Great teachers produce great students. Don’t they?
Young musicians seek out teachers — celebrated ones whose former students have succeeded in winning competitions, playing concerts, getting management, making recordings. Of course elite teachers pick their students, and the picking is important. The ability to recognize exceptional potential is rather rare.
A teacher’s celebrity (as a performer or as a teacher) can itself be a tool. And even the size of the fee for a lesson! When asked why he charges so much, Arthur Schnabel answers, in the enduring joke on the subject, “Well, I also give lessons for only five dollars — but you wouldn’t want those.” Sascha Gorodnitzki is reported to have said that his extraordinarily high price allowed him to do almost nothing in a lesson — the shock of spending so much money jolted the student to play better…
In her Improvisation for the Theater, theater sage Viola Spolin writes:
“We learn through experience and experiencing, and no one teaches anyone anything. If the environment permits it, anyone can learn whatever he or she chooses to learn: and if the individual permits it, the environment will teach everything it has to teach. ‘Talent’ or ‘lack of talent’ have little to do with it. We must reconsider what is meant by ‘talent.’ It is highly possible that what is called talented behavior is simply greater individual capacity for experiencing…”
Thomas Bernhard advances another view. In a remarkable account of piano learning in The Loser (Der Untergeher), he discusses the fictional (?) lessons Glenn Gould had with Vladimir Horowitz in Salzburg:
“Even Horowitz wouldn’t have been Horowitz if Glenn had been missing, the one made the other possible and vice versa…. Glenn had made Horowitz into a genial teacher, not Horowitz Glenn into a genius, I thought. In those months in Salzburg Glenn made Horowitz into the ideal teacher for his genius and through his genius, I thought…. A Glenn has to come upon a Horowitz, I thought, and precisely at the single right moment. If this moment isn’t the right one, what Glenn and Horowitz accomplished won’t be accomplished. The teacher who isn’t a genius is made into a teacher of genius by the student of genius at this precise moment for a very precise time period, I thought.”
So, is that “akin” to what you did for me (or I did for you) at Juilliard?
In these times, it isn’t enough for a celebrated teacher to attract students clearly to progress their future in the business of music. The outcome is not always if you win competitions, or get a management to list your name, etc. The primary function of a teacher is to instill the abilities for the student to learn how to adapt in an ever-changing environment. This relates to economy, to supply and demand, to interacting with other art forms to create new projects, new compositions, new collaborations, and connecting with today’s audiences and their demands. True, it takes a certain amount of time to establish a good playability of the various standard styles and repertoire, but today’s audiences may need thirsting for new fusions of styles which have yet to me met. It has become increasingly difficult for the standard art forms and organizations to stay alive due to political and economic climate, which forces out artists and students to soul search and find their path to success. This may include recording material that has not yet been recorded, or performing in venues that are often overlooked. Fortunately, the internet has increased everyone’s awareness and networking capabilities, far greater than the old days. The future of our art form depends on today’s teachers and students to cultivate a wider variety of repertoire, which helps each student find their niche or favorite period. Granted, it is necessary to play the standard repertoire on a very high level, as it always has, but to make money in the present and the future, one must think very carefully about what the audience will pay for–in concert and in recording. There are many ways to make a living in music, with the piano, and the one-shot solo career is only but one part of the whole. There are many more components these days which a good teacher will know and help bring about with each student according to their talents.
Jeffrey, you are so right!
What I wonder is how you learned all this? I remember you very well as one of the most extraordinary young virtuosos at Juilliard. And certainly you studied with one of the most elite of the elite teachers there. Did she teach you to be adaptable? Was it the result of your life in music? Your fundamental personality?
Of course, today the environment for music is changing, but I wonder whether many of the artists we admire, from almost any time, were really just those who adapted best to their particular place and moment?
Thanks~
I do believe Adele Marcus tried to ensure that her students had a well-rounded sense of the repertoire. But times have changed in various ways, forcing artists to, as Joseph Polisi states in his book, be part of society in many ways, and to nurture the society in artistic vision and ways to contribute in our own unique avenues. This takes an evolution of each artistic spirit, soul searching and a sense of community within the artist. There is no magic formula, but if we instill this desire in each student to take with them after they graduate, then we have done our job. I also believe it is essential for the many art forms to collaborate more, network more and keep the creative spirit in progress amongst the genres. I was a shy one, so doing what I do is not something many people who knew me back then would think is the same person. As we get older, we find ourselves asking the question: how will I be remembered and what can I do to keep my art form alive? It is not easy to teach adaptability–it is something that must come from within, I believe. But it can be inspired in positive ways by teachers.
Thanks to Joseph Polisi, in 2001 I started “teaching” (overseeing?, managing?) a seminar at Juilliard, in what we called “interarts.” It brought together music, dance, and drama students at the school. Together we put together performances that revealed exceptional possibilities for learning across disciplines. Our shows may not have been “great” art — but the process opened some imaginations.
I remember this appointment, and you have done a remarkable job in accomplishing so much in so little time. These seeds must be planted, as it can often take years before the these seeds reach fruition. The seapration in the arts certainly caused too many walls, and now that the walls are open, your efforts will become increasingly easier with more collaboration. Yet, all of the teachers must be on the same page about what you are doing. It may well be the only way for the arts to survive–it worked in Mozart’s time.
A student’s potential is not necessarily inherent but sometimes built by great teachers ~e.g, the late Armenian composer Vahan Bedelian (in his circles elite), also for his a great teaching is hailed -the late Cypriot school teacher Orhan Seyfi Ari’s educational leadership and mark on the history of education of his people is due also to his potential-building motivational teaching as so hailed a great teacher: http://www.geocities.com/teachertoteachers + name