Keynote for ASTA Utah Chapter: What Makes Music Memorable?

Celebrating Your Memorable Musical Moments

American String Teachers Association, Keynote for Oct. 26, 2019, Utah Conference

By Sara Penny

It is a joy to be able to speak to this important musical group.  You are the musical models for our future musicians throughout the state.  What you program becomes the musical vocabulary of this generation.  What you love becomes the music that they love. So how can we celebrate those memorable musical moments?

Think of a concert or performance that made you fall in love with music.  Think of a performer who gave you chills or inspired you.  Think of a piece of music that makes you feel like you are flying. 

My friend Arlene Braithwaite is an artist. We were at a gallery looking at her art.  I said “What you do lasts and you can see it again. What I do is of the moment and go”. She said, “Music gives us great memories.” So what are your great musical memories? 

Here is a musical experience from the book Educated by Tara Westover: “People at church said Mary could play the piano beautifully.  They used the word ‘professional.’ I didn’t know what that meant until one Sunday when Mary played a piano solo for the congregation.  The music stopped my breath. I’d heard the piano played countless times before, to accompany hymns, but when Mary played it, the sound was nothing like that formless clunking. It was liquid, it was air. It was rock one moment and wind the next.” What music makes you feel like that?

Initiating commissions for new music has created some strong musical memories for me. Marshall McDonald, Salt Lake musician, and Steven Sharp Nelson, of the Piano Guys, were teenagers when I first met them at Jack Ashton’s Young Artist concerts in Cedar City.  When we were searching for a composer for a new piece celebrating the Spanish Trail for the Orchestra of Southern Utah we took a chance on them and they took a chance on us.  We were able to get a National Endowment of the Arts grant for the commission and the concert was truly memorable. Xun Sun is a world-class conductor and he was able to help us bring the music to life. We started the concert with the Paiute dancers and drum circle, included familiar Western music, and ended with the new Spanish Trail Suite. It was electrifying.  During the first movement, Brent Tom came out to sing with the orchestra dressed in Pow Wow regalia. It was a magical moment. I could see his family and other members of the Paiute Tribe in the audience.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate our local heritage.  The final movement includes a hymn and barn dance as a rousing tribute to the pioneers. The music was a bridge for healing and respect in our community. The company Video Ideas of Tennessee later added visual enhancement. This is available for rent and the music is available for purchase.  Our local high schools have both performed portions of the piece and we hope it will appeal to some of your programs. (Spanish Trail Suite video enhancement: http://www.videoideas.com/spanishtrailsuite/ Music only: https://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/spanish-trail-suite-full-orchestra)

One of my most memorable performances was for an audience of one. My friend Martha needed to go to work, but she had been dealing with a brutal assault on her sister. Her sister’s face was unrecognizable with bruises and swelling. She was afraid to be alone. We were living in Texas at the time and I knew her sister didn’t want to talk so I took my violin and played for her. It was the first time since the assault a few days earlier that she was able to relax enough to sleep. Music is medicine.  It can help us calm down. When I saw her a few months later she was very appreciative that the music had helped her break the cycle of terror and fear so she could start to heal.  

There is a “Culture Vitamin” program in Denmark where attending cultural events is prescribed as a valuable mental health resource.  Playing an instrument or singing in a choir has been shown by research to be beneficial: not only physically and emotionally, but  I would add spiritually. This is important for childhood development. Music helps our students cope with emotions. Our culture especially denies emotions for boys. Being able to create strong emotions through music is a valuable tool.  I tell my students that their instrument can be a best friend that can help them if they are sad, angry, lonely or happy.  It can help them communicate what words fail to express.

Sara Penny at the podium.  Thanks to everyone who attended. It is always good to see my musical family.

*****

Back to memorable concerts.  How can you put together a concert or recital that the students remember? Themes are valuable and we use themes for our Orchestra of Southern Utah concerts.  One of my favorites was the “Capturing the Caribbean” concert with a steel drum band from Florida. Our Jubilee with music, art, and science activities had a pirate theme and it was a party. We had assemblies for the Iron County schools and the children were greeted by Laurel Dodgion with her parrot on her shoulder.  The children loved the music and were literally dancing in the aisles. Two of the schools had said they couldn’t afford the busses to attend. I had first met the steel drum ensemble director at a League of American Orchestras Conference in Washington, D.C. It had taken me 10 years to get them to Cedar City. I wasn’t going to let the money for busses stop the children from participating.  We found donations to pay for the busses to get the children to the assemblies. An obstacle is often just a challenge to be met. 

