Learn how to make deeply moving musical performances.
Summer 2022
How to Create Deeply Moving Musical Performances
The secrets of the top professionals
San Francisco
July 11, 18, 25, and August 1
6:30-8:00 pm
Free.
Learn the secrets of top professional musicians
How do the greatest musicians play music so it actually transforms how we experience the world?
What does it take to learn how to do that?
It takes musicians who are immersed in the music’s motion. Before a note is played, they’ve already spent time uncovering how the score’s harmonic motion moves to a climax and then resolves. They’ve uncovered exactly how the increases and decreases in musical energy are brought about via harmony, line, rhythm, tone, and more.
They don’t settle for just “getting the notes right.” They want to make sure their sounds actually participate in and support the musical motion indicated by the composer. They listen carefully to make sure their sound embodies the musical motion and the roles each part plays.
They work hard, adjusting how they play until a performance emerges that can transport us to another level of reality—a higher reality.
That’s what Symphonic Laboratory musicians do. And that’s what you can learn to do when you participate in our sessions.
Symphonic Laboratory founder Paul Smith in class with Celibidache at the Curtis Institute of Music.
About the Symphonic Laboratory?
We conduct intensive performance workshops for musicians who learn how to connect a deep knowledge of musical scores with proven rehearsal and collaboration methods for creating great musical performances. Our method is a refinement and simplification of those taught by legendary musicians Sergiu Celibidache and Leonard Bernstein.
We put our methods to the test in actual playing, to improve them, and to see if we can attain that elusive, transformative experience ourselves.
Intensive workshops
We conduct intensive workshops usually focused on a single work. We delve into the harmonic, melodic, rhythmic elements of a score and see exactly how they intertwine with the aspects of musical sound we musicians have control over.
We take that understanding into our playing, where we align our sound in the moment with the musical motion given in the musical work. With hard work, persistence, and sensitivity, a transformative musical experience might occur.
Who takes part in Symphonic Laboratory sessions?
Classical musicians who are open to exploring how to make great musical experiences, who can play (any piece) reasonably well, and who are eager to do the work it takes to get there.
Jae Lee, founding member of “A Far Cry,” leads a session on Barber’s Adagio for Strings. Boston, 2018.
Sessions and Workshops
How to Create Deeply Moving Musical Performances
The secrets of the top professionals
San Francisco, California – 2022
July 11, 18, 25, and August 1
6:30-8:00 pm
Free.