DOCSLIB.ORG

Maestro: Using Technology to Improve Kinesthetic Skill

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Maestro: Using Technology to Improve Kinesthetic Skill MAESTRO: USING TECHNOLOGY TO IMPROVE Environments, Proc. of IEEE International Confer- of Playing Scales on the Piano, Proc. of Interna- ence on Pervasive Computing, pp. 351–356 (2004). tional Conference on Music Perception and Cogni- KINESTHETIC SKILL LEARNING OF MUSIC CONDUCTORS tion, pp. 1843–1847 (2006). [7] A. Suganuma, Y. Ogata, A. Shimada, D. Arita, and R. Taniguchi: Billiard Instruction System for Begin- [18] S. Smoliar, J. Waterworth, and P. Kellock: pi- Andrea E. Brown Yonatan Sasson ners with a Projector-Camera System, Proc. of Inter- anoFORTE: A System for Piano Education Beyond national Conference on Advances in Computer En- Notation Literacy, Proc. of the Third ACM Inter- School of Music tertainment Technology, pp. 3–8 (2008). national Conference on Multimedia, pp. 457–465 Georgia Institute of Technology (1995). [8] C. Lewiston: MaGKeyS: A Haptic Guidance Key- ABSTRACT difficulties. We contend that use of the Maestro system board System for Facilitating Sensorimotor Training [19] T. Kitamura and M. Miura: Constructing a Support in such traditional learning environments would enhance and Rehabilitation, PhD Thesis. MIT Media Labora- System for Self-learning Playing the Piano at the The use of technology in music conductor training is a the learning experience and encourage kinesthetic tory Beginning Stage, Proc. of International Conference growing area of interest. The expressive, subtle, and (2008). awareness and overall musical skill development. on Music Perception and Cognition, pp. 258–262 meaning-rich gestures that are used in conducting, serve The project seeks to advance previous conducting [9] C. Pinhanez: The Everywhere Displays Projector: as fruitful ground for innovative research in areas such (2006). technology and pedagogy through two core advances: a) A Device to Create Ubiquitous Graphical Interfaces, as artificial vision, gesture following, and musical the delivery of rich real-time audio and visual feedback Proc. of ACM International Conference on Ubiqui- [20] Y. Takegawa, T. Terada, and T. Tsukamoto: Design mapping. While it is known that the kinesthetic skills of through the Maestro system to enable the refinement of tous Computing (2001). and Implementation of a Piano Practice Support Sys- conducting are acquired through hours of intensive kinesthetic skills of conducting gestures affecting tem using a Real-Time Fingering Recognition Tech- training, practice with real time audio and visual variations of speed, articulation, dynamic, and speed, [10] H. Ishii, C. Wisneski, J. Orbanes, B. Chun, and nique, Proc. of International Computer Music Con- feedback is severely limited by availability, focus, and and b) the ability to practice conducting gestures without J. Paradiso: PingPongPlus: Design of an Athletic- ference (2011). good will of live musicians. The current project, titled the need for live musicians or peers. The Maestro system Tangible Interface for Computer-Supported Cooper- Maestro, builds upon previous work and provides a new introduces technical innovation-based research in three ative Play, Proc.s of ACM conference on Human fac- [21] Y. Takegawa, T. Terada, and S. Nishio: Design and approach for training beginning conductors: a system main areas: a) gesture anticipation and tracking; b) tors in computing systems, pp. 394–401 (1999). Implementation of a Real-Time Fingering Detec- allowing the conductor to practice basic to advanced machine learning for gesture detection and classification; tion System for Piano Performances, Proc. of In- baton skills accompanied by a virtual orchestra that [11] K. Huang, E. Y. Do, and T. Starner: PianoTouch: A c) utilization of physical modeling for high quality, ternational Computer Music Conference, pp. 67–74 responds to the conductor’s baton gestures affecting wearable Haptic Piano Instruction System for Pas- subtle musical feedback. This work is designed to foster (2006). tempo, duration, articulation, and dynamics. By more opportunities for meaningful learning experiences sive Learning of Piano Skills, Proc. of IEEE Interna- incorporating gesture anticipation and tracking, machine through the beginning conductor’s discovery of tional Symposium on Wearable Computers, pp. 41– learning for gesture analysis, utilization of physical subtleties of gestures and their effect on musical 