What are elements of effective teaching in classical music? with Dr. Sharon J. Paul

01/13/21 • 46 min

Con Fuoco: A Podcast about Classical Music and its Future

Dr. Sharon J. Paul is a performer and educator who holds the Robert M. Trotter Chair of Music at the University of Oregon, where she currently serves as Interim Department Head of Music Performance and Director of Choral Activities. Her teaching includes graduate courses in choral conducting, repertoire, and pedagogy, along with conducting the internationally award-winning Chamber Choir, which has placed first or second in four international choral competitions, most recently winning first prize in the Chamber Choir category at the Grand Prix of Nations Competition in Gothenburg, Sweden in August 2019. The Chamber Choir became a resident ensemble of the Oregon Bach Festival in 2014, performing each summer under conductors such as Helmuth Rilling, Matthew Halls, John Nelson, Jane Glover, and Joann Falletta.
In March 2020, Oxford University Press published Dr. Paul’s book, Art & Science in the Choral Rehearsal, which features many of the creative and evidence-based teaching strategies she has cultivated over her career. Dr. Paul has also presented interest sessions at regional, state, division, national, and international conferences, appearing frequently as adjudicator, clinician, teacher, and honor choir director throughout the United States and abroad, with recent appearances nationally in Minnesota, California, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Utah, Washington, and internationally in Singapore, Estonia, Sweden, and England. In 2019, she received Oregon ACDA’s Podium Award for “outstanding contributions to the choral arts,” and in the fall of 2014 she received the University of Oregon’s Fund for Faculty Excellence Award.
The Question of the Week is, “What are elements of effective teaching in classical music?” Dr. Paul and I discuss what the core elements of her teaching style is, teachers in her life that she found effective (and others she didn’t), her incredible book Art and Science in the Choral Rehearsal, what science has taught us about how the brain learns, and the toxic relationships that can develop between teachers and their students.

Previous Episode

How can classical musicians actively encourage confidence and happiness in their lives? with Kiyoshi Hayashi

My guest this week is violinist, certified personal trainer, and holistic health and mindset coach, Kiyoshi Hayashi. As a performing musician, Kiyoshi is the founder, managing director, and violinist of the award winning Rasa String Quartet, the Co-Artistic Director of the musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit organization, Palaver Strings, and regularly performs with numerous ensembles around New England, including A Far Cry, Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, and Phoenix Orchestra.
As a wellness professional, Kiyoshi has worked as a personal trainer at Equinox Fitness Club and in 2019 launched his personal health and life coaching business, Train From Within, where his mission is to help young musicians achieve professional and emotional sustainability by helping them implement habit change in health, mindset, and performance. While Kiyoshi has been successful as both a performing musician and health professional, his goal now is to find the intersection of these two passions and use them to inspire social change, foster community, and create a happier, healthier, and more compassionate world.
The Question of the Week is, "How can classical musicians actively encourage confidence and happiness in their lives?" Kiyoshi and I discuss his own journey towards health and happiness, the obstacles he overcame that led to the work he does now, and what a happy, confident, and healthy person looks like.
You can find out more about Kiyoshi on his website, trainfromwithin.com, or on Instagram @trainfromwithin. You can also start your own health and wellness journey by signing up for a free PDF with journal questions and exercises to help you overcome negative self-talk and change your mindset at trainfromwithin.com/confidence.

Next Episode

Is musical interpretation objective or subjective? with Francesco Lecce-Chong

Francesco Lecce-Chong is the Music Director of the Eugene Symphony in Oregon, and the Santa Rosa Symphony, performing at the Green Music Center in Northern California. The press has described him as a “fast rising talent in the music world” with “the real gift” and recognized his dynamic performances, fresh programming, deep commitment to commissioning and performing new music as well as to community outreach. Mr. Lecce-Chong has appeared with orchestras around the world including the San Francisco Symphony, New York Philharmonic, National Symphony, Atlanta Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Toronto Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, and Hong Kong Philharmonic and collaborated with top soloists including Renée Fleming and Itzhak Perlman. Other recent subscription debuts included the Colorado Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Louisiana Philharmonic and Xi’An Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Lecce-Chong has also returned to conduct the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Milwaukee and San Diego Symphony. The 19/20 season also marked his debut with the New York Philharmonic as part of the legendary Young People’s Concert Series.
Following the paths of renowned Music Directors of the Eugene and the Santa Rosa aSymphonies including Marin Alsop, Giancarlo Guerrero and Jeffrey Kahane, Mr. Lecce-Chong has made his mark with the two orchestras introducing a series of new music and community initiatives. In 2019, the orchestras announced Mr. Lecce-Chong’s “First Symphony Project” commissioning four major orchestral works by young composers – Matt Brown, Gabriella Smith, Angélica Negrón and Michael Djupstrom – to be performed over several seasons accompanied by multiple composer residencies and community events. In Eugene, he has reinitiated family concerts and presented a number of innovative projects such as an original multimedia performance of Scriabin’s compositions engaging light and color.
In the 20/21 season, an unprecedented one for live orchestral music, Mr. Lecce-Chong will conduct virtual concerts with both the Santa Rosa and the Eugene Symphony, specifically created for online audiences. The performances will be streamed worldwide and will take a unique form of a cohesive musical journey complete with interviews with musicians. The programs will include music by living composers Jessie Montgomery, Gabriella Lena Frank and Chen Yi. Santa Rosa Symphony will also celebrate Beethoven’s 250th with performances of his first three symphonies.
During his successful tenures as Associate Conductor with the Milwaukee Symphony under Edo de Waart and the Pittsburgh Symphony under Manfred Honeck, Mr. Lecce-Chong also dedicated his time to opera, building his credentials as staff conductor with the Santa Fe Opera and conducted Madama Butterfly at the Florentine Opera with the Milwaukee Symphony. Mr. Lecce-Chong is the recipient of several distinctions, including the prestigious Solti Foundation Award. Trained also as a pianist and composer, he completed his studies at the Curtis Institute of Music with Otto-Werner Mueller after attending the Mannes College of Music and Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Italy. He has had the privilege of being mentored and supported by celebrated conductors including Bernard Haitink, David Zinman, Edo de Waart, Manfred Honeck, Donald Runnicles and Michael Tilson Thomas.
You can find out more about Francesco on his website, lecce-chong.com, or on Instagram @leccechong.