Explo 2014: Teaching at Yale - Week 1 is Over!

Well - week one is over - so what does that mean? That means that over 730 students have been actively participating in courses all around the Yale campus. With over 130 staff our time is dedicated 100% to the involvement and safety of our kids. So forgive me if I do not answer your texts right away!

The structure of our day to day activities is pretty simple: breakfast, course 1, course 2, lunch, workshops, activities, dinner, activities, repeat. Yet what seems like a normal routine for someone working a 9-5 job, the variety that we offer here at Explo is amazing. There should be no reason why any student is bored.

Me? My courses and my students have proven to be nothing short of some of the most brilliant and dedicated kids I know. OK, I know every teacher says that, but in two days my kids learned half of a completely complication mash-up a Capella arrangement, and had the entire piece memorized by day 4.
Our college ensemble rarely ever did that... oh and did I mentioned that every single one of them is now also beat boxing proficient? I'm telling you... they are crazy!

On Thursday I very reluctantly lead an a Capella workshop activity for the entire campus. Only 6 kids showed up but there were literally 12 different things to choose from. Yet again I was astonished that these 6 kids, who were not even involved with my courses, learned an arrangement of "What Makes You Beautiful" by One Direction. They were so solid that we performed for open min night at dinner that evening.

Right before they went on I had told one of Explo's head staff here at Yale that if this is what Explo does for kids, sign me up for next year. Between the staff and the involvement of all of these students, this is a music educator's dream!

This weekend I will be chaperoning the first of many trips to come - WICKED on Broadway!

More to come readers! Thanks for following!

Explo 2014: Teaching at Yale - The First 3 Days

In the beginning of may I got a phone call from a good friend and colleague of mine asking if I was interested in teaching at Explo.... aside from hearing it come out of my friend Justin's mouth once during the year I had no idea what Explo was... but come to find out, it would easily become one of the best teaching experiences of my life - and I'm only in orientation!

I would go into detail about Explo, but it is a summer exploration and curricular opportunity for students to take classes and workshops in areas that they are interested in. My courses are a cappella and show choir! For more info go here: http://www.explo.org/360/yale

Orientation is... well... orientation. A lot of it has to do with the safety of our incoming students (730+ by the way), our staff (about 130 of us) and ourselves.

We have had meetings with curricular advisors by phone, email, and google docs, writing lesson plans and course maps. The best way to explain is that I as well as my colleagues are hired teachers. Instructors better suits the title, but on top of that we are also resident assistants - sort of like a real life college setting which is exactly what these are expecting. a pre-college experience preparing them to be propelled forward in the coming years.

My room is fun - its an old building - I mean REALLY old. No air conditioning. 3 fans. Its like camp for us too!

My co-RA is Kwali (Quay-lee) and he is a joy to work with - its nice to have someone I can read and respond without having to break it all down and vice versa.

Our orientation ended with a day at the beach - only 20 mins away. Can you tell what I will be doing on days off?

I'll attach some photos as I go - I cannot put picture or videos up of the kids, but if you got to the Explo link above, you can see what we are all about!

Thanks for reading!

-R

OH -Yale has this collection of RARE (I mean Gutenberg bible rare) books at the Beinecke Rare Book Library equipped with a air sealed chamber that, in case of fire, with suck all oxygen out in less than 30 seconds.  CRAZY!

The Road to Carnegie Hall

This post is FAR overdue, mostly because my adventures in music have been relentless in that they have yet to let up. More posts to come in regards to the future!

In the early half of 2013, we at Fredonia were told we would have the opportunity to go to Carnegie Hall under the direction of our choir master, Dr. Gerald Gray. The piece chosen was the fantastic setting of "Dona Nobis Pacem" by Ralph Vaughn Williams.

With the awesome support of community members, family and friends, I was able to put together the bill in order to go on this trip. I have never stepped foot inside of the hall and the first time I would would include performing in front of a live audience - a dream come true for someone who has been performing for most of his life.

