Madeline Bruser: author of "The Art of Practicing", Pianist, Educator

Conversations with Musicians, with Leah Roseman

05/05/23

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97m

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I’m so honoured that Madeline Bruser has agreed to be featured as a guest on this series. When I first read her book The Art of Practicing more than 20 years ago, it helped to transform my experience as a performer and teacher, and on many aspects of my life. Although Madeline’s teaching is aimed primarily at classical pianists and other musicians, I find that much of what she talks about will resonate for everybody trying to get in touch with their emotions, their connection to beauty and meaning, and their experience of being in their bodies. If you happen to be listening to this when it first is released, you should check out Madeline’s free interactive workshop on May 11 at 1pm Eastern. Her website is: https://artofpracticing.com/ Like all my episodes, this is also a video, and the transcript is also linked here: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/madeline-bruser Please help me keep this series and this channel going, with a tip or as a monthly supporter: https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman If the topics we address in this conversation are of interest to you, you’ll be interested that many of these important issues have come up with past guests and upcoming guests. Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:00) why Madeline wrote the book “The Art of Practicing”, Menahem Pressler, meditation (09:58) Body and Sound Awareness Technique (13:14) change from performer to teacher, big realizations, founding The Art of Practicing (19:48) intro to Madeline’s performance of Chopin Fantaisie Impromptu (20:33) Chopin Fantaise Impromptu (25:59) Rhythmic grouping, Stephen Burns, Kirk Ferguson (32:04) colour in harmony and tonal nuances (34:02) story of tape recorder, listening to ourselves and being vulnerable (39:14) parallels with actors and musicians, Performing Beyond Fear exercise (43:43) lineage (46:23) perfectionism (50:17) Madeline demonstrates common problems for pianists (58:04) dealing with injuries, mindfulness (01:01:25) dealing with stress, teaching online (01:06:56) journaling (01:08:58) student-centered teaching, “Freedom to Learn” Carl Rogers (01:12:51) stage fright and beta blockers (01:15:06) dealing with stressful or traumatic history (01:20:42) teaching constructively with kindness, and teacher training (01:24:00) dealing with feelings of overwhelm, orchestra playing (01:28:37) pianists and ensemble experience (01:31:51) upcoming workshops Mindfulness for Pianists, Freeing Your Energy for Performance

Previous Episode

Pat Irwin: Composer TV and Film and Multi-instrumentalist with B52s, SUSS and more

April 28, 2023

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98m

Pat Irwin is a renowned film and television composer; some of his scores include Dexter: New Blood, Rocko’s Modern Life, Pepper Ann, and Nurse Jackie. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist who was a member of the B52s for 18 years; he founded The Raybeats and 8 Eyed Spy, and more recently the band SUSS of which I’m a fan. Pat also teaches film composition at NYU, and Brooklyn College at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, and this conversation wove it’s way into important topics for all of us: a life well-lived, grief, the importance of creativity and of having a good hang. As always, I’ve included detailed timestamps, so if you want to jump to his days with the B52s or Dexter, go ahead, but I hope you’ll take the time to listen to this whole episode which is rich with music and stories. Pat is as articulate as he is creative. You may be surprised that the episode begins with his time in Paris interviewing jazz musicians and learning from John Cage.

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Like all my episodes in this series, this is also a video, and the transcript is linked here as well: https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/pat-irwin

Pat Irwin: https://patirwinmusic.com/

Rocko's Modern Life soundtrack album link: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4cxM57oL5yL3wIDlagQyOG

Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (02:51) Paris meeting Dexter Gordon, Bill Coleman, Mal Waldron, Steve Lacey, Nadia Boulanger, John Cage (09:54) intro to clip from Rocko’s Modern Life (10:21) clip from Rocko’s Modern Life the Pogo Stick Scenario (10:52) Nadia Boulanger, love of jazz (13:25) intro to Lost and Found albums (14:02) Swing Time from Volume 3 of New Sounds From the Lost and Found (15:51) Open Window from Volume 4 of Lost and Found (17:06) intro to Rocko’s Modern Life (18:11) Rocko Versus Food Boy from Rocko’s Modern Life soundtrack (20:11) Rocko’s Modern Life, Kevin Norton, Art Barron (22:12) Walter Hawkes, Long Island City, Ernie Brooks, Don Cherry, The Talking Heads (26:07) In Another Time from Wide open Sky with J. Walter Hawkes (30:36) NYC 8 Eyed Spy, The Raybeats, the B-52s, deaths of Ricky Wilson and George Scott (37:24) touring life and joining the B-52s (44:03) writing music for film and television, collecting instruments (47:12) Early Morning Song from volume 5 The Lost and Found (52:56) Dexter: New Blood (57:21) music from Dexter: New Blood Suite part 1 (59:12) SUSS, Gary Leib (01:06:06) Winter Was Hard SUSS (01:07:59) pedal steel, lap steel, Jonathan Gregg (01:09:00) teaching film composition at NYU, advice to young composers, the importance of the arts (01:17:30) SUSS (01:24:54) SUSS Across the Horizon (01:30:46) Pat’s start composing for film, changes in film composition industry (01:35:27) reflections on the importance of music

Next Episode

Immanuel Abraham: Violinist, Composer and his Inspiring Personal Journey

May 12, 2023

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89m

My guest today is Immanuel Abraham, a very special musican, who is an inspiring violinist, educator and composer. His phenomenal talent, discipline and creativity is even more inspiring since he didn’t have an opportunity to learn a musical instrument until the age of 14 and 4 years later, he was auditioning for the renowned University of Michigan in violin performance, playing the same Paganini caprice he’d heard Ithak Perlman play on Shalom Sesame as a child. He speaks candidly in this interview about his perseverence in the face of very difficult challenges. More information and links below, including Timestamps!

Like all my episodes, this is also available as a video on my YouTube, and the transcript is linked here as well: ⁠https://www.leahroseman.com/episodes/immanuel-abraham⁠

Please help me keep this series going! You can leave a tip or consider becoming a monthly supporter and get access to special perks:

⁠https://ko-fi.com/leahroseman⁠

Immanuel is well-known on social media as The Violin Doctor, which is a Dr. Who reference, but Immanuel actually is Doctor of Musical Arts, awarded from the University of Arizona. When he was a student, in an effort to learn as much as he could that was violin-related, he started The Violin Guild which is an amazingly supportive Facebook group of over 60,000 string players worldwide. Our conversation focused on different aspects of music education, personal development, and you’ll get to hear some clips of Immanuel performing some of his 24 Caprices for solo violin. Below is a link for a discount code the week this is released, and if you’re a violinist I encourage you to buy this amazing volume, which I have been learning and plan to start recording this summer. Immanuel will be releasing his complete recording of all 24 Caprices. https://www.theviolindoctor.com/24 The discount code that will be activated May 12th through May 18th is, theviolindoctor for 25% off of the 24 Caprices for Solo Violin, Second Edition. You will also find Immanuel's current projects and social links there as well.

Timestamps

(00:00) Intro

(02:25) perspectives on starting the violin at age 14, dealing with racism and growing up in the projects

(15:02) hearing Itzhak Perlman and the opportunity for free lessons through the Merit School of Music with Guillaume Combet

(21:32) inspiration for Immanuel’s 24 Caprices for Solo violin

(28:48) clip of Caprice 14

(30:00) clip of Caprice 21 in C Minor, “The Blues”

(31:43) Caprice 23, a fugue (complete)

(35:54) please support this series on Ko-fi!

(36:23) why Immanuel bought a beginner book spent his lunch money on Paganini

(41:12) Andrew Jennings University of Michigan

(47:15) giving students some choice of repertoire, keeping them motivated