explained. As a young Berklee graduate he participated in a local high school music clinic, and there he was spotted by a Berklee administrator who recruited him to teach at the college. Later, an impromptu free drum lesson in a church basement eventually grew, organically, into what is now a full-fledged music charity. The list went on. Ultimately, Savage addressed one of the central themes of the symposium: the power of music to benefit communities and the responsibility of the musician to use that power well: I want you to understand what you hold in your hand when you do music, and the potential for you to affect society through it.
2. There Is a Universe of Notes at Your Disposal It became clear midway through his session why Claudio Ragazzi, associate professor in the Film Scoring Department, had opened his hour by inviting anybody who had brought an instrument that day to take it out and get it ready. Ragazzi, who had come to discuss the psychology of film music, called on a French horn player in the audience to play a note that communicated her mood at that moment. Once she began to play, Ragazzi invited the whole room, now full of horns and strings and drums and voices, to respond to this note with their own. The room swelled with sound that Ragazzi went on to direct: now darker, moodier, he'd say; now more hopeful; now more suspenseful. All of these changes happened intuitively, without the aid of a score or a presumption of what sort of scale or chord should be deployed for a suspenseful mood.
His point? Composers, especially those writing music for film, must be present in the moment, they must pay close attention to their inner responses to the work they're scoring, rather than attempting to slot moods into preconceived musical formulas. With a universe of notes at your disposal, it's worth thinking twice about defaulting to the same old triads.
3. Traditional Schooling Can Stifle Creativity (But It's Complicated) Homeschooling activist Patrick Farenga's main message was clear: many of the structures at play in traditional school systems do more harm than good for a child's creativity, especially when it comes to musical thinking. In fact, Farenga argues based on the work of unschooling pioneers such as John Holt that noncreative behavior is learned through educational formats including rote learning, rigid structuring of time and attention, and rigorous high-stakes testing. This stands in contrast to the natural, spontaneous learning fostered by the sort of homeschooling Farenga advocates. The way we nurture creativity is to play, he says-to encourage children to explore their interests out of innate desire, not out of a desire to please a teacher.
Farenga's talk kicked off a spirited question and answer session, with audience members raising a number of questions about unschooling techniques and philosophies. Several students observed the challenge of passing on difficult but necessary subjects like math and chemistry without some kind of curricular requirement. Others remarked on the economic or social privileges that are often required before parents could consider homeschooling approaches (it would be difficult to manage, for example, if both parents needed to work full-time). And while these issues were not fully resolved by the end of the session, it was clear that such thoughtful, respectful dialogue was precisely the sort of nuanced conversation made possible by a space such as this symposium.
4. The Music You Make Could Save a Life Many of you in your art will change countless lives that you'll never even know about, said Harvard University graduate student and teaching fellow Pedro Morales at the beginning of his session. Morales recounted the harrowing story of living homeless, from age 5, in Juarez, Mexico. In those circumstances, he said, the job was just to live the next day. But Morales discovered through his city's street musicians the life-changing power of music to connect people and to feed the soul. I've been sick and poor, and still there is a song in my head, Morales said.
As he grew older, he would go into the local church to hear music and find protection and safety. Through that church he gained access to education, which eventually led to hi
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
29/04/2024
29 04 2024 - Media release Screen Australia announces James J. Robinson's debut feature First Light
First Light
Principal Photography is underway on Firs...
29/04/2024
Capitol Broadcasting recently became the inaugural company honored with inductio...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
27/04/2024
On April 26, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher E. Kubasik joined CNBC's Mor...
27/04/2024
PORTLAND, Oregon Audinate Group Limited, the developer of the Dante AV-over-IP solution, announced significant new additions to Dante Connect, its cloud-based D...
27/04/2024
TORONTO Bell Media has launched 10 English and French-language FAST channels featuring entertainment, factual, news, and sports programming. The new free stream...
27/04/2024
An extensive new analysis of the news segments in the broadcast evening news programs of ABC, CBS, NBC and PBS has found that broadcasters devoted most of their...
27/04/2024
GERMANTOWN, Md. EchoStar's Hughes Network Systems has opened a new manufacturing facility and private 5G incubation center in Germantown, Maryland....
27/04/2024
Harry Pappas, one of three brothers who founded Pappas Telecasting Companies in 1971, died April 24. He was 78 years old....
27/04/2024
ATLANTA and LONDON Mexican telecommunications and broadcast company Televisa has selected Synamedia for an overhaul of its broadcast distribution....
27/04/2024
Participate in the Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this surve...
27/04/2024
SDVI Rally Access Workstation Earns Two Top Awards at 2024 NAB Show
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
SDVI, the leading platform provider for clo...
27/04/2024
Berklee's Music and Health Institute Launches Community Health Musician Cert...
27/04/2024
Charter Communications reported higher first-quarter profits despite continued cord-cutting and competition for broadband customers....
