The Fredösphere

The New York Philharmonic is in town this week, giving a few performances. Today (Saturday), some of the musicians lead master classes for University of Michigan music students. The classes were open to the public. I caught part of a Q&A lead by bassist and composer Jon Deak. (U-M composer Susan Botti moderated.) Deak focused on his educational work rather than his composing or performing.

Deak's 70s-style emphasis on releasing the expressive artist trapped inside each child, "I'm not a teacher, I'm a facilitator," a preference for dialog over lecturing, his suspicion of hierarchy and structure -- this is not my style. (One man in the audience even recited a poem about a poor self-loathing leopard who paints his spots purple and ties his tail into knots. Oh my.) Deak wasn't true to the type himself, since he caveatted to death nearly every assertion he made. Certainly you don't get to play with the New York Phil without a very healthy appreciation for technique and discipline. And I agree that a pedagogy of technique alone is one with its heart ripped out of it.

In any event, what he's doing in the public schools is really cool. He gets musically illiterate kids to make up all kinds of music. Then he notates it (or, in at least one case, he translates it from notation the child has made up) and arranges professional-level performances of it. He's opening a door for kids to start thinking about music making. Dang.