Assistant Artistic Director Jennifer Cowgill shares this article by Thomas Friedman, the author of The World is Flat. The student from Harker is actively involved in the Performing Arts. As Jennifer notes, this is more proof that the arts benefit children in their education in so many ways. As Friedman states in the article, "In today's wired world, the most important economic competition is no longer between countries and companies. The most important economic competition is actually between you and your own imagination." Check it out if you get a chance...
Read the whole article here:
America’s Real Dream Team
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Published: March 20, 2010
Went to a big Washington dinner last week. You know the kind: Large hall; black ties; long dresses. But this was no ordinary dinner. There were 40 guests of honor. So here’s my Sunday news quiz: I’ll give you the names of most of the honorees, and you tell me what dinner I was at. Ready?
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Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
Thomas L. Friedman
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Linda Zhou, Alice Wei Zhao, Lori Ying, Angela Yu-Yun Yeung, Lynnelle Lin Ye, Kevin Young Xu, Benjamin Chang Sun, Jane Yoonhae Suh, Katheryn Cheng Shi, Sunanda Sharma, Sarine Gayaneh Shahmirian, Arjun Ranganath Puranik, Raman Venkat Nelakant, Akhil Mathew, Paul Masih Das, David Chienyun Liu, Elisa Bisi Lin, Yifan Li, Lanair Amaad Lett, Ruoyi Jiang, Otana Agape Jakpor, Peter Danming Hu, Yale Wang Fan, Yuval Yaacov Calev, Levent Alpoge, John Vincenzo Capodilupo and Namrata Anand.
No, sorry, it was not a dinner of the China-India Friendship League. Give up?
O.K. All these kids are American high school students. They were the majority of the 40 finalists in the 2010 Intel Science Talent Search, which, through a national contest, identifies and honors the top math and science high school students in America, based on their solutions to scientific problems. The awards dinner was Tuesday, and, as you can see from the above list, most finalists hailed from immigrant families, largely from Asia.
Indeed, if you need any more convincing about the virtues of immigration, just come to the Intel science finals. I am a pro-immigration fanatic. I think keeping a constant flow of legal immigrants into our country — whether they wear blue collars or lab coats — is the key to keeping us ahead of China. Because when you mix all of these energetic, high-aspiring people with a democratic system and free markets, magic happens. If we hope to keep that magic, we need immigration reform that guarantees that we will always attract and retain, in an orderly fashion, the world’s first-round aspirational and intellectual draft choices.
This isn’t complicated. In today’s wired world, the most important economic competition is no longer between countries or companies. The most important economic competition is actually between you and your own imagination. Because what your kids imagine, they can now act on farther, faster, cheaper than ever before — as individuals. Today, just about everything is becoming a commodity, except imagination, except the ability to spark new ideas.
If I just have the spark of an idea now, I can get a designer in Taiwan to design it. I can get a factory in China to produce a prototype. I can get a factory in Vietnam to mass manufacture it. I can use Amazon.com to handle fulfillment. I can use freelancer.com to find someone to do my logo and manage my backroom. And I can do all this at incredibly low prices. The one thing that is not a commodity and never will be is that spark of an idea. And this Intel dinner was all about our best sparklers.
Before the dinner started, each contestant stood by a storyboard explaining their specific project. Namrata Anand, a 17-year-old from the Harker School in California, patiently explained to me her research, which used spectral analysis and other data to expose information about the chemical enrichment history of “Andromeda Galaxy.” I did not understand a word she said, but I sure caught the gleam in her eye.
My favorite chat, though, was with Amanda Alonzo, a 30-year-old biology teacher at Lynbrook High School in San Jose, Calif. She had taught two of the finalists. When I asked her the secret, she said it was the resources provided by her school, extremely “supportive parents” and a grant from Intel that let her spend part of each day inspiring and preparing students to enter this contest. Then she told me this: Local San Jose realtors are running ads in newspapers in China and India telling potential immigrants to “buy a home” in her Lynbrook school district because it produced “two Intel science winners.”
Seriously, ESPN or MTV should broadcast the Intel finals live. All of the 40 finalists are introduced, with little stories about their lives and aspirations. Then the winners of the nine best projects are announced. And finally, with great drama, the overall winner of the $100,000 award for the best project of the 40 is identified. This year it was Erika Alden DeBenedictis of New Mexico for developing a software navigation system that would enable spacecraft to more efficiently “travel through the solar system.” After her name was called, she was swarmed by her fellow competitor-geeks.
