Photo: Kerry Rhen (second from left) with Level 3 classmates
The first day of the Summer Institute starts with the dreaded written music placement test, and a sight singing assessment with one of the lecturers. While scary, these tests have a very good reason - to ensure that students are placed in appropriate musicianship/solfege groups for the next three weeks. After that comes morning tea, a very welcome coffee and a chance to meet your classmates - people from around the world and across the USA who gather to study during their summer break. There were musicians and teachers from Poland, Thailand, Phillipines, Australia, Scotland, Canada. Mexico and the USA both near and far. There was a wide range of music pursuits represented, including classroom music specialists, choir singers, choir directors, professional violinists, instrumental teachers. Everyone is there with the purpose of learning as much as possible. Many of the students are doing the course to gain the Holy Names University Kodály Certificate. Several of them are in the process of achieving their Masters in Music Education Kodály Emphasis from Holy Names, and some were "auditing" the course - ie attending but not for accreditation.
Holy Names University has a very strong connection with Hungarian music educators, and features them in the Faculty each year. Mrs. Erzsebet Hegyi is a Hungarian teacher who was actually a student of Zoltán Kodály, and speaks with great warmth of him as a wonderful human being as well as a great icon of music philosophy. This is her 17th residency at the Summer Institute and she holds a special place in the hearts of her students. Ms Judit Hartyanyi taught solfege, conducting and also conducted the Institute choirs throughout the course and at the final concert. Helene Matters, originally from Brisbane and now residing in the US was on staff to teach pedagogy to the second year students. Also on staff were Gemma Arguelles (music specialist from San Francisco) and Anne Laskey (director of the Kodály Centre at Holy Names) Ildiko Salgado and Fran Smith.
Each day of the course includes an intensive programme of conduction, solfege, choir, pedagogy, practicum and folk music. Then the student toils up the hill and starts the homework.
As in all well run and rigorous courses, at the time it seems all too much. It is in retrospect that one can see and feel the benefits of the intensive burst of effort - the ears are sharper, the eye is quicker and the voice - well, more tired, but also hopefully more accurate. Probably the best benefit for me has been a new way of looking at my own teaching practice - am I respecting each song?, am I helping the students think in pattern? Am I presenting the "whole music" to the student, rather than isolating an element and simply using it for (sometimes slightly irrelevant) practice activities.
In summary, the course was very worthwhile. While similar in structure and standard to the UQ Summer Institute, the cultural differences with the American and international students and faculty made the experience even more interesting. I would like to put on record, also, my appreciation to the Townsville Chapter of KMEIA for the financial assistance I received.
