… is the album Weave by Mary Knickle. She and I are working together on Suor Angelica right now for Maritime Concert Opera, and I refresh myself by listening to this, her third album. I really love the title track, Weave the Yarn (which you can hear if you click on the play button, below) — if you want to check out more, see her website at maryknickle.com.
I’m really enjoying my work at Dalhousie University this year — I’m directing three one act American operas: The Old Maid and the Thief and The Telephone by Menotti, and A Hand of Bridge by Samuel Barber. The young people I’m working with are very talented and are working really hard at the operas — and I think we’re all having a good time, too, while getting the work done. It’s been a great experience, and I can’t wait to see the whole thing come together.
Someone posted a rather rude and blunt criticism on openwebdesign.org, and then, when challenged, said something like “people won’t get any better at what they do if you baby them”, or words to that effect. It got me thinking, when do I learn best? When do I teach best? Do we really need to be blunt and brutal with people or can people learn to be excellent in a more relaxed environment?
It depends on the person. Most people will learn more, up to a point, in an atmosphere that is supportive and safe, and that, at the same time, challenges them to keep working. They will also learn a great deal when they come into contact with professionals, who may be more brusque with them: but whether they are brusque or not, they’ll learn from them, because they have someone to act as a model of how it is to be a professional in a particular field.
What I like to do is provide an alternative to stereotypes about what an opera singer or director is like. I guess am eccentric (but I think it’s good for students to come into contact with eccentrics), but I don’t yell, I don’t insult people and I don’t have hissy fits (often). I will absolutely lay down the law if someone is goofing off, or being an idiot, but most people want to work hard and to do well. What annoys me is when someone is supposed to be a pro, or experienced, and treats the work as a joke.
