Teaching Through Performance eighth blackbird
By: Christine Digangi
Issue date: 2/5/08 Section: Features
Work, play, teach. It's all the same for eighth blackbird, the School of Music's ensemble in residence until the end of this academic year. The group of six professional musicians has visited DePauw sporadically throughout the year as the first establishment of a music residency at the school, interacting with the students as performers, as instructors and as fellow musicians.
eighth blackbird is foremost a touring ensemble, but the group works with four different universities this year, including University of Chicago, University of Michigan and University of Richmond, as well as DePauw. The universities of Michigan and Richmond are the permanent residencies for the group, while they only hold visiting status at DePauw. Of the four, DePauw is one of two schools with a school specifically for music students.
"Our role varies from institution to institution," said clarinetist Michael Maccaferri. He said that performing for an audience like the one at DePauw is rewarding because students are not intimidated to approach the performers after a concert and give critical feedback. "Just as we hope to help students improve, they help us improve," Maccaferri said.
eighth blackbird returned to DePauw for a week in late January to follow up its previous two visits. As part of the residency, the individual members of the ensemble took time to participate in classes with DePauw students who play the instruments in which they specialize. In some classes, ensemble members spent the time discussing proper playing technique, while other ensemble members gave students a chance to play pieces of music for the musicians and receive constructive critiques on that particular composition.
The students weren't the only ones who had the chance to play: the musicians of eighth blackbird had their instruments with them so that they could assist the students by playing alongside them.
This allows them to provide a practical demonstration of their lessons. By watching the students experiment with newly-taught methods, the members could make sure the students understood the theory they had learned, which resulted in small yet rapid and effective improvements in the quality of the students' music.
eighth blackbird is foremost a touring ensemble, but the group works with four different universities this year, including University of Chicago, University of Michigan and University of Richmond, as well as DePauw. The universities of Michigan and Richmond are the permanent residencies for the group, while they only hold visiting status at DePauw. Of the four, DePauw is one of two schools with a school specifically for music students.
"Our role varies from institution to institution," said clarinetist Michael Maccaferri. He said that performing for an audience like the one at DePauw is rewarding because students are not intimidated to approach the performers after a concert and give critical feedback. "Just as we hope to help students improve, they help us improve," Maccaferri said.
eighth blackbird returned to DePauw for a week in late January to follow up its previous two visits. As part of the residency, the individual members of the ensemble took time to participate in classes with DePauw students who play the instruments in which they specialize. In some classes, ensemble members spent the time discussing proper playing technique, while other ensemble members gave students a chance to play pieces of music for the musicians and receive constructive critiques on that particular composition.
The students weren't the only ones who had the chance to play: the musicians of eighth blackbird had their instruments with them so that they could assist the students by playing alongside them.
This allows them to provide a practical demonstration of their lessons. By watching the students experiment with newly-taught methods, the members could make sure the students understood the theory they had learned, which resulted in small yet rapid and effective improvements in the quality of the students' music.
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