I do recommend attending national and regional conferences. I have learned a lot and gathered many useful ideas. I have gone to League of American Orchestras conferences and arts training conferences, as well as ASTA and Suzuki conferences. I also recommend attending workshops and institutes. I have had the chance to learn from John Kendall, William Starr, William Preucil, and many other fine teachers. The Utah Division of Arts and Museum training in grant writing was helpful and their Change Leader program is excellent. I am happy you took the time from your busy lives to be here today for this conference.

What music do you remember from your childhood?  My mother used to play Scheherazade by Rimsky Korsakov and jazz from the Dukes of Dixieland on the phonograph for Saturday morning house cleaning. Music can trigger a memory. When I was helping at our local Senior Center with music we had an Alzheimers patient who couldn’t remember our names, but she could play beautifully on the piano. Music is long term. It is etched in our brains. What music are you choosing that the students can respond to for a lifetime?

One of our Orchestra of Southern Utah projects was to provide a CD of our orchestra’s music, with a letter explaining the value of music in the home to all new parents. We worked with the Cedar City hospital.  We called the project Baby Ears and we distributed over 3000 CDs over four years as part of the take-home presents for new babies.  Enrollment a few years later in our music programs has boomed. We now have a blog with video links and music education on the internet called Listening Club for All Ages. We can now reach an international community with quality music. (osulistening.blogspot.com) (Videos are available on the OSU video channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9nsAT3-XJ5YFB-_ENUw2BQ)

As a music educator, you are an important cultural voice.  It is valuable to know your local public officials and state legislators. By chance, I attended a city council meeting for a different matter when the idea of a downtown concert hall was floated, as part of an effort to revitalize the center of Cedar City. At the time our Orchestra of Southern Utah was struggling to have a reliable venue and we were actually using the old auditorium from the 1920s that was not safe. The electrical wiring was old and there were literally cracks in the walls going up the ramp so you could see the sky from inside the building. It was an old fashioned hall with booming acoustics. Isaac Stern and the Utah Symphony had played there for our Cedar City Music Arts programs many years ago. The fire chief told me it was dangerous. My reply was to ask for help getting a concert hall built. 

Once the City Council voiced some support for a concert hall we had all of the arts groups coming to the meetings supporting the concept: vocal groups, dance groups, theater people, and musicians rallied. The result was our Heritage Center. I named the building thinking it would soon be the Eccles or Tanner Center. We hoped that it would have a sponsor, but we are still working on that. If you know someone who would like to have a beautiful building named after themselves, family or business let me know. Those of you who have been in the building know it has a huge ladies' restroom. I told the architects we were tired of waiting in line. You can make a difference just by speaking up. The Heritage Center has become the heart of our downtown.

You can be a voice for developing a strong musical environment for your community. Many years ago our school board changed the configuration of our schools. The 5th grade would not have orchestra programs. Several of us attended school board meetings and insisted that 6th grade was too late to start an orchestra program. We have managed to keep string instruction for the 5th-grade level, although the pay is so low it is hard to retain teachers. 

Thanks to Ka-Wai Yu and Amy Gold for their support at the conference.

*****

I helped teach the people who got orchestras going in Beaver and Kanab. It is still my goal to get an orchestra in Parowan, which is 45 minutes north of Cedar City, but it hasn’t happened yet.  When I went to the school board I said, “Yo Yo Ma could have lived and died in Parowan and nobody would have known because there is no orchestra in Parowan. He probably wouldn’t have had a cello to touch. You can’t diminish the work that has been done to build the orchestras in Cedar City. We need the 5th-grade program because many of the students can’t afford private lessons and instruments. If the schools don’t provide the programs these students are going to miss out.”

I am a product of public music education. Roy L. Halversen came to our 3rd grade and played Home on the Range on his violin. I was enchanted and asked my mother to start the violin. My grandma Hafen had a violin and so I started on a full-size instrument at age 8. By 6th grade Mr. Halversen had me playing in the community Handel’s Messiah orchestra. He put me at the back of the 2nd violins and said “Just play what you can do right. Next year you’ll get more notes.” At this point, I have played the first and second violin parts as well as the viola part in performances of this masterpiece over 50 times. Christine Winterrose’s rendition of “I Know My Redeemer Liveth” is a memorable interpretation and Jim Harrison on the timpani during the “Amen” Chorus was splendid. He considered it a timpani concerto and played it with gusto.

