Dani's BPO Fellowship & Benjamin Zander

Look at those grins! This a lovely photo (courtesy of Eriel Huang) of Dani, myself and the Maestro Benjamin Zander. Dani is having a great time in the new role of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra Fellow. She is responsible for the Education and Outreach programs where members of both the BPO and the Boston Philharmonic Youth Orchestra get involved with teaching in four Boston schools. Dani and I were housemates when we were both teaching in Arusha - now we both have musical fellowships in Boston!

Dani has (of course) done an amazing job of writing curriculums particular to each school, ranging from Band Buddies to kindergarten classes. She has written songs, revamped the Kidz Notes program booklets and is pioneering new initiatives to bring more children to concerts. These are going to be awesome. The BPO also has a 'Music Without Boundaries' program where they provide concert tickets to inner-city schools.

I was lucky enough to experience one of the famous Ben Zander pre-concert talks before the BPO performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony on September 30th. These talks have become legendary and a vital part of the BPO musical performance experience. He is a massively charismatic speaker who conveys a huge amount of passion and deep understanding about the works he is about to conduct, and a commitment to sharing that with others. Watch these video:

http://www.ted.com/talks/benjamin_zander_on_music_and_passion.html?quote=305

The performance itself of Beethoven's Coriolan Overture and 9th Symphony was a particularly poignant event as the concert had originally been scheduled this past April. It was cancelled due to the bombing of the Boston Marathon, and this performance was in honour of "the spirit of generosity and strength the people of Boston demonstrated in the face of tragic events". Many service workers had been given free tickets to this performance and the Governor of Mass. was also invited. The Ode to Joy took on another powerful meaning, and I was also effected by the passionate singing of the Chorus.

During the pre-concert talk, Zander had focused on his interpretation of the Symphony using the composer's original metronome markings, that are usually considered as too outrageously fast to be applied to performance. Zander has also co-written a book called 'The Art of Possibility', and its this joy of pushing the limits of what is possible that made the frenetic pace of the performance so exhilarating. The book has inspired a documentary film 'Freude: A Story of Possibility' where Zander was filmed in the preparation for the concert of Beethoven 9. The makers of the film say that it is "an approach to life that breeds creativity and extends human capacity" - http://freudefilm.com/

 

www.benjaminzander.com