Skip to content

Blog: Catalysts & Connections

Musica Ficta Conference: Social Justice & Music Education

If you are interested in issues of social justice and music education consider attending the upcoming Musica Ficta Lived Realities: A Conference on Exclusions and Engagements in Music, Education and the Arts, at the Univesity of Toronto from Thurs. Jan. 24 – Sun. Jan. 27 2008. It looks like an excellent set of sessions and workshops with some far reaching implications for the field. I’ll be presenting a paper entitled “Flippin’ the misogynist script: Representation and agency of women in… Read More »Musica Ficta Conference: Social Justice & Music Education

NYU Tech Summer Program for High School Students

It might be freezing outside but you can still consider having your students enroll in: New York University’s Summer Institute of Music Technology for High School students July 14-25th, 2008. This two-week workshop is designed for high school students entering their junior or senior year who wish to learn about and experience music technology. Through class lectures, labs and individualized studio time, students will learn the fundamentals of music technology. The workshop will cover the following topics: . How to… Read More »NYU Tech Summer Program for High School Students

Ripping CDs & Copyright: Legal or Illegal? Authorized or Unauthorized?

I’ve been closely following recent dialogue over the legality of transferring music from a legally purchased CD to a computer. The web has been abuzz since Marc Fisher wrote in a recent article that the RIAA considers the practice of transferring music from a legally purchased CD, illegal. This information quickly spread around the web. Recently an engadget article pointed out that the RIAA legal brief was targeting the sharing of the ripped files as the illegal act and that… Read More »Ripping CDs & Copyright: Legal or Illegal? Authorized or Unauthorized?

Five Year Old Percussionists

If you’re looking for some inspiration for your students to practice their instruments over winter break, why not have them watch these videos of Igor Falecki, a five year old percussionist and Isaiah Chevrier a 5 year old Djembe player. Of course there are many other examples of children who perform very well on their instruments whether on sites such as youtube or on programs such as From The Top . Listening to and watching other children perform, just may… Read More »Five Year Old Percussionists

Creating Ringtones

I always enjoyed having my students create ringtones and discuss the musical ideas they came up with and decisions they made. One of the aspects of the process I focused on was how to compose music for such a short amount of time. Robert Voisey wrote about this topic in an interesting article at New Music Box in 2004 asking, “How short can a composition get?” He mentions composers ranging from Chopin to John Zorn. For those of you who… Read More »Creating Ringtones