From the category archives:

Creativity

The Artist Interviews: David Miller, Tenor

October 16, 2010

David Miller, born in California in 1973 and raised in Colorado, graduated from Oberlin Conservatory with degrees in Vocal Performance and Opera Theatre. While best known for his current work as the American member of the international quartet Il Divo, created by Simon Cowell, David also sang the role of Rodolfo in Baz Luhrmann’s 2002 [...]

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The Michael Cunningham and James Franco YouTube Conversations

September 30, 2010

While I’m working on scrubbing up some of these artist interviews I wanted to share something I came across yesterday: a series of YouTube videos of conversations between Michael Cunningham (Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist) and the ubiquitous (albeit deservedly) James Franco. First, videos like this are totally my speed; interesting creative types chatting, even under the [...]

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The Artist’s Creative Process

September 28, 2010
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Arts Education and Civilization: This Isn’t Child’s Play

September 17, 2010

“Some people mistake the arts as only a vehicle for expression. That’s a very limited view. Art is a vehicle for exploration, learning, and trying things out. If people are serious about reducing violence and educating youth to become productive citizens and more satisfied in their own lives, supporting and expanding art is a major [...]

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You Cannot Sing if You Cannot Cook

July 24, 2010

Why Interdisciplinary Study Matters For Each of Us My friend Dan is an opera singer. A few years ago, while performing and studying in Italy, Dan would have vocal coaching sessions with a famous Maestro. Together they would explore Verisimo and work through repertoire like I Pagliacci or Il Trovotore. Then, at the end of [...]

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Socratic Questioning for Bringing Creativity to the Classroom or Business

June 5, 2010

I thought I might throw out a quick sample Socratic approach to effectively “bringing creativity to the classroom.” The answers to these questions are for you and your colleagues (and me!) to toss around. This can easily be redirected to “bringing creativity to the team” (or business/company). A line of Socratic questioning is usually a [...]

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Jazz and Fundamentals, Part 3: Improvisation

May 15, 2010

You’ve got to learn your instrument. Then, you practice, practice, practice. And then, when you finally get up there on the bandstand, forget all that and just wail. —Charlie Parker It’s often suggested that, with the evolution of technology and accessibility of information, we don’t really need to memorize fundamentals anymore. Why not outsource them? [...]

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Fundamentals and Jazz, Part 2: Connection

May 12, 2010

Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that’s creativity. —Charles Mingus I love that: “Making the simple complicated is commonplace.” This gets me every time I read it because it’s so easy to think of jazz as really really complicated versions of simple songs. Isn’t that so? One might think [...]

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Fundamentals and Jazz, Part 1: Discipline

May 11, 2010

I’m into scales right now. —John Coltrane Fundamentals are the launching pad for expertise. Every field has them: they’re pieces of knowledge and practicable skills without which one cannot excel in a particular discipline. They’re conjugated verbs, times tables, and heavy machinery operating procedures. Most of us groan when think about teaching them or learning [...]

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Creativity: What Is It, Anyway?

May 7, 2010

People talk about creativity in all sorts of contexts—it’s used in reference to everything from ”scrap booking” to advertising, sculpture to physics, writing to teaching. We know the value of creativity. We know its fruit when we see it. But we’re so loose with our application of the word that sometimes I wonder if we [...]

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