My Presence

Final Project

2008-04-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

The basic idea of my final creative process project was influenced by the last concert of Interactive Multimedia Performing Arts Collaborative Technology (IMPACT) at New York University in Summer 2007. The concert showed me collaborations in dance, music, multimedia, and arts technology. Every student created new interactive works in the concert.

Like the concert of IMPACT, I want interactive collaboration as free play. My purpose of this project is to motivate college music major students to express themselves freely and to provide unique artistic and collaborative experiences for them. For tomorrow performance, I'll bring scarfs to express visible flowing movements and prepare music. The original sound is "Mirabella (A Tarantella)" of Stephen Montague, composed in 1995. It is a solo piece for toy piano, but I arranged it a little bit. I hope every classmate enjoys my free play project.

Vocal Therapy

2008-04-18T08:01:00.000-07:00

In the last Tuesday class, we had a quest, Dr. Diane Austin who has pioneered the development of Vocal Psychotherapy. She introduced that music therapy, specially vocal therapy, which has extended the use of improvisation as a diagnostic and treatment process. With her, all classmates, including me, expressed name in free vocal sound. Before trying it, I was so nervous that I did hesitate it. However, I tried to concentrate on making sound using my name and it was okay! It was explored improvisation and allowed me to have self-confidence.
Next trying was vocal and movement improvisation. I and other fellow students observed each other, made eye contacts, imitated movements, and then expressed themselves. The transposition of sound and movements were very fun and interesting. I didn't have any fear. Rather, I loved it which offered precious moments to have musical connection with my consciousness.

Through this experience, I was sure that the practices of vocal improvisation have tremendous import for music education. It can be attractive educational method for every level of the music learners. It can offer an cultivated place for well-rounded musicianship. Furthermore, this can be effectively achieved by a student-centered approach and healthy group dynamics that support natural collaboration.

Below is her website. Let's explore more!
http://www.dianeaustin.com/

Music Making Regarding Scavenger Group Movie

2008-04-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

After observing all movements of our video clips, I tried to make something creative and musical so, I wrote a piano solo piece. I intended to express people of the street, and as a result, the movements were transposed to various passages from fast 16ths to slow unisons or tacit moments. When I composed it by the program FINALE, I could listen to it in very fast tempo I'd love to play. HOWEVER, when I tried it in the same tempo in reality, it was too difficult to perform perfectly although I practiced it a lot. I thought it was a sort of dilemma between developed technology and amateur composers as like me. Whenever I added music, I wanted to make sure my sounds and to change it better sound. As a result, I did compose a unplayable fast piece in virtuality.

Even though my piece was shown in unexpected slow tempo, I was glad to hear my piece in our class. Through this experience, I realized that I need thoughtful consideration between virtual and real composition and also got motivated to make music in the next time.

Scavenger Group Movies

2008-03-30T17:41:00.000-07:00

On the last Tuesday's class, I was very excited because of making the "Scavenger Group Movies," which was an assignment of that day. All classmates participated in making the movies in each group. I and Yun-Ju were members of the "Water Group," the name of which was just for the purpose of a label. After getting instruction of the equipment, including the video camera, from Dr. Gilbert, I and Yun-Ju went to "out world." We captured movements, sounds, and something interesting we thought. This was the creative process of scavenging.

First of all, we went to the Washington Square Park where was attractive. We captured movements of animals such as squirrels, pigeons, and sparrows. We also took many pictures of children, who played in the playground, and couples of people some of who acted variously. The most interesting we found in the park was that three guys practiced some scenes for a movie (or play). They prepared and practiced action scenes which were very safely organized well although many of the action scenes were seemed to be dangerous.
Next destination of our group was the 6th floor of Kimmel center because we supposed that there were many musical things. When we looked around the practice rooms, we found a male student who practice some scenes for a show held by TISCH. He allowed us to observe his practicing time spent and to record.

After thirty-minute observation, we were back to the class room and all of the fellow students, including me, shared our scavenger experiences and found common movements such as movements of the flags and squirrels. When demonstrating, I and Yun-Ju expressed the guys who practiced action scenes in the park. Although our trying looked very dangerous, we did our best and it was fun.

Through these experiences of our scavenger groups, I enabled to organize myself in free manner and to observe environment carefully. I was often unconscious about routine movements, but they can be good sources for improvisation and free play.

You can see our video clips in the following site. Go to the "Scavenger Group Movies." Enjoy them.
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/gilbert/creativeprocess/

Playing Together

2008-03-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

For the last Tuesday class, I wrote Playing Together: Theme and Variations for Two Pianos. Although it was my first time to compose theme and variations so that the piece was not mature, I conceived the term variation as a technique as well as a structure. The melody of the theme was quite simple in relation to the note "A." I also intended to contrast black keys and white keys, one of the representatives of the piano. The piece consciously had "two" variations, whose characters were contrast to each other.

One of the unsatisfied things was that the first audience of the piece, including me, could not listen to perfect sounds of the complete form because our classroom had only one piano. However, overall, it was satisfied and very precious experience for me. I recognized the importance of balance between the theme and variations. Unlike other forms, variations should be considered as abstract of the theme. The variations should be familiar with the theme, but should alter rhythm, tempo, dynamics, or context in order to create new modes of music.