44, (2008). modeling for high-quality audio, Maestro provides performance. [12] M. Mukai, N. Emura, M. MIURA, and M. Yanagida: immediate feedback that is directly related to subtle variations of performed conducting gestures. Generation of Suitable Phrases for Basic Training to 2. RELATED WOKS Overcome Weak Points in Playing the Piano, Proc. 1. INTRODUCTION In recent years, there have been several attempts to of International Congress on Acoustics, MUS-07- simulate the conductor’s baton. Developments in mobile 018 (2007). Performing music, whether playing an instrument, technology and the wide availability of sensors and singing, or conducting, requires a combination of aural, accelerometers encouraged researchers to explore the [13] P. Misty, P. Maes, and L. Chang: WUW - wear Ur cognitive, and kinesthetic skills that require specific hitherto relatively uncharted realm of conducting. The world: a Wearable Gestural Interface, Proc. of ACM practice to improve [1], [2]. Such skills could include Radio Baton [6] was one of the first systems developed conference on Human factors in computing systems, learning the fingering patterns of major and minor scales in this field. It offered an interactive conducting pp. 4114–4116 (2009). on a particular instrument or the weight on the bow of a experience by controlling the tempo of a MIDI sequence stringed instrument. Kinesthetic skills are also the as a feedback to the gesture. Other systems in later years [14] R. B. Dannenberg, M. Sanchez, A. Joseph, P. Capell, foundation of beginning music conducting skills [3]. incorporated sensors for more precise input analysis, R. Joseph, and R. Saul: A Computer-Based Multi- Beginning conducting students must learn a plethora of such as measuring the pressure on the baton [7], tracking Media Tutor for Beginning Piano Students, Jour- movements that include instruction on torso, head, and the conductor’s muscle tension [8], and using a built-in nal of New Music Research, 19 (2-3), pp. 155–173, arm positions and a variety of expressive movements camera on the baton [9]. Improvement over the years 1990. intended to bring about a response from performers. included transition from MIDI to audio-based musical The acquisition of such skills is a challenging task, [15] R. Raskar, J. V. Baar, P. Beardsley, T. Willwacher, feedback [10] to more sophisticated and realistic forms which is historically achieved with individual or group W. Rao, and C. Forlines: iLamps: Geometrically of sound generations [11]. instruction, followed by individual practice. Indeed, Aware and Self-Configuring Projectors, Proc. of In- Similar projects targeted simulation of the several technological innovations address this effort by conducting experience as a way to experience ternational Conference and Exhibition on Computer putting an emphasis on the development of kinesthetic controlling an orchestra, rather than for researching the Graphics and Interactive Techniques (2003). skills related to performing music or providing subtleties of conducting gestures and their musical sophisticated feedback (either in real-time or non real- [16] S. Akinaga, M. MIURA, N. Emura, and Masuzo effect. In 2004, Borchers offered children the time) to act as a virtual music teacher. Yanagida: An Algorithm to Evaluate the Appropri- opportunity to conduct the Vienna Philharmonic Such tools present different solutions for the ateness for Playing Scales on the Piano, Proc. of Orchestra. The ‘conductor’ would stand in front of a practical issues as well as the psychological aspects of International Congress on Acoustics, MUS-07-005 video screen and control the tempo of an actual acquiring musical skills. Practicing in front of a teacher, (2007). performance [12]. Two other systems with similar focus peers, and eventually an audience may cause different are iSymphony [13] and Pinocchio [14], developed a few responses ranging from indifference to anxiety [4], [5]. [17] S. Akinaga, M. MIURA, N. Emura, and Masuzo years later. Creating individualized instructional tools and allowing Yanagida: Toward Realizing Automatic Evaluation Along with programs designed to familiarize and more comfortable practicing environments can be introduce the conducting experience to non-musicians, invaluable to many populations that are affected by such _332 _333 some conducting systems have been developed with with a set of pre-trained gestures, and b) real-time chosen since they track only the movement of infrared analysis to the