Because there was a small pool of musicians in Cedar City Mr. Halversen had us playing in the college pit opera orchestras and for many community events when we were in middle and high school. Rigoletto was a favorite. It was pretty amazing that Gilda could be considered dead in a sack and then sit up to sing an incredible aria. Now there’s resilience.

Music has given me friends wherever we moved.  I married an Irishman and was able to play with the Cork Symphony Orchestra as well as playing with an ensemble in ancient Irish churches. In Texas, I was able to study with Eduard Schmieder. He had defected from the USSR and was re-establishing his career in America. His shifting ideas were particularly useful and I have some videos and teaching ideas on my blog. His tone is exquisite and I was able to have him perform in Cedar City after we moved back to Utah. A particularly memorable performance was when he was playing Zigeunerweisen in Texas and the E string broke. He finished the piece on the A string and held up his violin showing the broken string at the end to the roar of audience appreciation. His Franck Sonata performance was absolutely gorgeous. He presented at the ASTA convention in Salt Lake a few years ago and it was nice to reconnect with him and his wife. (http://www.eduardschmieder.com) (Shifting blog post: https://sarapenny.blogspot.com/2019/08/shifting-tone-and-dr-schmieder.html)

When my husband was on a university sabbatical in Pennsylvania I played in the local orchestra and taught private lessons at Lebanon College for a teacher on maternity leave. Being able to play an instrument has always opened doors of opportunity for me. My husband was been wonderful to support my efforts. I could never have done as much music or community volunteer work without his help. When I chose to teach privately rather than have a full-time job this was obviously less income. It did, however, allow me to be at home when the children were growing up. My husband and children may have heard a few too many Twinkles, but they have survived and are all still involved in their own music.

I fell in love with the viola through the American String Teachers Association workshops at the University of Utah.  Karen Tuttle was one of the clinicians and her tone was sublime another memorable musical moment. It wasn’t until we moved back from Texas and I was an adjunct at Southern Utah University, then SUSC, that I learned to play viola. We had an abundance of violinists but were sorely lacking in the viola area. Over the years I have encouraged several advanced violinists to add viola. Some have switched entirely and others have maintained both instruments. Joy Grimes was able to get good scholarship assistance through the viola for her college education and now has a Doctorate of Viola Performance from Boston College.  She plays in the oldest oratorio society in the country in Boston as well as teaching and performing in early music ensembles and Irish music groups. 

Viola has opened more musical doors for me. I now play violin in the Orchestra of Southern Utah and viola in the Southern Utah String Quartet. My quartet friends are especially precious to me and we have enjoyed many memorable performances for community events and weddings. We have helped each other through child-raising, cheering on the caretaking of aging parents, and generally the challenges of life. Playing for a wedding last spring next to a lake at a resort at the base of the Pine Valley Mountain is a nice musical memory. It was a lovely setting. I particularly enjoyed the viola teacher training with William Preucil through the Suzuki Institute. Many of the Suzuki book viola fingerings are by his wife Doris and on the first try can be a bit confusing, but then make total sense. He said the fingerings were like Doris, “You just can’t help loving them.”

Teaching in a Texas high school for three years helped me realize that my skill set is better suited to small groups and individual teaching rather than classroom teaching. As I have gotten older my resting face is pretty much Grumpy Cat and in a group situation that can be misinterpreted as being negatively judgmental. I do better connecting with one student because I can tailor the message more effectively. I’m happy to see friends in the audience because this talk is out of my comfort zone.

One of my other jobs in Texas was the voice of classical music from 9 am to 12 noon from Monday through Friday on the public radio station. I was one of the first women radio announcers in Texas. In addition to a huge collection of records and CDs, I was sent to Houston to purchase new music. Programming and listening to music for a couple of years in this job helped me develop an understanding of both solo and orchestral repertoire that has been valuable in programming for concerts. This is when I started grouping music into themes, sometimes just focusing on one composer, sometimes finding contrasting music. Now I try to listen regularly to discover new pieces and to enjoy the music I have heard before. I find listening to the music I’m practicing extremely valuable. When do you schedule listening? I like listening while cooking and cleaning up the kitchen. I like listening at breakfast. It can become a valuable habit to create your life’s soundtrack. 