The trip was to be part educational, part recruitment and mostly performance. The choir was composed of a collection of students who volunteered to sing. We also managed to stop off at two local high schools for some combined choral rehearsals and solo development.

Next was a two night stay outside of Ronkonkoma, Long Island and a visit to two more schools. Unfortunately the snow took over and the trip because too dangerous to venture and e had to cancel. Instead we were fortunate to ave a large mall complex across the way from our hotel and we spent the day shopping and having a nice meal.

Final stop: New York City. We stayed at the Manhattan Hotel right on Times Square. Rehearsals were were a few blocks away at The Plaza. We were also joined by Dr. Gray's High School Choral Director and their choir for the main concert.

After a few rehearsals along with a symphonic orchestra run-through (Mid-Atlantic Orchestra) we were onto our final dress at Carnegie. The hall is gorgeous from both audience and performer points of view. Acoustically it felt perfect. The audience was close to 1000 people and these were strangers aside from our college Admin: President Horvath (who also bought a bunch of us cheesecake at Lindy's - SO GOOD), Dr. Karl Boelter (Head of the School of Music), and Dr. Blasting (Dean of Schools of Arts and Sciences) amongst others.

From the first note, to the epic C major a Capella choral chord (the low C in the bass section) that resonated throughout the hall, and the haunting Baritone and Soprano solos - the piece was a huge success and a reminder that the year worth of preparation was well worth the efforts and wait.

Let music take you places...

Technology in Music: Good or Bad?

To start: I am getting concerned on the progress of music in America. I am currently taking a technology in music class where we learn how to use technology in our music careers and I reflected on all the work classmates and I did in high school without any of it and the success and pride we all had. So here's a reflection:

Music technology has wavered back and forth in my life in the last eight years. I was first introduced to a very simple program called Noteworthy Composer since Finale was super expensive and this free “evaluation” software was enough to put my ideas into professional prints.

In the beginning, software was never really brought up as a source to use for creation, recording, etc. of any music activity in high school or at home. In fact the only time we ever did anything along the line of music tech was at Area All-State where fancy pants recording businesses would do a high quality recording of our concerts.

Notation software was not even on the general agenda. GarageBand had yet to be released and Finale was in it’s beginning stages. My highschool didn’t even get Sibelius until nearly six years after I had graduated and this was with having four classes based on theory and composition. We used manuscript paper, things were done by ear, we didn’t get retries, and we took more risks in our compositions.

Sadly I can say I have completely become the opposite of that. When I first started going to music school I had keyboard in front of the computer, software like Pratica Musica to tell me when something was wrong and to try again, notation software to experiment on and make compositions. I rarely sat behind a piano which is very sad. I am a firm believer that creation take place in a minimalistic setting and grows from there. Yet thanks to the ease created by what is available today I have become a hypocrite.

Personally I believe that software hinders talent. True creationism can’t be formed around the principle of “anyone can do it.” I understand the argument of the need for slightly deeper understanding in order to successfully use any of the technology effectively, and I will continue to use it because the reality is that I can produce music quicker and easier. But at the same time, my foundation was based around a world without it.

So for me it’s a question of the success of the future generations, not mine. Will we as composers, educators and students be able to say that we were brought up on music, or brought up on music software?

Jamaica 2012: My Final Reflection

“Footprints: Some people come into our lives and quickly go… some stay for a while and leave footprints in our hearts, and we are never the same.” - Unknown

On March 8^th, 2012, students from SUNY Fredonia, Potsdam and Indiana University traveled on a ten day educational experience to the southern districts of Jamaica. The trip included a stay at the “Irie Rest” Guesthouse located on the southern shore of the St. Elizabeth parish at Billy’s Bay of Treasure Beach. The parish is poverty stricken and most homes can be found unfinished or suffering from wear and tear