rich space of physical modeling sound educational and research goals in mind. A system identification of higher-resolution characteristics of the light sources, thus avoiding confusion with other objects generation, we are able to provide a sophisticated and designed to analyze and classify hand gestures of classified gesture. Both comparisons will be performed in space [21]. The baton is wireless to help simulate a intuitive response that would imitate the response of a conductors was implemented on a basis of Hidden with the ultimate goal of mapping any subtle change in a real conducting environment. real orchestra. Markov Models (HMM) and developed for MAX/MSP gesture to subtle parameters that will influence the audio In addition to the
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Black US Army Bands and Their Bandmasters in World War I
    University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Faculty Publications: School of Music Music, School of Fall 8-21-2012 Black US Army Bands and Their Bandmasters in World War I Peter M. Lefferts University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/musicfacpub Part of the Music Commons Lefferts, Peter M., "Black US Army Bands and Their Bandmasters in World War I" (2012). Faculty Publications: School of Music. 25. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/musicfacpub/25 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Music, School of at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Publications: School of Music by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. 1 Version of 08/21/2012 This essay is a work in progress. It was uploaded for the first time in August 2012, and the present document is the first version. The author welcomes comments, additions, and corrections ([email protected]). Black US Army bands and their bandmasters in World War I Peter M. Lefferts This essay sketches the story of the bands and bandmasters of the twenty seven new black army regiments which served in the U.S. Army in World War I. They underwent rapid mobilization and demobilization over 1917-1919, and were for the most part unconnected by personnel or traditions to the long-established bands of the four black regular U.S. Army regiments that preceded them and continued to serve after them. Pressed to find sufficient numbers of willing and able black band leaders, the army turned to schools and the entertainment industry for the necessary talent.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Women Conductors: Credibility in a Male-Dominated Profession KAY LAWSON
    1 Women Conductors: Credibility in a Male-Dominated Profession KAY LAWSON At one time the mere suggestion that a woman is capable and more than qualified to lead an orchestra would have brought exclamations of disbelief, perhaps even chuckles muffled behind a discreet hand to the mouth. The nineteenth-century "beau ideal" of the conductor as the musical world's flamboyant, handsome cult hero continues to prevail even today in the minds of audiences, thus making it difficult for conductors not in that mold to gain prominence. Recent attention accorded women conductors might give the impression that they are a phenomenon of the twentieth century, but this is clearly not the case. Tracing the historical path of conducting to its source, we find that modem conducting may have had its beginnings in the convent of St. Vito, a nunnery renowned for its musical performances. Bottrigari, in his publication of 1594, Il Desiderio, described a performance given there: A long table has been prepared, at one end of which is a large clavicembalo, you would see them enter one by one, quietly bringing their instruments, either stringed or wind. They all enter quietly and approach the table without making the least noise and place themselves in the proper place, and some sit, who must do so in order to use their instruments, and others remain standing. Finally, the Maestra of the concert sits down at one end of the table; and with a long, slender and well-polished wand (which was placed there ready for her, because I saw it) and when all the other sisters are clearly ready, gives them without noise, several signs to begin, and then continues by beating the measure of time which they must obey in singing and playing.' Most historical references to the earliest examples of musical leadership in­ dicate that a group of performers was kept together by a leader who beat time by hand or by pounding with a stick.
