Studio3Music Blog

Archive for the ‘Bits and Pieces’ Category

Mar
6

The Magic of the Theater

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Symphony Concerts, Things to do

There’s just something about it. The anticipation of seeing magic happen on the stage. The whole evening, from the time you start getting dressed for the show to the car ride home, is just the best thing to go through. But to top it off is seeing a production through a child’s’ eye.

This last week, my husband and I went to the musical Beauty and the Beast. WOW! What a production. I have seen this show once before when it came through town about 12 years ago or so. I had one memorable scene that has stuck with me through out the years and has made me want to see this musical again. I was SO excited when the Paramount Theater announced its line up for the 2011/2012 season and Beauty and the Beast was on it! I went so far as to mark it on my calendar, each month, reminding me when tickets went on sale and to save money to be able to afford them.

When the day finally arrived, I was over the moon happy. Now, a couple things came into play that could’ve dampened my mood but I was not going to let that happen! The biggest thing that I was worried about was my son. He is 6 months old and we had yet to leave him in the evening to be babysat. I have NO problem leaving him with Nana or trusted friends but this was the first time that we would be breaking up his evening routine. Thankfully, he had taken a bottle from my husband that day so I was hopeful that he would do that at night as well.

After giving all the instructions to my mom, who was watching him, off we were to the Paramount Theater. We went with a couple of friends and on the way down we were talking about our favorite parts of the movie. Singing the songs, recapping the story and talking about the anticipation of the costumes were all in our conversation. As soon as we parked the car, I saw it. There it was – a sea of gold amongst the theater goers.

Now, I have to say, we were lucky in that the night before was technically opening night. However, the trucks couldn’t make it over the pass and so the people who had opening night tickets had to be rescheduled for closing night. That meant that we had opening night tickets! This element just added an extra excitement in the air.

About the sea of gold. As you know, Belles’ dress when she dances with the Beast is gold and very elegant. There were so many little girls dressed in gold dresses holding roses. You could just see and hear them, non-stop talking to their parents about how excited they were to see the show. The sparkle in their eye was so bright you could see it from across the room.

Once we were seated, you could hear the buzz in the audience when the lights went down and the music started. It really was electric. Every one, adults and children alike, were sitting on the edge of their seats soaking up every note played, word spoken and song sung. Through out the musical you could hear children laughing and little comments like ‘oooo, look at the Beast!’, ‘Belle is so pretty’ and ‘I just love this song’.

At one point in the show, I took a moment to look at my friends on my left and then my husband on my right, and all of them had smiles on their faces and an intent happiness in their eye. How can one musical, one show, one experience evoke so much emotion and reach an audience of young and old? It’s the magic of the theater!

Once the show was over it was a popcorn conversation between us about our favorite scene, song, dance and just about everything. As I was soaking everything in, an overwhelming feeling came over me. I can now share this love with my son! Obviously, I’m not going to take him to the paramount theater at 6 months old, but I can take him to Benaroya Hall for the symphony concert that Studio3 puts on. I can play music around the house and as he gets older introduce him to musicals, plays and art. And, when he does come of age, I WILL be taking him to see a musical in the theater so that he can experience how a musical comes alive on the stage and not just the TV screen. : )

When we finally got home we learned that Miles had not taken his bottle and it had been a rough night for him. But, he didn’t starve, and my mom had a wonderful time with him. Even though things hadn’t gone ideally at home, the night couldn’t have gone any better. The memory of it all will stick with me for some time and I look forward to my next time at the theater. But, even more than seeing a musical myself, I cannot wait to introduce Miles to the art of the theater!

-posted by Miss Anna, who will jump at every chance she can get to attend a show!

Tags: Miss Anna, music, Things to do

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Mar
3

The Lone Ranger and Capering Cupids

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Education, Symphony Concerts

I have a go to list for music when I’m feeling less than myself. I mentioned in my last post that I enjoy the less than meaningful music of the 80’s for rote work around the house, and that I find certain music to be irritating and other music to be sad. If you’ve been to the symphony for one of our concerts recently you’ve heard some of my favorite classical music.

At our Christmas concert in December we sang the “Hallelujah Chorus”. I’ve always loved the Hallelujah Chorus. The best part of my Birthday this year was getting up at 5:30 am to make it to Choir rehearsal with the high-school students who joined us at the concert. I sang the “Hallelujah Chorus” three times before 7:30 am… oh, bliss….

And in January we focused a whole show on Mozart. There are scads of Mozart pieces on my Happy List. I love Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, I love the Piano Sonata in C Major, I love the Haffner Symphony and the Piano Concerto No. 22, and there are so many things on my LOVE IT Mozart list that I can’t even remember the names of some of them.

On March 17th, at our Symphony Serenade concert, we will be putting the spotlight on another one of my favorite pieces of music (and one that is definitely on my Happy List), Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony.

I love the playful nature of this piece, and I can’t ever quite get the vision of Fantasia’s capering cupids, centaurs and Pegasus out of my mind when I hear it. I did manage to quash them down low enough to write a story without any fantastical mythical creatures. However, it does have animals, and they do talk, so perhaps I haven’t escaped the fantastical after all.