            Volunteering in a third world nation is extremely complicated, mostly because of huge differences in language and procedure. The language is mostly proper English but there is a mix with the children of a language known as patois. This broken English simplifies verbs and nouns and in a way mashes words together or simplifies them. For instance, instead of handling the diphthong in the word down in patois would simple be dung. In essence it shortens the vowel usage and sometimes combines consonants like th in the to di. So a sentence like “to go down the gully” would sound like “go dung di gully.” This being a problem in our perspective because when we would phrase a sentence during instruction we would have to make sure to place all consonants carefully so they understand us best. If we failed to do so, a simple phrase like “follow my example” can be heard as one large word “follwmyexample” and can be very confusing for the children. One thing I noted as I taught them how to sing the music and play the recorders that we had brought, is that through a method of audiating and visualization they learned best and made the need for talking obsolete. They followed finger patterns as I showed them and based their success off of the noises they produced. It was rewarding to know that when it comes down to it music is sometimes the only language we all can follow.

            It was tough to come to the realization that the country was coming off of the practice of corporal punishment. All over the school you could see pictures of “silence zone” as a reminder to zip it or face a ruler or backhand from the principle. I was unfortunate to witness a young boy get several back hands form the principle simply for not calling her “ma’am” when he was being addressed. At one point I remember a young boy saying something that was apparently in some form disrespectful and as his classmate reminded him I remember he took a step away from me as if he expected repercussion – but I had no idea what his offense was or any inclination to react in the manner that his instructors do. I had talked to my team mates about this reaction and found that several had the same experience. To summarize my volunteer experience, every moment was a rewarding moment. When you see a child trust a person who they may never of heard of outside the television or stories form their relatives, succeed in music – something they would never be instructed in their years in school – and the joy that it bring them to the point where both instructor and student were in tears, you realize just what a program this is regardless of the challenges.

            Days two through four of our Jamaican adventure brought us – especially me – new adventures that sometime we can only dream about. As we explored the shores of Treasure Beach we visited Great Bay which was home to a small path up to a lookout point. The dirt was read which was a sign of rich iron deposits that when mixed with the salty sea air and mist produced the vibrant color. Much of the rock formation had indications of coral and shellfish growth over the years – maybe a sign that at one time the ledge was underwater many years ago.  The rich soil allowed for plants such as various cactus, agave and native herbs to grow amongst to rocky cliff sides. I remember specifically the agave plants, used mostly in the world for production of tequila and sugar, with twenty plus foot high stalk with bright golden flowers. You can see them as you walk through the thick brush towering over the trees and other foliage. Come to find out the plants served more of a medicinal purpose that a recreation drink ingredient.

            Some of my favorite indigenous plants include the Blue Mahoe which is found throughout the island, but is no longer abundant as it is commonly used as a source of lumber. The blue flowers on the Blue Mahoe are the national flower, Lignum Vitae. It’s a small pretty flower with purple/lilac colored peddles. We were fortunate to have one right outside our guesthouse. Also another favorite picture that I took was that of a species of orchid located in the mountains of Accompany. The flowers were bright red and resembled that of a red geranium here in the states. Other flowers were varieties of lily, fern and cactus. All over the parish and island we could see banana trees – mostly called “sweeties” – a small, very sweet banana. Our Guesthouse host introduced me to a variety of coconuts available on the island ranging from the Jelly Coconut whose inside was soft and jelly like in consistency. The water is sweet but the jelly itself can be pasty and bitter. Most of these coconuts are bright green in color, but when they reach an orange/brown color they have either ripened to what we are used to when we see shredded coconut in stores, or over ripened and bad for eating. Also thanks to our host, I experienced a cashew apple. The cashew apple is an oblong fruit that bears one single cashew nut. Come to find out the nut is completely poisonous until it is roasted but the apple is sweet and tart as if you were to drink a very dry white wine. I may want to add the wild and cultured marijuana plants also known as “ganja.” While it is illegal within the country many locals, especially the Rastafarians and Maroons, use it as holistic medication and for recreation.