    [Show full text]
  • Season 2016-2017
    25 Season 2016-2017 Thursday, April 6, at 8:00 Friday, April 7, at 2:00 The Philadelphia Orchestra Saturday, April 8, at 8:00 Sunday, April 9, at 2:00 Yannick Nézet-Séguin Conductor Mason Bates Electronica Daniil Trifonov Piano Beethoven Overture and Finale, from The Creatures of Prometheus, Op. 43 Bates Alternative Energy I. Ford’s Farm, 1896— II. Chicago, 2012 III. Xinjiang Province, 2112 IV. Reykjavik, 2222 First Philadelphia Orchestra performances Intermission Mozart Piano Concerto No. 9 in E-flat major, K. 271 (“Jenamy”) I. Allegro II. Andantino III. Rondeau (Presto)—Menuetto (Cantabile)— Liszt Prometheus, Symphonic Poem No. 5 This program runs approximately 2 hours, 5 minutes. LiveNote™, the Orchestra’s interactive concert guide for mobile devices, will be enabled for these performances. The April 6 concert is sponsored by American Airlines. The April 7 concert is sponsored by Sarah Miller Coulson. Philadelphia Orchestra concerts are broadcast on WRTI 90.1 FM on Sunday afternoons at 1 PM. Visit WRTI.org to listen live or for more details. 27 The Philadelphia Orchestra Jessica Griffin The Philadelphia Orchestra Philadelphia is home and impact through Research. is one of the preeminent the Orchestra continues The Orchestra’s award- orchestras in the world, to discover new and winning Collaborative renowned for its distinctive inventive ways to nurture Learning programs engage sound, desired for its its relationship with its over 50,000 students, keen ability to capture the loyal patrons at its home families, and community hearts and imaginations of in the Kimmel Center, members through programs audiences, and admired for and also with those who such as PlayINs, side-by- a legacy of imagination and enjoy the Orchestra’s area sides, PopUP concerts, innovation on and off the performances at the Mann free Neighborhood concert stage.
    [Show full text]
  • The Relationship of the Transformational Leadership Process and Group Mood Among Musicians and Their Effects on Artistic Quality
    THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP PROCESS AND GROUP MOOD AMONG MUSICIANS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON ARTISTIC QUALITY WITHIN THE AMERICAN ORCHESTRAL ORGANIZATION By Mary Katherine Engels Elizabeth K. Crawford James A. Tucker Associate Professor Professor (Co-Chair) (Co-Chair) David W. Rausch Lee A. Harris Professor Professor (Committee Member) (Committee Member) THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP PROCESS AND THE RELATIONSHIP AMONG MUSICIANS AND THEIR EFFECTS ON ARTISTIC QUALITY WITHIN THE AMERICAN ORCHESTRAL ORGANIZATION By Mary Katherine Engels A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements of the Doctorate of Learning and Leadership Degree The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Chattanooga, Tennessee May 2018 ii Copyright © 2018 By Mary Katherine Engels All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT The desire to understand the American classical music experience and its relationship to transformational leadership is the foundational reason for this study. The experience of listening to the same orchestra under the direction of nine different conductors throughout the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera’s conductor search, led to an interest in further understanding the processes involved in the classical musical experience. There is minimal research focused on the American symphony orchestra and an acute lack of research on leadership processes within the American symphony orchestra. Examination and study of the leadership process between conductor and musician, musician group mood, and artistic quality are all considerations in understanding the classical musical experience. The research design for this study was a quantitative design using simple correlation analysis. The intent of this study was to understand how the independent and dependent variables covary, and therefore a non-experimental, associational approach was used (Gliner, Morgan, & Leech, 2009).
    [Show full text]
  • THE ART of CARLOS KLEIBER Carolyn Watson Thesis Submitted In
    GESTURE AS COMMUNICATION: THE ART OF CARLOS KLEIBER Carolyn Watson Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Conservatorium of Music University of Sydney May 2012 Statement of Originality I declare that the research presented here is my own original work and has not been submitted to any other institution for the award of a degree. Signed: Carolyn Watson Date: ii Abstract This thesis focuses on the art of orchestral conducting and in particular, the gestural language used by conductors. Aspects such as body posture and movement, eye contact, facial expressions and manual conducting gestures will be considered. These nonverbal forms of expression are the means a conductor uses to communicate with players. Manual conducting gestures are used to show fundamental technical information relating to tempo, dynamics and cues, as well as demonstrating to a degree, musical expression and conveying an interpretation of the musical work. Body posture can communicate authority, leadership, confidence and inspiration. Furthermore, physical gestures such as facial expressions can express a conductor’s mood and demeanour, as well as the emotional content of the music. Orchestral conducting is thus a complex and multifarious art, at the core of which is gesture. These physical facets of conducting will be examined by way of a case study. The conductor chosen as the centrepiece of this study is Austrian conductor, Carlos Kleiber (1930-2004). Hailed by many as the greatest conductor of all time1, Kleiber was a perfectionist with unscrupulously high standards who enjoyed a career with some of the world’s finest orchestras and opera companies including the Vienna Philharmonic, La Scala, Covent Garden, the Met and the Chicago Symphony.