You’ll also be hearing part of the Overture for William Tell (yes, the famous part), the theme from the Lone Ranger. There is nothing quite like hearing that brass fanfare and watching the faces of the children light up as they realize something wonderful is coming. That fanfare creates a sense of excitement; it stirs something deep within us. It literally screams, “Heroic deeds are heading your way!”

Introducing classical music to your child is fun, and not as hard we seem to think…. It can be daunting to search for a piece of music: the names are odd, technical descriptions that read like food labels for items produced entirely from polysyllabic ingredients that never existed in nature, and most of the composers have names that are hard to spell, too.

But coming to a Symphony Serenade concert is a way to find music that your child can connect with, and sing along with. And if you’d like to know the name of a piece of music we’ve focused on or the name of the composer you can always send us an email, we’d love to pass that information on to you (it’s not like we announce them during the show). And we’d love to give you few pointers for looking farther afield in the classical world, too. If you like X you just might like Y.

And yes, my kids did listen to classical music when they were little. And they liked it. They were moved to play a game of monster search through and behind the furniture in my family room when the radio station we listened to in Denver played the Sinfonia Antartica, and everyday at noon all the kids came running from where ever they were in the house to hear Mozart’s Impresario ring in Mid Day Mozart on that same radio station.

I think it’s what has saved Nathaniel from the horrors of the really depressing music his peers listen to, because I know I gave him a musical heritage that is deep and wide, long and curvy with twists and turns and pockets of a little bit of everything. (Except smooth jazz. I have saved him from that. And jazz fusion, too!)

So come see us on March 17^th. They’ve just released few tickets for the 9:30 show. The 10:30 is sold out on the website, but you can call the box office at 206.215.4747 and plead. And when you come, you’ll find out what you might miss if you sleep too late when the Rooster loses his ear shattering COCK-A-DOODLE DOO!

-posted by Miss Allison, who stayed up late last night with the prop making crew sewing costumes for sheep, cows, horses, ducks and a rooster, and creating a giant tree!

Tags: listening, Miss Allison, music, Things to do

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Mar
1

Zepplin tangles Tetris, but Brahms soothes the snappy.

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Music and the brain

According to the report on the radio (start here if you haven’t read the lead in story to the “report on the radio”) it seems that most people are affected just like I am. A study was done recently (and of course, they listed where and by whom at the beginning of the report, before I was interested, so I don’t remember, but it was on Morning Addition, NPR.)

The researchers gathered two groups of college students, gave them all an assignment to do, and put them in two separate rooms. In one room they played Bach and Dvorak – both classical composers. In the other room, they played hardcore techno rock. (I really don’t know what that means, but it does sound really awful.) When the music/homework time was over, a group of professors went into each room and harshly critiqued the students’ work.

Can't you just hear the irritating music?

Now the study got interesting. The students in the techno room and the students in the classical room reacted differently to the criticism. The techno students were much more likely to get angry than the classical students. Listening to the techno music increased their levels of aggression, and decreased their happiness levels. I’m sure the students who listened to the classical music weren’t happy about having their work reviewed so harshly, but they didn’t respond the same way as the other students.

I recently had a similar experience. Last summer, we took our teenage sons and two friends to the amusement park in Idaho. It’s a six hour drive, so we took turns choosing the music we would listen to. Nathaniel, my 15-year-old son, got the first pick. He chose Led Zepplin. I was playing Tetris, and after the first song my game started to fall apart.

After the third song, I couldn’t stack the square pieces on top of each other, let alone make the zig-zags, and the Ls, and that other shape go together properly. It was really irritating. I usually play a nice clean and tidy game of Tetris. I can “fix” a tower with multiple holes and get my stack back to solid square. I very seldom ever clear a single line – the game is Tetris, right? So I clear four lines at a time.

This was the worst game if Tetris I had played in years. And I was really irritated about it. We stopped for gas and I snapped at all four boys to clean up their snack mess, and not to wander off, and to be polite in the gas station. They stared at me, kinda shocked. I like these kids, all of them, and seldom snap at them, even when they track filthy mud in the house, and leave their backpacks in front of the door and I can’t even get in the house. (I do make them clean it up, but with a smile and a joke.)

Gotta be Brahms or the Beatles.

By the time all eleven songs in the playlist were done my shoulders were hunched up and my skin hurt, it was crawling all over the place trying to get out of the car and then, thankfully it was my turn to pick the music. We listened to Brahms, and I apologized for being snappy less than halfway through the first song. It was an instant fix for me.

As a footnote, Nathaniel does listen to some dreadful music, and he likes it really loud. But recently I’ve noticed that he plays the really awful music for a little while, and then it gets swapped for Glad and the Nylons and Straight No- Chaser and the soundtrack to Glee and some wacky song sung by a Russian Bass who only says OOOO…. And I hear the Beatles and the Monkees, and I hear hope… hope that Led Zeppelin may be on the train heading out of the front door of my house, along with the other stuff that makes me cranky, so cranky I don’t even want to know their names.