            To get back to Geography, we took a tour along the coastline of Treasure Beach from Billy’s Bay all the way to the Black river, Jamaica’s largest river and tributary. We saw most of the coastline during this ten plus mile tour. Due to hurricanes in the past much of the natural sand beaches had been washed away exposing once thriving Guesthouses to the ocean front. One house was actually in the process of falling into the water.  Most of the shoreline was guarded by a pretty rough terrain of coral reef but allowed for us to experience much of the local animals such as bottle-nosed dolphins, pelicans, sea urchins, starfish and sand crabs. The Black River tributary is home of salt water crocodiles that lie amongst another common water side plant called mango groves. These groves has numerous thick roots that bury themselves in the clay and mud along the shore line and offer plenty of coverage form the sun for the crocodiles and snowy egrets. By far however, the coolest plant I had the chance to see was something our tour guide called the Shame O’Lady. This plant when touched responded by closing its leaves. Our tour guide in the mountainside said that it is used for water collection mostly but this herb is a popular treatment for colds and stomach ailments.

            The economy of the island is based off of and completely dependent on tourism. It was hard to realize that my country was partly responsible for the current state of the economy in Jamaica. The whole problem began in the early 1970’s when Jamaica’s break off from the rule of England created national debt and instability. While the exports of Jamaica helped with bringing business to farm owners and businesses, eventually they died off as cheaper resources became available elsewhere. For instance – America at one point solely bought bananas from the island but due to availability for pennies cheaper in South America we took our business elsewhere. Jamaica’s fresh dairy production was huge until America tried to aid the people by buying the milk and producing powdered milk for greater distribution. Soon powdered milk was cheaper and the milk industry was destroyed, evident by the abandoned buildings once used for housing cattle and pasteurization units. As if that wasn’t enough we also brought corporation businesses there but eventually replaced the workers with people from different countries whose skillset was higher and employment rates cheaper… does any of this make sense? The country is in such national debt that violence rages through the capitol of Kingston and it seems like the unfortunate inevitability of complete bankruptcy looms for every area outside of the tourism locations. Depreciation of the Jamaican dollar is so bad that one US dollar equals eighty five Jamaican. The local economy of the Guesthouse we stayed at was solely dependent on our business and stay. Our need for housing, meals, and transportation provided work for at least a dozen people. Our money and tips provided them with more than they would probably see within a typical working month for most on the island. I just wish there was more to give but as we were told the moneys impact would reached far greater lengths than just the Guesthouse. I sure hope so.

            I have always believed that music serves as the language of the world and it was very evident to me throughout this entire trip. The children we encountered learned through it and the people we shared the experiences bonded by it. Drumming represents the very heartbeat of Jamaica which can be corny to hear but even more prominent when you learn that an entire drumming pattern called Nyabinghi within the Rasta culture depends on it and means “heart beat.”  The most memorable of moments was noticing the true vibe behind it in the mountains of Accompong, the home of the Maroons. The background of the Maroons is a rich heritage founded from a life of slavery, yet their traditions, beliefs and culture lives on to today. The ceremonies represented by the music play an important part in remembering and honoring their past and serves as a sharp reminder of what we were experiencing. The culture for most of the island is represented by one thing: love. Love of everyone and everything and without it one cannot survive. Brotherhood is not only learned by the past of the island but by the times of the island and the dependency on one another to survive. A reminder of this was meeting a baby girl nicknamed Lucky who was left at the steps of our Guesthouse and taken in by the owners. They took her in not because they had to or wanted but because it was the right thing to do regardless of what they had or did not have to offer. It is almost as if in the very precious of disaster true humanity prevails.

            To try and sum up an experience like this almost does an injustice to what the real experience is like. If I had to tell it all in few word this is what I would say: There is not a single more eye opening experience than when you walk into a situation you were not expecting and absorb everything you can from it. From the children who I will never forget as I know they will not forget me, to the people who brought me into their homes to offer me what little they had, to the locals who told me that life is all about love – what’s so hard to understand about it? The fact that regardless of how poor people may seem they still consider themselves rich and even after ten days with them I can see why. It’s not about what you don’t have but what you do with what you do. To quote a sign from one of the schools made by a student: “I will not waste my youth in idleness, but plant seeds so I and other may prosper in my old age”

Day 8: The Final Countdown

Its Thursday… everyone is tired… heat-driven exhaustion has finally kicked in with a hint of dehydration but that never slows us down! Today is our final day with the Mountainside School and that means only one thing… RECORDER DAY YAAYYYY! I mean… yay.

