About Us
Essential
Music is real, human, active intelligence. From the earliest musicians, to the unknown names of great Arab and African music ( the unacknowledged fathers and mothers of all our "mainstream" "western" music today) to Bach, to Beethoven, to the hidden revolutionary Chopin - musicians have been involved, on picket lines, in debates, in struggles, in thinking the new. Music is
involved in the world - in the words of the famous Berlin film - Rhythm is It!
Watch the Flying Steps dancing Johann Sebastian Bach! : https://youtu.be/TydammImcEY
Frederic Chopin
said "dire un morceau musique" (say, speak, utter a piece of music) What would he say, today? (Even then, in the early 19th century, he complained of empty technique and perfectionism - that musicians didn't "sing", that the forte playing was like dogs barking - that they often played, as if they were speaking a foreign language which they weren't familiar with. The phenomenal nature of the piano is, a percussion instrument, which can sing like angels - unique through the centuries.
Global
Today we know the devastations of a global economy gone mad. From the beginning of time, musicians haven been the true globals: Bach composed Italian, English, French: fascinating is the story of the rich, slow Sarabandes, tracing their origins back to Cuba, and further back, to an African god. Musicians travelled, (freely or were forced, by power or need) , met the new people, shared tunes, and empathy, joined sessions, spoke and learned anew a common, world language - a true globalization we need more than ever today!
Essentials
Professionals, Stage Fright, the Body and Music
Professionals -
if you are a pianist or piano teacher, a second instrument piano student, a singer or instrumentalist needing accompaniment and/or coaching, performance, exam/audition or contest preparation - just phone/mail. Many of my students have been successful and are working and studying worldwide.
Musical problem-solving is our natural human inheritance - if you want it, you can do it!
Stage Fright -
is a sign of greater musicality, potential, ability. The effects of stage nerves, though, can be devastating; physical effects - tendonitis, tennis elbow, bursitis - up to horror syndromes, musicians` dystonia, which can lead musicians and students to give up on the dream of a life with music; headaches and insomnia can be on the cards; feelings of inadequacy, loss, isolation. Often doctors, physiotherapists, the medical profession are no help (this was also the experience of Alexander, famous for his Alexander Technique). The joy is, the answers, to all this, can all be found in music itself: in the pulse, and rhythmic energy, in the fundamental balances, in self-supporting free horizontal movements, replacing pressure and the perpendicular, and in the power of the inside outward energy flow and the inner music. Let´s work on it. Just phone - 030 4238324, or send a mail/use the Contact form. (Extreme discretion, in all cases, is a matter of course) (Gern vertraulich - einfach anrufen, mailen oder "Contact" benutzen - Deutsch oder Englisch)
Body
This aspect is so diverse, and so rich, that it is hard to know what to choose here. Working with the body, with breathing, with the natural, spiral movements, with the core and the fascial network, on balance of movement, on horizontal flow, rather than perpendicular pressure, on perception, on the natural suspensions, and the inside outward flow, on pulse, rhythmic energy in the whole body - is always fulfilling. The Alexander Technique established, that we often do the reverse of what we mean to do. The road to hell is paved with good intentions. In the wish to "play well",or "find success", the free natural movements of playing music can become strained or forced. Many musicians have become used to pain, as a necessary companion to music making; many pianists feel it only works with stiff muscles and isolated finger pressure (and then experience further stress, when these isolated, or even unnecessarily painful, movements become unreliable - producing faulty rhythm or unreliable performances). The release of these stresses is a great joy, for everyone - the ways to this release, diverse, sometimes time-consuming, always enriching - and extremely individual. Let's meet and talk about it!