-posted by Miss Allison, who wants you to head over to Facebook right now to continue the conversation by telling her what music totally drives you up a wall, makes you completely cranky and irritated, and what music soothes your soul.

Tags: listening, Miss Allison, music

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Feb
27

Bach for Cleaning, B-52′s for Baking.

Posted in Bits and Pieces

I’m doing all the blogging this week, talking about music’s affect on your emotions. I’m also going to be asking you to have a conversation with me every day on Facebook. Please talk with me!

I heard an interesting program on the radio as I drove to work one morning this week about music and how it affects your mood. I’ve always known that I was somewhat sensitive to the emotional impact of music, and that if I was in a gloomy mood I did not need to listen to Samuel Barbers’ Adagio for Strings (as lovely as it is). It is breathtakingly lovely; I can barely listen to it when I’m over the moon happy. It exudes sadness from it’s every sound wave; it actually physically hurts me to listen to it. So listening to it while already gloomy would be excruciating.

Music can intensify a mood for me. Listening to Copland’s Appalachian Spring while already in a happy mood will make me joyful, as will Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Listening to Bach when I need to be productive will increase my ability to produce an organized closet or kitchen cabinet, or a well made bed. (I hate to make up the beds.)

These effects go beyond the classical world. I will enjoy mindless cleaning, like dusting and vacuuming and shelving books and bathroom scrubbing more if I have some mindless 1980’s new wave, a little Talking Heads, or the B-52’s, maybe some Paul Simon or Madonna. The house gets cleaned faster and I feel less grumpy about it.

But if Michael gets to the stereo before I do and Alanis Morriset pours out her broken and angry heart as I dust and vacuum, I will be cranky. I like her music, I do, but it’s not good for an activity that tends to make me less than happy anyway.

And Harry Connick Jr. gets my vote for the perfect music for making dinner or baking anything. (Funny enough, Michael is cleaning the kitchen as I write this, singing “Love Shack” GO B-52’s!)

-posted by Miss Allison, who says “Okay. Back to that interesting radio program tomorrow. But first, click over to Facebook and tell me what music you choose to listen to and for what task? (Cleaning, working out, focusing, etc.) See you there!”

Tags: listening, Miss Allison, music

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Feb
23

Taking Your Time (Tiger) by the Tail.

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family

When you think of time management, what comes to mind? Schedule sheets? To-Do Lists? Calendars? Do you get excited or bored or stressed out at the thought of managing your time?

I’m on an exciting journey–revisiting the concept of time management in my current stage of life. As a single person with a full-time job, I felt in control of my time. I practiced moderate goal setting with good success. Then I got married and had kids. My scheduled life went out the window with colicky babies and I never really got it back.

But lately, I’ve sensed the need for help. As mom who is also a home school teacher and free-lance writer, my life has gotten increasingly more complicated. The need for time management has grown more acute. Hence, I’m researching the subject of time management, keeping in mind the complexity of my life. I’m not interested in some impractical, rigid schedule that drives me and my family nuts–and is a recipe for failure and guilt. I’m looking for ideas that bring peace to my life, promote creativity, and increase productivity.

Here’s what I’ve found so far.

Surprisingly, time management is primarily about making decisions. One writer said, “Life is a sequence of big and small choices. It is those choices that you really manage, not the flow of time.” No wonder time management is challenging for some of us. I don’t make decisions quickly or easily, perhaps because I always want to make the perfect decision.

What can help me determine more quickly which decision is best? This is where goal setting comes in.

“Many people have not spent enough time thinking about what they want from life. They haven’t set formal goals. Would you set out on a major journey with no real idea of your destination?”

If we’re honest, many of us would admit we’re frantically traveling to who-knows-where!

“Success is knowing what you want and then directing action towards it.”

And another old saying: “If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time.”

I’m learning that I need to take time to think about where I’m going in the different areas of life that matter most to me; my marriage, my children’s schooling and character development, my spiritual life and professional growth for example. I need to figure out what I’m shooting for.

It helped me to consider the concept of aiming. It takes quiet concentration. Your eye focuses on the target–something out in front of you. Your hand coordinates with the eye to put the target in its sights. After steadying the aim, you release power in the direction of the target. If the aim is good, the target is hit.

The aim of time management is to move me toward my goals. When I stop to aim, I consider the results of my actions ahead of time. I ask the worthy questions, “Is this really what I want to do?” “Will this make a positive difference in my life or the lives of those I love?” “Knowing I have limited energy to expend, is this goal worth the effort?”

“Goal setting is a process for thinking about your ideal future and for motivating yourself to turn your vision of this future into reality.”

I didn’t expect getting back into time management would lead me first and foremost into soul searching. Hardly the strait-jacket experience I nervously anticipated. I don’t mind a cup of coffee, a yellow pad and pen, and a couple hours of prayerful dreaming about I might like the future to hold for me and my loved ones.

I can already feel the calming benefit of attempting to take my time by the tail.

Posted by Donna Detweiler who found inspiration and the above quotes at mindtools.com, time-management-guide.com, and asianefficiency.com.