Lead like the Great Conductors

In my first blog post, I will respond to Itay Talgam's TEDtalk "Lead like the Great Conductors."

I thought Mr. Talgam's TEDtalk to be rather interesting and fun to watch, especially from a musician's point of view. But it's easy to lose sight that this talk is more about leadership, and less about music. Music, and more specifically conducting, is the form of delivery here to demonstrate types of leadership.

Mr. Talgam's talk is engaging, humorous and makes great points. It took me a while to catch on where he was going with everything, but as it approached the end I had my "ah-ha" moment with it. I loved how we were shown many different extremes to leadership, especially with Muti. Then we discover that perhaps the merriment of a combined effort that was open, yet strict, and graceful, yet firm was the best way to promote a sense of teamwork between the leader and "followers." I think that's a great point to make, and framing it in the musical context was helpful. As a teacher and leader through my cadet experiences, I have always considered reaching goals with a group to be a combined effort. The leader needs to make some decisions and keep people in line, but the actual work is enabling others to do what they need to do.

I love TEDtalks and the great speakers they always have. Hope to have the chance to respond to another.

Hello and Welcome

Yes, hello. Welcome. Greetings. This is a blog dedicated to my Music Education Voice and Choral Methods Class at Memorial University of Newfoundland, in St. John's, NL, Canada. This blog will serve as a tool to post materials and responses to class work in the course. Hopefully there will be responses from my fellow classmates as well, which will prompt some conversation in the comments. If you are just randomly following along, please feel free to engage in the conversation as well.

I am currently enrolled in the Music Education program there, after having just finished my Bachelor of Music with a major in performance and minor in composition, my focus being tuba. I aspire to be a high school instrumental educator, so the voice and choral world is a new experience for me. That said, I'm excited to learn about it, as many aspects and ideas of it can be used in any musical setting. My part time job is in the Canadian Forces Reserves as a musician of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment Band. My hope is to eventually take a Masters in Conducting as well.

Looking forward to get the ball rolling on this blog. Check back for new posts soon!