TEACHING
improvisation for classical musicians
Improvisation for Classical Musicians
My book in progress:
I'm writing a book on improvisation for classical musicians. Inspired Greg Sandow, who is writing a book (about the future of classical music) online, I am blogging my book. The book will discuss the past, present, and possible future roles of improvisation in classical music, and offer some starting points for classical musicians new to improvisation.
Comments, suggestions are most welcome. Click here to visit classicalimprov.blogspot.com.
Improvisation in my teaching
I incorporate improvisation as much as possible in my classroom and cello teaching. I write from time to time about this on my book in progress blog. And here's the syllabus for my section ("Creativity, Non-Western Music, and the Future of Classical Music") of DePauw's team-taught seminar for first-semester music majors.
A Bibliography for Improvisation and Classical Music
There are many excellent books and articles related to in general as well as its past, present, and future role in classical music. Click here for my growing improvisation bibliography.
Links to other online resources:
Music for People Music for People is the extraordinary organization founded by cellist David Darling and flutist Bonnie Insull to promote self expression through music and improvisation. Music for People has helped countless musicians, including many professional classical musicians, transform our relationship to music and ourselves.
International Society for Improvised Music A relatively new academic society, which "promotes performance, education, and research in improvised music, and illuminates connections between musical improvisation and creativity across fields."
National Public Radio Interviews, Performances, and Reviews
Robert Abramson From the NPR site: "In the final part of his month-long series on great mentors, Slate contributor Eric Liu talks with Juilliard School instructor Robert Abramson, who teaches highly trained music students to do something they normally aren't allowed to do: improvise." This is a great interview!
Dessert First A September 2006 collection of encores, including "an incredible virtuoso display by Venezuelan violinist Alexis Cardenas. At a concert in Montreal, his encore was an improvisation on a Venezuelan folk tune."
Paul Horn An All Things Considered interview with the great improvising flutist.
Keith Jarrett interviewed by Tony Cox, October 5, 2006, after his return to Carnegie Hall following a battle with chronic fatigue syndrome
Keith Jarrett Jazz Profile from October 2002.
Robert Levin From NPR's "Milestones of the Millennium," an interview with pianist and scholar Robert Levin on the role of improvisation in classical music.
Rolf Lislevand: Gentle Music on Baroque Guitar a Performance Today interview from October 2006 in which the guitarist discusses improvisational aspects of 17-th century music.
Rolf Lislevand, Improvising with 'Nuove Musiche' Weekend Edition, March 2006
Gabriela Montero A review (from All Things Considered) of Gabriela Montero's double CD--one disc of short classical pieces, the other improvisations inspired by classical works.
An Encore from Gabriela Montero An improvised encore, broadcast on Performance Today in March 2006.
Gabriela Montero: Classical and Improvisational from Performance Today, July 2006.
Gabriela Montero: Classic Improvisations a September 2006 interview on All Things Considered.
"Sing It and Wing It" from Performance Today, December 8, 2006.
Online Articles (These is intended to be an inclusive, rather than selective, list of links I've found on Google or which have been emailed to me. Unless specifically noted, they are not necessarily endorsed or recommended by me in terms of scholarly accuracy. Students writing papers, remember you surf at your own risk. Evaluate all online sources carefully!)
A great list of links on Classical Embellishing/Improvising/Cadenzas on the site of the Festival for Creative Pianists in Grand Junction, Colorado.
Robert Levin, Robert Levin, Robert Levin:
"Robert Levin Celebrates Mozart's Birthday," a 2006 article from the Harvard Gazette by Ken Gewertz, which includes a video link (only the RealPlayer one works, at least on 12/17/06).
"Improvising Mozart," by Levin himself, on the Academy of Ancient Music website, which also has "Robert Levin talks Mozart," a short interview with Herbert Glass.
"An Ear for Mozart's Dialect: Improvising with Robert Levin," a 1999 Showbill piece by Bernard Sherman, author of Inside Early Music.
"Lost Art," a short 2000 Harvard Magazine piece by David Delgado.
"Robert Levin discusses performers as composers," a transcript of a 2002 interview with Andrew Ford on The Music Show, an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) program.
"Thinking Like Mozart" by Ron Biss, from The Listener (New Zealand). A review of a festival in which Levin played modulatory preludes, which take the listener from the key of a just-finished piece to that of the next.
Jamie Baum merges classical composition with jazz improvisation, a 2004 article from the Daily Times in Maryville TN.
Michael Cooke is a composer who mentions the importance of improvisation on his website, noting that his jazz and classical music-making are melding. (Warning: annoying autoplay midi file. You can turn it off right under the composer's photo.)
Logan L. Gabirel on Improvisation in Classical Music Part I and Part II at Guitarnoise.com.
Frederick L. Kirshnit writes about music on the "Spur of the Moment" at concertonet.com.Composer Carla Magnan discusses improvisation and other topics in this interview on the website of the Paganini competition in Genova (don't worry--it's translated into English.)
Stephen Moore Combines Classical Standards and Improvisation in Recital, an article from the Oberlin website about a concert by the then-president of the Dalcroze Society (looks to be from 2000).
Steven Osborne did a improv workshop at the University of Connecticut in 1999, and here's the press release.
Phillip Rush's 2004 Florida State doctoral treatise A String Player’s Guide to Improvisation in Western Art Music is available as a PDF download here. Right-click the link and download if you don't want it to open in a browser window (which always freezes my computer). This is a resource I strongly recommend, and not just to string players.
Misha Stefanuk on The History of Improvisation at www.melbay.com