In addition, by the experience, I thought myself as a musician, not only pianist. The composition of the theme and variations helped me develop in relation to the thinking of other composers and performers. While composing the particular piece, I depended on established models and criteria of compositional practice, and as a result, I could decide to adjust, redevelop, and transcend my musical ideas. Furthermore, I was necessarily asked to seriously think about the instrument, piano. In terms of writing the piano piece, I should understand special and unique features of the piano. The appreciation of the instrument also helped me, as a pianist.

Study of Variations

2008-03-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Improvising on a tune to accompany dancing has ancient roots, but the form know as variation form is a sixteenth-century invention, used for independent instrumental pieces rather than as dance accompaniment. Variations combine change with repetition, taking a given theme - an existing or newly composed tune, bass line, harmonic plan, melody with accompaniment, or other musical subject - and presenting an uninterrupted series of variations on that theme. The goal was to showcase the variety that could be achieved in embellishing a basic idea and, often, to provide a technical challenge as the figuration becomes increasingly complex, but the result was a very practical solution to the problem of how to achieve length and coherence in a piece without words. For this reason, perhaps, it became the formal type most favored by composers of instrumental music in the early seventeenth century.

After Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), variations was built on motives derived from some part of the theme but altered in rhythm, tempo, dynamics, or context so as to produce a new design. And many nineteenth-century composers worked in this genre. For example, Franz Liszt (1811-1886) came under the spell of the great Italian violinist Niccolo Paganini (1782-1840), one of the most hypnotic artists of the nineteenth century. He directly imitated the master in his six Etudes d'execution transcendante d'apres Paganini (Transcendental Technical Studies Based on Paganini, 1851), transcribing four of Paganini's solo violin Caprices, Op.1 and his La Campanella (The Bell) from the Violin Concerto No.2 in B Minor.

After Liszt, influence of the Paganini's Variations lasted. Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) also wrote virtuoso music and focused on variation form. His Variations on Theme of Paganini, Op.35 (1863) is sets of variations. The piece Op.35 is called as one of the most difficult and etude-like pieces.

Until now, composers are loving to write variation form and many of the contemporary composers also used the Paganini's theme for their variation forms.

References

Gordon, S. (1996) A History of Keyboard Literature, Schirmer Books

Hanning, B. R. (1998) Concise History of Western Music, Norton

Free Play

2008-02-29T12:18:00.000-08:00

Although I am around one third of the book "Free Play" by Stephen Nachmanovitch, I am willing to say that I love this book!! It seems to be written for me. Almost every sentence I read until now strongly appealed to me. One of the most impressive sections is following:

Creativity is a harmony of opposite tensions, as encapsulated in our opening idea of lila, or divine play. As we ride through the flux or our own creative processes, we hold onto both poles. If we let go of play, our work becomes ponderous and stiff. If we let go of the sacred, our work loses its connection to the ground on which we live.

Through this part, I contemplated musical flow - this does not mean the term FLOW by Csiksszentmihalyi - and expression of creativity. When I played with peers in our class, I totally concentrated on making music and followed our creative processes. That means I expressed my creativity freely. Without any obstacles, the music, which was in my mind but I didn't know the potentiality, came out at that moment. After all, improvisation is natural.

Creativity in Music

2008-02-05T23:55:00.000-08:00

I reminded how wonderful creative performance in the Tuesday's class was. Before the creative performance, Dr. Gilbert asked all students, including me, to introduce the instrument they brought. I was a kind of warming-up. Although I brought a soprano recorder for playing, I thought piano was much better to freely express my creativity so that I made various sounds within the piano. For example, I did massive cluster in the keyboard and glissando by using the strings.

After the warming-up, all classmates divided into several groups played spontaneously. When I participated in making music with peers, I didn't have any fear to improvise music. I concentrated on each other's sounds and followed the flow. Others also seemed to be comfortable when they made creation. After all, our works of creativity in music were not difficult matters, but unblocking expressions. Sounds we made flied freely as like a ribbon in the sky.

Creativity in Language

2008-01-29T17:24:00.000-08:00

As a Child

I want to be grown within your lab.

I want to feel your heartness.

As a child....

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I wrote the poem in the class "Creative Process in Music Education." Dr. Gilbert asked classmates, including me, to creat a short poem of three lines. Although I have been lack of a sence of composing a poem in English, I tried to sincerely express my creativity by language as if I play the piano.

Why am I in music?

2008-01-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

I cannot remember when I started being in music, but my first encounter with a piano occurred when I was just four years old. Though my fingers could barely span five keys, I was drawn to the smooth ivory and the melodious sounds they could produce. I had grown up with classical music and, as a young child, dreamt of one day creating music of my own. This desire intensified when I learned about a famous composer named Chopin in music class. Chopin quickly became my role model, initially because his music enraptured me.

After graduating from Seoul Art High School, I decided to attend Ewha Womans University because of its strong piano program. Once there, I expanded my musical interests and repertoire. While piano is primarily a solo instrument, I have also developed an interest in more collaborative musical works. During my sophomore year at Ewha Womans University, I was selected to perform Mozart’s Piano Concerto K.488 (A Major) in concert with the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. I enjoyed the process of preparing for the performance because it challenged me to “breath” together with the conductor and all the members of the orchestra to achieve harmony.

Finally, my love for music inspires me to share music with others. As a result, I have constantly participated in activities that allow me to teach. Furthermore, I have embraced opportunities to become a more effective teacher. I participated in a full-time internship as a music teacher at a middle school, which allowed me to acquire a certificate as a middle and high school music teacher. Throughout my college tenure, I have taught private music lessons part-time. I love being able to teach others about the power and value of music and look forward to continuing this passion of mine in the future.