Breakfast was really neat with cornmeal dumplings, scrambled eggs and callaloo. As a special treat our host Lenny brought mean two cashew apples. I was curious earlier in the week about cashew apples and what they looked like. Come to find out there is only one cashew nut per apple (no wonder they are so expensive) and the nuts are completely poisonous until roasted! The apple however is very juicy, very sweet and very dry like a fine dry wine. The flavor is a cross between apple and pear.

School went by quick considering all we did was recorder lessons grades 4-6. Lunch was fried chick and rice with beans… pretty simple day.

What I do want to talk about is the food at the schools. The kids have a thirty minute break from about 10:15-10:30 daily. During this time there are multiple concession stands open but all the stands sell are soft drink, very sugary juices, cookies, candy and chips and this is all the kids eat during this time every single day. Today was rough on us teachers; they ran out of bottled water so all we had to drink were the sugary soft drinks and juices… the juice’s ingredients? Water, sugar, and citric acid that’s all.  Ugh.

Lunches seem to be the healthiest meal these kids get… and possibly the only full meal they will get all day. Think of that sometime when you throw away leftovers.

The kids introduced me to a lizard they call the “Ko-ko-mung” it has a proper name and when I find out I will try to update this. But the lizard dwells in palm trees and is usually brown and green in color with a yellow , sail-like fin that extends from their neck when they feel threatened or its mating time. This one was about sixteen inches long from head to tail and bright green… awesome what you can find out here.

Tomorrow we visit the school one final time just to donate all the supplies and say our goodbyes and then we will be visiting the primary schools where kids ages 3-4 begin their studies! Stay tuned!

Day 7: Mountainside Part III

Hey everybody! Sorry this post took longer than normal but the internet is very patchy at our Guesthouse so sometimes I have a connection and then suddenly it’s gone. No problems mon!

Breakfast was more on the traditional side this morning which was nice considering my stomach did not settle well with last night’s dinner. Not that any of the food has been bad but I think large amounts of new spices are bound to bug someone sooner or later. Nothing French toast and plantains could not fix!

We took off for Mountainside which has been the main school we have been focusing on this week. The main focus today was level six children and introducing them to the drumming and vocal selections we have been using with all the other levels. The main goal is that by Friday we want to have an assembly of the entire school to perform all the selections we have been working on together. That’s four hundred kids!

I taught three sessions, one vocal and two drumming. The vocal stuff is always easy but drumming can be tough. What is even funnier is that the girls can out drum the boys – not that this is intended to be a sexist battle or competition – but there is a higher level of focus with the girls. I believe that part of that reason is that women are still relatively new to the idea of schooling down here and really take education as part of a privilege. All the kids are very obedient. Corporal punishment is still used seldom here as a means of, well, attitude adjustment.  We do not use this system because it has been outlawed, plus none of us would even consider to as American-trained educators but sometimes they still use it here… scary to witness.

Anyways, what I was saying is that it was funny that the boys would not focus until I made competition between them a means of learning. With a class of twenty-two, twelve year old boys who all had drums in front of them I had to do something so they would actually learn.

No rain today, not till later at night. Rain never lasts more than an hour around here. It mostly comes around to cool the area down and it leaves.

Dinner was good tonight. The entire team went down to a hut called Strikey’s, and when I say hut, I mean a bamboo walled – straw roofed... Well… hut. Delicious food though! In a choice of shrimp, T-bone steak or lobster… I got the steak… you know it!

Tomorrow we return to Mountainside one last time for a recorder lesson…. Probably should pack the Tylenol…

Until next time!!