    [Show full text]
  • Gender Inequality in Conducting Cassandra Venske  Faculty Mentor: Dr
    Gender Inequality in Conducting Cassandra Venske Faculty Mentor: Dr. Gretchen Peters Music and Theatre Arts University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Collegiate Ensemble Conductors in Wisconsin Sexism at the Professional Level I gathered data from all of the National Association of Schools of Music accredited post- “When the Oslo-based newspaper Aftenposten asked why there aren't more female secondary institutions in Wisconsin that had at least one large ensemble comprised of conductors… Vasily Petrenko, responded that male conductors ‘often have less sexual solely student membership (defined as concert band, orchestra, or a large choir) and the energy and can focus more on the music. A sweet girl on the podium can make one's gender of the conductors of each ensemble for the present academic school year, 2013- thoughts drift towards something else .’” (Woolfe 2013) 2014. Male Female “The essence of the conductor's profession is strength. The essence of a woman is weakness .” –Yuri Temirkanov, Russian conductor, 2012 Unfortunately, these quotes are only a few amongst many things said about the (in)ability 100 of women to be successful professional conductors. Criticisms of female conductors most 89.3 often come down to forms of objectification and/or essentializing. 87.75 86.66 71.3 70 Women’s Experiences in Conducting Boards of directors often associate female conductors with risk, even if their talent is equal to another male conductor, as Sarah Ioannides, current music director of El Paso PERCENTAGE Symphony Orchestra and Spartanburg Symphony Orchestra found out when she was 30 29.7 next in line for a job, but it was not offered to her.
    [Show full text]
  • Bandleader Remembered
    THE SAX FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY. DFXEMBER 24, 1903. 3 MUSIC-LOVING PEOPLE OF CITY CROWD NEW TIVOLI OPERA-HOUSE AND ARE HIGHLY PLEASED WITH THE SPLENDOR OF SURROUNDINGS Theater Is Opened With Christmas Handsomely Gowned Women Fill Spectacle That Pleases Auditorium and Present Big Audience. Animated Scene. prettiest in opened opera at opening of the Bonnet. Dr. John Morrissey. Mr. and The theater town decided that the old Tivoli comic The audience the Lang. company good Mrs. M. A. last night, its name the new Tivoli. was about as as there new Tlvoll was thoroughly representa- Mrs. 'A. E.. Coxen. Miss Coxen. Bert going. There wasn't a thing to was tive. It was cosmopolitan in the ex- Coxen. John Hind. A. Friedlander. John remind of tbe The additions, however, are valuable. Lynch. Jeremiah Burke, Mme. E. Tojetti. farrous old house only treme, just such an audience that San Guldo Musto, across ths way Anna Lichter is an old favorite and Musto. Laura Mr. and Francisco turns out to do honor and Mrs. John P. Barrett. Miss Tillle Lo- Frederick McGreer's fine drop curtain. looking prettier than ever, and Schus- Mr. justice any adjunct wenthal. and Mrs. M. Dannebaum. The cheerful— and kippered— scarlet ter's big basso willbe handsomely use- to great that is Dr. and Mrs. E. L. PerrauU. Miss May green put forth the city's enlightenment Schlessinger. Joseph Gottlob. Melville and of it has given way to a ful when he gets something to do with for Marx. Mr. and Mrs. Archie Levy. Ho- favorably aggrandisement.