Gotta say, it was the most inspiring evening I’ve had in D.C. in 20 years. It left me thinking, “If we can just get a few things right — immigration, education standards, bandwidth, fiscal policy — maybe we’ll be O.K.” It left me feeling that maybe Alice Wei Zhao of North High School in Sheboygan, Wis., chosen by her fellow finalists to be their spokeswoman, was right when she told the audience: “Don’t sweat about the problems our generation will have to deal with. Believe me, our future is in good hands.”
As long as we don’t shut our doors.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Practice, Success and Teamwork Part 3 of 4
Can practice trump talent?
In the December 17 2001 New Yorker, there was an article about the SAT test and how it is being reconsidered as an indicator of success for college admissions. Malcolm Gladwell, in that article, referred to studies produced by Stanley Kaplan which found that the test results were coachable and therefore not a measure of true “raw” ability. To back up this opinion, the author cited another study done on music talent by John Sloboda. Looking at 256 music students between the ages of 10-16 drawn from a variety of schools, they found that the best predictor of success was the number of hours practiced. Amazingly, the successful students practiced an average of 800% more than the kids on the bottom of the scale.
The other factor for success was the degree of parent investment in the student’s success. Rather than dropping a student off at the music school, these parents went into the practice room and then reviewed the procedures at home. This corroborates the study cited last week about the successful team of surgeons. The achievers reviewed and sought to problem-solve after every effort. What was not important was the prestige of the school that the student went to.
The author concludes that ability cannot be separated from effort. So thanks parents for your interest in your boys and keep practicing.
In the December 17 2001 New Yorker, there was an article about the SAT test and how it is being reconsidered as an indicator of success for college admissions. Malcolm Gladwell, in that article, referred to studies produced by Stanley Kaplan which found that the test results were coachable and therefore not a measure of true “raw” ability. To back up this opinion, the author cited another study done on music talent by John Sloboda. Looking at 256 music students between the ages of 10-16 drawn from a variety of schools, they found that the best predictor of success was the number of hours practiced. Amazingly, the successful students practiced an average of 800% more than the kids on the bottom of the scale.
The other factor for success was the degree of parent investment in the student’s success. Rather than dropping a student off at the music school, these parents went into the practice room and then reviewed the procedures at home. This corroborates the study cited last week about the successful team of surgeons. The achievers reviewed and sought to problem-solve after every effort. What was not important was the prestige of the school that the student went to.
The author concludes that ability cannot be separated from effort. So thanks parents for your interest in your boys and keep practicing.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Program notes for March 13 concert
La Danza is from a collection of songs “Les soirées musicales”, a collection of songs finished in 1835 during Rossini’s post-operatic writing period. Even though La Danza is intended to be a stand-alone choral chamber work, Rossini’s dramatic background is evident in the catchy melodies, dramatic pauses, and characteristic flair; even the text is written by a librettist. The quick lilting rhythms in 68-time reference the tarantella, an upbeat Italian folk dance, and the rapid delivery of text evokes the ‘patter song’, a familiar element in comic opera.
Ständchen is an ultra-Romantic work, from its exotic key relationships to the mystical poetic text. Set for a soloist with the choir, the piece is very similar to a Lied, or an art song which attempts to create a mood by perfectly combining words and music.
The barbershop-quartet style in I Wish I was Single gives the listener a slice of 1800’s vaudeville entertainment. The piece itself lies somewhere between lowbrow minstrel entertainment and folk song, and would have been one element in a variety show of music, dance, skits, and humor. Often, the American minstrel show is associated with darker themes and coarse humor, but this song is a cheeky and jocular tale of a man who just can’t seem to find a wife.
We Rise Again presents the theme of ‘life goes on’ using the imagery of nature and children. The song is set as a series of three verses followed by a refrain; each refrain becomes more complex until the final a cappella presentation. The layers of descants, gentle syncopations, and improvisational melodic riffs evoke a pop style.
Glory Hallelujah is an African-American spiritual arranged for choir. This piece also relies on rhythmic syncopation, but in a much more relaxed way than We Rise Again. Note the call-and-response structure, dialect, and rich chord structures which are key elements in the spiritual style.
