Knowledge Through Awareness & Creativity

I have revised my company web site, and have introduced the new look with a video! Here is a link to that video. I hope you will enjoy it and all of the future releases it brings!

You, the Inspired Thought Leader

You, the Inspired Thought Leader Part One: Introduction

During the past 15 months I have made drastic changes in my life. Most not by choice. Redefinition of who I am was part of that transition, whether I liked it or not, and now see it as a blessing beyond measure. Looking back, I see the changes with great clarity. While experiencing it, I could only see through the eyes of my closest friends, who were supportive and encouraging throughout.

I learned that when we choose to go through changes,we get more than what we asked for. A visualization I had of myself was similar to a character in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, being run through an old-fashioned washing machine with the roller. Just when I felt I was at a plateau through it all, more cranking of that roller, and more of me being pressed and wrung dry. I told many that at the end it was the hardest – mostly because it is hard to get a nose the size of mine through that roller!

Today I am feeling more secure and integrated.

One of my close friends observed that for the first time she could see me “wearing the clothes” of who I am versus carrying them in a suitcase for when I needed to put the right outfit on. Interesting observation and choice of metaphor.

In celebration, I am rediscovering the heros of my days of growing up. Two of them are experiencing a reenergizing as I experienced. Today is the release of the DVD set of television episodes of the Ellery Queen series on tv from the ’70s. I read every single Ellery Queen book available over and over again as a teen. I also worshiped the recordings of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Sir Georg Solti. I am now thrilled with the electric excite net my city of Chicago has for the new era with Ricardo Muti at the helm.

It was through Ellery Queen that I learned that I love problem solving. Give me a puzzle or a situation that needs resolving, and I will work on it until I figure it out. The elegance of the novels enthralled me, and the inevitable challenge to the reader at the end, where the detective challenges the reader to have a solution ready before the denouement was always a surprise for me.

I am loving the energy surrounding the arrival of Ricardo Muti to Chicago. I love the CSO. Their performances are thrilling and awe inspiring for me. To see and hear that 25,000 people attended Muti’s first performance of his tenure as Music Director is amazing.

I am relishing this feeling of excitement, and will hold on to it as I begin to blog again.

Watching the New Year’s Celebration with the Vienna Philharmonic on PBS this evening (January 2, 2010) was as mesmerizing for me as it is every year. Strauss waltzes are truly beautiful musical pieces, and extremely difficult for orchestras to perform. The Vienna Philharmonic each year produces these little miracles without flaw every year on this date. I have performed with many orchestras throughout my life (French horn) and I know even the best of orchestras have difficulty with Strauss waltzes. As a hornist, the amount of concentration required to get the never ending “pah pahs” on the second and third beats of every measure is intense. Try tapping your finger with the horns without tapping the “ooms!” Note the many tempo changes. How many variations do you hear in the different sections? Sometimes the second and third “pahs” are exactly on the beat. Other times the first “pah” is anticipated, like this: oom-pah……pah, oom-pah……pah. Watch the conductor and you rarely see him/her conducting the background rhythm; but, the orchestra always gets it right! How is this communicated?

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I attended the Creative Problem Solving Institute Conference at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, GA, last week. I had the opportunity to present my Orchestra of Life workshop as a Nite Flight presentation. I also presented music during the Springboard CPS class throughout the week. For those who attended, I am posting the music presented below.

Orchestra of Life Nite Flight presentation:
1. Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun by Claude Debussy. Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Sir Georg Solti, Conductor.
2. This Majestic Mountain by Michael Hoppe from the album, “Solace.”

Springboard Class “C:”
1. Homeland Theme from the album, “Homeland,” by Michael Hoppe.
2. This Majestic Mountain from the album, “Solace,” by Michael Hoppe.
3. Circles from the album, “My Romance, an Evening with Jim Brickman,” by Jim Brickman.
4. Dear Father from “Jonathan Living Seagull,” from the album, “The Nature of America, A Musical Impression.” Cincinatti Pops, Erich Kunzel, conductor.
5. Canon in D Major, by Johann Pachelbel.
6. Shenandoah from the album, “The Nature of America, A Musical Impression.” Cincinatti Pops, Erich Kunzel, conductor.
7. Theme from “Dances with Wolves,” from the album, “The Nature of America, A Musical Impression.” Cincinatti Pops, Erich Kunzel, conductor.
8. Theme from “Lonesome Dove,” from the album, “The Nature of America, A Musical Impression.” Cincinatti Pops, Erich Kunzel, conductor.
9. Feather Theme from “Forrest Gump,” from the album, “The Nature of America, A Musical Impression.” Cincinatti Pops, Erich Kunzel, conductor.
10. The Magnificent Seven, from the album, “Round Up.” Cincinatti Pops, Erich Kunzel, conductor.

I decided to give life (again) to a series of workshops I presented while in St. Louis titled, “Orchestra of Life.” In these workshops I would lead students through a series of processes using music as a catalyst for transformation. In these workshops I would use classical music, meaning orchestral music (not the classical era of music) to bring about heightened creativity, productivity, or emotional balance to those attending.

It has been my experience that a direct relationship between orchestral music and the human body exists. Stephen Halpern has been the vanguard researcher in this area. He has shown that a relationship does exist between music and the body. I choose orchestral music because I know it so well. However, I am quite aware that many many other types of music can be just as effective.

I look at the choice of instrumentation and the harmonic processes a composer uses. Through the workshops I led in St. Louis, I found a consistent response to my theories within the attendees, and now I would like to formalize some of the research and its application. I also teach the principles I use to choose music, and students become more aware of what they are listening to in their immediate environment.

As an example, I am offering my readers this suggestion. Go to iTunes or your favorite music store and get a recording of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No.2. Another choice would be any of the J. S. Bach Concerti for Four Harpshichords. Play the recording while doing your work today – these should be excellent choices for heavy thinking. Would like to hear/read your comments on this!