I enjoy studio teaching because the student and I are on a musical journey to help them discover the joy of music. I ask lots of questions to help them take ownership of their music. John Kendall suggested “Ask, don’t tell” as a teaching strategy. Small decisions help develop independent thinking. “Do you want to use a high 3 or low 4 on that G sharp?” “If this is movie music what is happening?” “How can you make this passage more exciting?” “Should we float off at the end of the piece or do a woo-hoo lift?”

I’m increasingly insistent on scales and etudes. I do note reading work as the child is learning to read words. By Book 3 we are doing scales. I start with the Hrimaly and especially like the scales on one string to set posture and relax the left hand. We then move to the Barbara Barber Advanced scale books. By Book 4 we are working on Kruetzer etudes and then on to Mazas. Mr. Halversen had us memorize Kruetzer etudes. He didn’t have time for recitals so I didn’t perform a solo until I was about 13 in church. I was so terrified that I had to stop and start over.  

When I moved back to Cedar City in 1983 Jan Harrison and I started a National Federation of Music Clubs Festival with the encouragement of Norma Lee Belnap Madsen, who had been my violin teacher at the University of Utah. I wanted the students to have more performance experiences than I did as a child. We now have a Piano Festival, Orchestra Festival directed by Kirsten and Ed Candland, and the String Festival directed by Marin Colby. In all of my projects, we have built teams of helpers with the hope that others will see the value of the project and keep it going. I really appreciate the work these dedicated musicians are doing to keep the Piano, String, and Orchestra Festivals moving forward. The String Music Festival helps develop confidence. We have three judges for each session so the students have more than one opinion. The performances are organized in mini-recitals so the students learn from each other. The written comments help the student focus on details to improve their playing.

Using music to teach leadership skills is an ongoing theme of my musical life. The younger teachers are now directing the Suzuki Strings Cedar City program after my 36 years of building the program. You are invited to attend the workshop next weekend, Nov. 1 and 2, 2919 at the Heritage Center in Cedar City The guest clinicians are Amanda Riley and her daughters JessiKate and Madilynn. Teachers are invited to observe at no cost and the regional workshops over the years have helped us raise our musical standard significantly. Your students are also welcome. They can pick and choose which pieces they want to work on and play at the concert. The link is on your handout. (http://suzukistringscedar.blogspot.com)

Amanda Riley was one of my dream moms. She brought her family from Beaver to Cedar City for private lessons and group classes with Suzuki Strings. She has gone on to become an orchestra teacher for Timberline Middle School and was recently recognized by Utah ASTA as the Secondary Teacher of the Year. The family performed regularly for the community and JessiKate served as Miss Utah 2018. She was awarded a non-finalist talent award at the national Miss America pageant. Madilynn served as principal violist for All-State Orchestra and Lyceum Orchestras and has had some amazing performance opportunities. 

Friend and family support appreciated: Amanda Riley, Bridget Penny Lee, Sara Penny, Des Penny, and Kirsten Candland.

*****

I have many lovely memories of my students as small children being brave and sharing their music. We have a large musical family and our emphasis is on cooperation and celebration rather than competition. I have tried to teach my students that music is a gift to share. It helps alleviate performance anxiety to think of giving the music as a present to the audience rather than focusing on the audience as being critical. I encourage the students to play for family, friends, and neighbors. We have played at the Senior Center and assisted living facilities on a regular basis. This benefits both the students and the seniors. 

My students perform in annual studio recitals at our home. I have three or four small recitals so the families can visit over treats rather than enduring a marathon with all of the students. One set of memorable performances was taking my son’s 5th-grade string quartet to three homes of seniors and then adjourning for treats and hot chocolate. One of the homes was my high school principal. He was confined to a wheelchair after a fall from the back of a truck. It was wonderful to see how much he enjoyed the music and having young people visit.

