Ideas on the Boonshaft reading

My Credo in Relation to the Boonshaft Reading

 

Oliver Homann

 

 

I am a musician who enjoys sharing my knowledge and skills with others.  My primary instruments are oboe and English horn, and these are the instruments I perform on, although I enjoy exploring other instruments as well, and use some of these for teaching purposes.  These secondary instruments include clarinet, saxophone, recorder, and keyboard.  For some years now I have coached woodwinds and taught music theory at the Educational Center for the Arts, an inter-district arts magnet school in New Haven, CT.  Previously I studied at Northwestern University, the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati, Yale University, and finally at the City University of New York, where I received a D.M.A. in oboe performance.  I have also studied at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Mannheim, Germany, and played professionally with orchestras in Mexico for several years.

I believe that something I have to offer to students through my teaching comes from my passion for music, my knowledge of music both theoretical and historical, as well as my years of performance experience at the professional level.  Peter Boonshaft quotes George Carlin: “It’s not enough to know which notes to play, you have to know why they need to be played.”  While Boonshaft relates Carlin’s comments to the art of conducting and really knowing a score, I believe we can extend these ideas to music-making in general, especially for students.  Music is, after all, a language, and in order to communicate successfully, students need to know “why [notes] need to be played”, which has a lot to do with the when, where, who, and how of the music as well.

I believe that music can enrich people’s lives in a unique manner.  While music can be studied on a theoretical and historical level, it is first and foremost an activity, it’s something we do.  Yes knowing is important, but this act of doing, of making music seems to be the glue that holds things together for my students.  We can see the importance of doing in Boonshaft’s observations on percussionists, who in certain circumstances have the potential to not be fully engaged in the rehearsal.  In order to engage percussionists that may not have a part to play Boonshaft creates “air drums” to keep the players focused on the music making at hand.  This concept of engagement goes well beyond the realm of rehearsals, of course.  Especially in areas such as music theory, where learning has a tendency to get bogged down in heady concepts, involving as much “doing” as possible can make the class more successful.  In covering counterpoint, for example, I try to have my students sing as many of the examples as possible before we start talking about intervallic relationships between the counterpoint lines.

In the end I value good music.  I value guiding students to achieve more in the pursuit of good music.  I believe that every student can achieve something positive when engaged in this pursuit.  I really enjoyed Boonshaft’s words about his mother, an artist who had framed the following passage in her studio:  “The bearer of these presents is Michelangelo, the sculptor.  His nature is such that he requires to be drawn out by kindness and encouragement.  But if love be shown him and he is well treated, he will accomplish things that will make the whole world wonder.”  My goal with my teaching is to provide each student with the support they need to more fully realize their potential.