    [Show full text]
  • This Is the Published Version of a Paper
    http://www.diva-portal.org This is the published version of a paper presented at IEEE Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition. Citation for the original published paper: Karipidou, K., Ahnlund, J., Friberg, A., Alexandersson, S., Kjellström, H. (2017) Computer Analysis of Sentiment Interpretation in Musical Conducting. In: IEEE Conference on Automatic Face and Gesture Recognition N.B. When citing this work, cite the original published paper. Permanent link to this version: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-208886 Computer Analysis of Sentiment Interpretation in Musical Conducting Kelly Karipidou1? Josefin Ahnlund1? Anders Friberg2 Simon Alexanderson2 Hedvig Kjellstrom¨ 1∗ 1 Robotics, Perception, and Learning, KTH, Sweden, fkellyk,jahnlund,[email protected] 2 Speech, Music, and Hearing, KTH, Sweden, fafriberg,[email protected] ? KK and JA have contributed equally to the paper ∗ HK is corresponding author Abstract— This paper presents a unique dataset consisting of 20 recordings of the same musical piece, conducted with 4 different musical intentions in mind. The upper body and baton motion of a professional conductor was recorded, as well as the sound of each instrument in a professional string quartet following the conductor. The dataset is made available for benchmarking of motion recognition algorithms. An HMM-based emotion intent classification method is trained with subsets of the data, and classification of other subsets of the data show firstly that the motion of the baton communicates energetic intention to a high degree, secondly, that the conductor’s torso, head and other arm conveys calm intention to a high degree, and thirdly, that positive vs negative sentiments are communicated to a high degree through other channels than the body and baton motion – most probably, through facial expression and muscle tension conveyed through articulated hand and finger motion.
    [Show full text]
  • Helmut Schmidt, Bundeskanzler A. D
    Helmut Schmidt, Bundeskanzler a. D. Essay to present the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize to Christoph Eschenbach on May 31st, 2015 at the Herkulessaal in Munich Music is a form of expression that people all over the world understand. And almost everywhere in the world people love European music. The music of Europe constitutes a single one-of-a-kind continuum, it doesn't require the complex, nationally determined medium of language. For this reason, it enables musicians and listeners alike to forget the conflicts of their inheritance and of their day-to-day lives. My love for music was encouraged early on, when I was in school. It is probably for this reason that I, in the course of my career as a politician and a private individual, valued the opportunity to encounter members of the international music community. Many left a lasting impression on me. I'd like to mention Herbert von Karajan, a brilliant artist with whom one could discuss God and the world. Or Leonard Bernstein, who was a music educator as much as he was a musician. Or Yehudi Menuhin, who was both a musician and a model of morals. Or the incredibly vital Kurt Masur, a wonderful Kapellmeister as well as an imposing figure, also in the political sphere. Or the wonderful conductor Daniel Barenboim, who brings musicians from conflicting societies together and gives them a forum to make music together. Or Kent Nagano, who will be coming to Hamburg in 2016. The list could go on and on. Among these ranks of internationally acclaimed musicians and conductors I'd certainly also count Christoph Eschenbach.
    [Show full text]
  • New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Welcomes New Musicians and Artistic Staff
    New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Press Contact: Victoria McCabe, NJSO Senior Manager of Public Relations & Communications 973.735.1715 | [email protected] www.njsymphony.org/pressroom FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New Jersey Symphony Orchestra welcomes new musicians and artistic staff David Southorn joins as Assistant Concertmaster; violinist Adriana Rosin also named Assistant Concertmaster New musicians since 2015 include violinists JoAnna Farrer, Minji Kwon and Bryan Hernandez-Luch, and cellist Hyewon Kim Na-Young Baek assumes role of Acting Assistant Principal Cello Patrick Chamberlain joins NJSO as Director of Artistic Planning NEWARK, NJ (October 4, 2016)—The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has welcomed new musicians and artistic staff to the Orchestra. In the 2016–17 season, David Southorn joins the Orchestra as Assistant Concertmaster; NJSO first violinist Adriana Rosin has also been named Assistant Concertmaster. Since 2015, the Orchestra has welcomed violinists JoAnna Farrer, Minji Kwon and Bryan Hernandez-Luch, as well as cellist Hyewon Kim. This season, longtime NJSO cellist Na- Young Baek assumes the role of Acting Assistant Principal Cello. NJSO Director of Artistic Planning Patrick Chamberlain assumed his new position in July. Assistant Concertmaster David Southorn currently enjoys a versatile career as a concertmaster, soloist and chamber musician. Recent solo highlights include a performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with the Fremont Symphony in California and works of Vivaldi and Piazzolla with Le Train Bleu in New York City during the 2015–16 season. As a chamber musician, he has performed recently with his award-winning Amphion String Quartet at Alice Tully Hall as members of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS Two.