Hallelujah, Amen! is the final triumphant chorus from Handel’s oratorio Judas Maccabeus. Written in 1746, the oratorio actually references 2nd century stories presented in a musical language which is still fresh and exciting for the 20th century listener.
Quando m’en Vo is also known as Musetta’s Waltz from the second act of La Boheme. Musetta has just tricked her old suitor into leaving her alone at the café. She sees her former lover and teases him with this seductive song.
Rossini’s work La Carità is a Romantic work in music, text, and spirit. The title literally translates “charity” but poetically translates to “Divine Love.” While singing about this mystical cosmic love, the music revels in Romantic-period idioms: extremes in dynamics, unexpected chord progressions, rubato, and changing texture between solo and chorus voices.
Yo le Canto exemplifies the playful melodies and catchy rhythms of Venezuelan music. This pieces challenges singers with offbeat accents, syncopations, shifting meters, and independence from the piano accompaniment.
The melody and text to La Bonne Nouvelle were found by American composer Robert Sieving in a long out-of-print music textbook. The melody’s gentle character is highlighted by the craft of composition – the oboe, piano, and voice melodies entwine in different combinations as if in conversation. The sensitive nature of the piece reflects its origin as a Christmas lullaby.
The text for The Poet Sings is a composite of a poem by Richard Le Gallienne (1866-1947) and composer J. Randall Stroope’s reaction to this enigmatic text inspired by nature. J. Randall Stroope writes about his work:
“Humanity spends a lifetime trying to find a voice – trying to be heard. Even strong voices soon pass, but their messages light up stars in constellations far beyond their dreams. A voice never knows when its message is a light which others will use to navigate their lives. Send out the best messages, for they may be shaping future generations.”
Note the careful use of register to underscore the mood and themes: the piece begins with an ethereal sound and text using a small range of notes, but expands to a full range to emphasize the message – “stay the course, light a star, change the world where’er you are”.
Like many gospel pieces, Shine On Me has a text which can be interpreted on different levels. “Shine on me, Shine on me. I wonder if the lighthouse will shine on me” can be about searching for guidance on both a physical and spiritual level. The melodies fit into complex harmonies while a descant line ornaments and rises above the texture – all elements characteristic of the African-American improvisational style.
Stevie Wonder’s love song Knocks me off my feet leads to our last section. These pieces give Ragazzi an opportunity to show off a more popular style of singing. Put A Little Love In Your Heart is a combination of the 1968 hit with references to Love Train. The 1964 hit, C’mon Everybody, captures the energy and vitality associated with Elvis Presley’s performances, and the finale features a medley of ABBA’s hits.
Dedicated to the children of
Joyce Keil, Artistic Director
Monday, March 1, 2010
Practice, Success and Teamwork Part 2 of 4
Practice, Success and Teamwork Part 2 of 4
Ragazzi Boys Chorus
What part does teamwork play in building successful people?
In the New Yorker January 28 2002 article “The Learning Curve”, Atul Gawande discusses a research project where various working methods and the results of these methods are tested with various teams of surgeons. The teams were trying to learn some new and complicated procedures. All were trying to learn to accomplish their goals in a short time and all had good experience and came from highly respected institutions. Yet some teams were much faster and much more successful than others. Richard Bohmer, who was one of the researchers from Harvard, noted that the key ingredient for success was the cooperation and teamwork of the group and the willingness of the leader to discuss the work with the other members. The group who did most poorly had no sense of teamwork, and in fact, because they were performing so miserably, they were re-formed for each project. There was no continuity for this group. They had no pre-surgery meetings, no de-briefings and no tracking of final results.
This research project concluded that learning is best achieved when team members work closely together, perform the same procedures frequently and in close succession and then track their results together so they can see where improvement is needed.
This has implications for how we work in Ragazzi. We ask our singers to be there every rehearsal; we emphasize the importance of the entire chorus being together every week and we track results. We work with the boys to let them see their successes and achievements.
While we love music and seek to achieve excellence in this field, we are proud that our teaching can help our boys become successful in all areas of life as they learn to apply these winning strategies.
Joyce Keil, Artistic Director
Ragazzi Boys Chorus
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