27/04/2024
Two environmentally-focused groups are partnering to engage the unscripted TV world in finding better ways to address climate change. Reality of Change is an ec...
27/04/2024
Sarah Garcia has been promoted to weekend anchor at KTLM McAllen, Texas, known as Telemundo 40. Starting April 27, she will anchor Noticias Telemundo 40 weekend...
27/04/2024
CBS Sports said it launched a new 24-hour free, ad supported streaming television (FAST) channel devoted to the UEFA Champions League....
27/04/2024
Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts received $35.4 million in compensation in 2023, up 11% from the previous year, according to a proxy statement filed by th...
27/04/2024
Art Happens Here With John Lithgow, which sees the actor study dance, ceramics, silk-screen printing and vocal jazz with students in Los Angeles, debuts on PBS ...
27/04/2024
Remember Leave It to Beaver? Bewitched? Dragnet? When cable ratings were rising?...
27/04/2024
Next up for the weekend binge at Catchy Comedy is Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Every weekend, Catchy Comedy features The Catchy Binge, a marathon of a classic sitcom....
26/04/2024
Sundance Film Festival CDMX 2024 kicks-off today with screenings in 5 theaters in Mexico City and the opening-night film, FRIDA, directed by Carla Guti rrez...
26/04/2024
[Editor's Note: This interview is part of a larger feature about the women d...
26/04/2024
Once again this year, SGL Carbon opened its doors to interested children and young people. On the occasion of the German Girls and Boys Day, which took place on...
26/04/2024
Orders1 of $5.5 billion; book-to-bill of 1.06x
Revenue of $5.2 billion, up 17%,...
26/04/2024
Five Considerations For Communications Modernization In The 21st Century
In the digital-enabled battlespace, the Joint Force needs to shoot, move and communica...
26/04/2024
CBS Sports has launched Champions League as a new, 24-hour streaming channel that will serve as the year-round destination for nonstop highlights of the UEFA ...
26/04/2024
Despite tough competition in the streaming space, Roku reported solid results in Q1 2024, beating revenue expectations, with total net revenue up 19% YoY to $88...
26/04/2024
LONDON AND TORONTO Pinewood Toronto Studios has appointed Sarah Farrell as general manager of the Studios in downtown Toronto....
26/04/2024
Quantum to Offer Advanced Filesharing Technology and Performance in StorNext and...
26/04/2024
FilmLight Colour Awards welcomes 2024 entries and introduces new Emerging Talen...
26/04/2024
Picture Shop Announces Chris Evans as Head of Unscripted
Brie Clayton April 26, 2024
0 Comments
Picture Shop announced Chris Evans will lead Unscripte...
26/04/2024
Participate in a Survey - The Impact of AI on Media and the Creative Industry
Pascal Wagner April 26, 2024
0 Comments
By participating in this survey,...
26/04/2024
Toy maker Mattel said it is working with Samsung to launch its first free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels later this year....
26/04/2024
Trusted Media Brands (TMB) said it named Marty Moe as president....
26/04/2024
Ron Howard is the director on Jim Henson Idea Man, a documentary that premieres on Disney Plus May 31. Henson of course created Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Big...
26/04/2024
The ice continues to melt under the regional sports network business as the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League have made a long-term deal to broadcast...
26/04/2024
Heading into the upfronts, Warner Bros. Discovery said it launched Olli, a first-party data platform advertiser can use for converged, targeted advertising camp...
26/04/2024
CBS has renewed the drama The Equalizer, which will see season five on in 2024-2025. Queen Latifah stars....
26/04/2024
The CW has entered into an exclusive multiyear broadcast partnership for the Miss USA Pageant and the Miss Teen USA Pageant. The 73rd Miss USA Pageant will air ...
26/04/2024
Fuse Media isn't mincing words in a campaign urging its young viewers to register and participate in the 2024 elections....
26/04/2024
Dead Boy Detectives, a series from Neil Gaiman about a detective agency staffed by ghosts, debuts on Netflix April 25. George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri are in t...
26/04/2024
The Story Collective has gradually repurposed the former Mortlake Brewery to include production offices, workshops and sound stages
By Matthew Corrigan
Publi...
26/04/2024
Perkett joins the company following a 25 year career in product management, product marketing, engineering and user experience (UX) across multiple industries
...
26/04/2024
Teradek, the industry leader in wireless video transmitters and receivers, announced today the launch of new Bolt 6 LT 750 and Bolt 6 Monitor Module 750 RX with...
26/04/2024
NEW YORK Amagi has appointed Richard Perkett chief product officer (CPO)....
26/04/2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has announced the results of the 2024 NAB Radio and Television Board of Directors elections. The...
No Berklee Global Jazz Institute gathering is just about the music-though you'll find plenty of it here. Rather, in keeping with artistic director Danilo P rez's holistic vision for the institute, events like December's Symposium for the Interconnected Arts and Music Performance explore the role of music in living well, enriching communities, and building a better world.