    [Show full text]
  • The Orchestra
    Lesson: THE ORCHESTRA Objective: Students will identify the structure of the orchestra including the seating, arrangement, and four instrument families. Materials: Orchestra worksheet treasure hunt (included in this packet) LESSON Like a ship, the symphony orchestra is a large vessel made up of many small parts. Each part has its own special and important purpose, and it took more than three centuries for the symphony to finally take on its current shape. There are four families of instruments in the symphony orchestra: Strings, Woodwinds, Brass, and Percussion. These families of instruments are very different from one another in the way that they sound and the way that they are played. This makes seating arrangements very important! EXERCISE 1: “Can you name the instruments in each family?’’ Preface: Students decide which instruments belong to a particular family. Have students name off each family to review: A) Strings: Violin, Viola, Cello, Bass, Harp B) Woodwinds: Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon (Saxophone is a woodwind, but not typically found in the orchestra) C) Brass: Trumpet, French Horn, Trombone, Tuba (Baritone is brass, but also not typically found in the orchestra) D) Percussion: Cymbals, Timpani, Bass Drum, Snare Drum, Xylophone, Piano (anything that makes a sound when struck, scraped, or shaken) A Special Thanks to our Young People’s Concert Sponsors EXERCISE 2: Treasure Hunt Young Mozart has lost his favorite conducting baton and cannot seem to find it anywhere. He has been given a clue that says that the baton can be found, stuck in the tuba. But Teachers: This where does the tuba sit? Help Mozart figure out where members of the orchestra sit so he handout is available can get his baton back.
    [Show full text]
  • Historic Baton Presented to ESO Music Director Eckerling — Evanston
    Historic Baton Presented to ESO Music Director Eckerling — Evanston ... http://triblocal.com/evanston/community/stories/2012/03/historic-baton-p... By David Ellis Sunday at 7:42 p.m. Lawrence Eckerling with Shirley Miller and the Toscanini/Frank Miller Baton Historic Baton Presented to Conductor of Evanston Symphony Orchestra Evanston, IL (March 11, 2012) — An historic baton used by legendary conductor Arturo Toscanini was presented to Evanston Symphony Orchestra Music Director Lawrence Eckerling at the orchestra’s concert today in Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston. Making the presentation was Shirley J. Miller, wife of the late Frank Miller, who was the former conductor and music director of the Evanston Symphony. Miller, who died in 1986, would have been 100 years old on March 5, 2012. Mrs. Miller chose to present the baton to Maestro Eckerling in recognition of the performance quality that he has brought to the Evanston Symphony Orchestra since taking over as Music Director in 2003. Miller, a cellist, had an illustrious musical career. From 1940 to 1954, he was principal cellist for Toscanini’s NBC Symphony Orchestra. When ill health forced Toscanini to retire in 1954, the NBC Orchestra ceased to exist. The famous maestro gave Miller several batons, which were created for Toscanini by his neurosurgeon. Toscanini also wrote only one letter of recommendation during his entire career; it was in support of Frank Miller’s candidacy for conductor of the Florida Symphony Orchestra. Miller was principal cellist for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1958 to1985. While with the Chicago Symphony, he was appointed music director of the Evanston Symphony Orchestra in 1962, a post he held until 1984.
    [Show full text]