Communication is a huge challenge in the music business. Let us avoid “secret concerts”. This is a concert that your friends wanted to attend, but didn’t know about it. On the back of your handout is a basic marketing plan for concerts. You can have a student or parent be in charge of publicity if you are overwhelmed. I am a big believer in communication with the students, to the parents, and to the community. The marketing research is that it takes 10 times seeing the publicity for it to register. That’s why you need posters, flyers, social media posts, and emails to parents. Just telling the students one time is a guarantee that the parents don’t know what is going on and there will be students missing concerts. Through the Cedar City Arts Council, I am able to promote all art forms and even facilitate financial support for art projects through our mini-grant program. (https://www.cedarcityartscouncil.org)

One of my more hilarious miscommunications was for the Suzuki workshop when we brought in Brian Lewis as the violin clinician. I had to work through his agent because he teaches throughout the world and had delegated arrangements to his agent. I asked (1) Would he like to do a solo? and (2) What piece would he suggest for our advanced students? I got back the response: Hot Canary.  Now you know that this is a technical nightmare, but we tackled it. We worked on the crazy left-hand pizzicato, double stops, leaping shifts, and harmonics. It wasn’t perfect, but we worked hard and the students made leaps in their technical skills. 

During the workshop, it was obvious that there were a few phrases that Brian needed to do as a solo, but we made it work. At the workshop luncheon between classes and the concert, I asked him why he had suggested Hot Canary for Book 6 students.  His reply, “I didn’t”.  It turns out that Hot Canary was what he wanted to do as a solo, but hadn’t suggested a piece for our students. I didn’t tell the students until after the concert, but we all had a good laugh and a better-advanced technique.

Your handout also has some basic music education advocacy points because we have to be prepared to defend music education in times of budget or scheduling controversies.

The listening skills alone are worth the effort because many of the children that I have worked with over the past 45 years have improved their academic performance, as well as their musicianship. My standard line to parents, "If a child can hear the difference between a B and a B flat they have more of a chance of hearing the chemistry assignment."  Also, music is a lifetime sport, whether as a participant or a patron.  My students have gone on to have a wide range of professions from Air Force test pilot to Ph.Ds in Chemistry and Electrical Engineering. Most of my students have chosen non-music careers and some have become professional musicians and teachers. Hopefully, all of them enjoy music, either as a participant or as a patron. 

Now that I'm teaching a second generation I see more clearly the enrichment in family life that music offers. I treasure the time I had with my children participating in workshops and concerts and hearing them practice at home. Now I have the joy of being the music grandma. I enjoyed taking my youngest granddaughter to the Bryce Music Camp in June. Terry Durbin is one of the clinicians at that camp and he certainly gives memorable classes. I first met him in Pennsylvania and have brought him to Utah for our regional workshops and taken students to the Intermountain Suzuki Strings Institute to work with him. Talk about joyful teaching. It is a party to be in his classes. He comes up with great stories for the music and helps the students focus on technical details while having fun.

It is difficult to find the line between challenging and overwhelming students. This is particularly tricky in group classes and orchestras. I tend to err on the side of a bit too hard, but I let the student know it is a challenge and if needed we do some simplification or change pieces if the music is too difficult. I try to acknowledge my mistakes quickly and move forward. It is okay to say “I don’t know. Let’s look it up.” My experience is that the challenges keep the students engaged and propelled forward. I write the date when we start a new piece so we can avoid getting stuck on a piece for months. I use a few minutes of complimentary or easier supplementary music so the student has something new and doesn’t get discouraged when learning a difficult piece.

The students love it when you acknowledge your mistakes. Recently a six-year-old boy was pretty anxious getting his pieces polished and I told him about my mistake of putting body wash in my hair instead of shampoo. He thought that was hilarious. He relaxed so that his playing was much better.

In lessons, we also do music that is easier and work on tone, dynamics, phrasing, and musicality. I encourage review so that the student always has something polished and ready to play for community, family, or church events. 

My goal is that every child walks out of a lesson happier than they walked in. I have had students arrive in tears because of something that happened at school, but they talk a bit, play their music, and are transformed because the music is able to help them in a profound way. Students who have parents going through a divorce or serious illness need their music even more than usual. I will juggle times and do whatever I can to help a family in crisis. 

I try to save a few minutes at the end of each lesson for the students to choose a piece they want. Like dessert at the end of a meal. I help them with their school music, their church music, or popular music because I want them to have ownership of their musical journey.  I want them to have memorable music moments. I appreciate all you are doing to give your students wonderful music in their lives. Best wishes to all of you in creating your own memorable musical moments.

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