Young Artist Spotlight

Today I want to tell you all about a friend of mine. In my job, I have the opportunity to work with quite a few talented musicians. Almost all are volunteers, so I think that we see their true selves, as they are giving freely of their time, energy, and talents. One of them, a high school senior, stands out amongst his peers not only for being a solid musician, but for being a dedicated, hard-working person. Keagan Wall plays electric guitar and mandolin at our church, and he does both of those with great degrees of creativity and excellence. It is in his saxophone skills, though, that I stand amazed. Keagan is a fairly typical high school band member. He has played sax since middle school, but has yet to receive a private lesson from a teacher who teaches the instrument exclusively. His band teachers have given him the basics on how to approach the instrument (they're brass players, who don't play sax as their first instrument), but it was up to Keagan to see just how far he could take it. Keagan's love for music drove him to practice many hours each week, going above and beyond what was required of him to simply learn the notes on the page. He wanted to make art with his sax. I'm proud of this young man, who was recently accepted into Western Oregon University (my alma mater!) as an incoming freshman. He auditions for a music scholarship this coming weekend, and I believe he will perform admirably, to the best of his ability. It is inspirational to see a young person who thirsts for knowledge to the point where he realizes he needs formal training to grow further. I hope you will all join me in wishing him the best of luck with his auditions, and in wishing him well on this next phase of his life. Good luck, Keagan!

On Fatherhood and Grad School...

There's an old Chinese curse that states: "May you live in interesting times". These are interesting times, to be sure. Gracie was sick mid-week, which meant that I had to go home to be with her for part of the day. This entailed leaving school, missing class, ditching rehearsal, etc. Not an easy thing to do, when my sole goal at school is to gain the knowledge presented to me. I'm paying to be there, so you know I want to be in the classes. It's my money, and my time. The thing is that my responsibilities as a father come first. When my daughter looks up at me while giving me a hug for coming to her aid and says, "Dad, it means soooo much to me that you're here"... ________________________________________________________________________________ I just had an epiphany. Like, right now. Honestly, it doesn't matter to me if she says those things. It doesn't matter if she looks up at me with her beautiful hazel eyes. She could be silent and/or shut me out completely. It won't change how I'm supposed to act, or how I'm supposed to take care of my familial responsibilities. Of course, I love the attention from her. She's getting to an age where it's not a given that she'll be cuddly or warm, so I'll take whatever I can get. Her love language is in quality time, not physical touch. I've gotta put in the time with her. ________________________________________________________________________________ Still, grad school is important. I don't plan on neglecting things. As I write this, I'm in the lobby of the Vancouver (WA) Convention Center while my oldest is at a dance competition. She's 10, and has been dancing for about 6 years. She's part of the dance company at the school she trains at. This is her first big competition, and it's through the NYC Dance Alliance. Several of the judges/teachers are featured dancers from So You Think You Can Dance, and all have serious professional experience. This is a good thing for Gracie, but it means that I have to get work done in a corner of a lobby, hunched over my laptop, with Dennis Scrock's Choral Repertoire next to me. The things we do to love our children, right? She had a 7am call time, and won't be done until very late tonight. The convention center is filled to overflow with mostly preteen girls, all giggles, tears, and shouts. Here I sit, trying to create an oasis of calm and studiousness. I'm not sure if I'm succeeding all that well, but I'm trying. Grad school would be so much easier without the responsibility of family. Truth. Life would be so much less rewarding without the challenge of marrying family to studies. Also truth. This is a joy, even if I have to improvise on a daily basis. ________________________________________________________________________________ Oh...side note...just saw a high school, male dancer walk by with a guitar. He's THAT guy. Lol. Smart move. Dance competition is about 95% women, so his odds of meeting a nice girl are high. :) Go get 'em, tiger. Unless it's my daughter. But she's on to you and your charms. She knows never to trust the guy who brings his guitar to parties. ________________________________________________________________________________ Have a great day, everyone. I'll start to write more again. Got off track for a bit. Life happened. I'm back now. Looking forward to interacting with you all this way again!

Week 6, Day 3

Please forgive me, faithful reader, for it has been over a week since my last confession, uh, blog post. I've been swamped. Look for some calendar stuff at the end of this posting to hear of ways you can join me at some great music. I had a moment in my car today where I came to a revelation about some things musical. I think it will require deeper research and study, but will be a fascinating article when it finally solidifies. I've been thinking about the role of the artist in the church. I'm speaking, obviously, only on the Christian church in America, as that is the area I have experience with. I wonder about our role. As artists, we are called to give our best, the first fruits of our offerings unto The Lord. That means that we practice, rehearse, and give excellent effort in our praise to God. We shouldn't come out and lead from a place of unpreparedness. The problem, as I see it, is that music is viewed as a tool, rather than as something with intrinsic value. We value other types of offerings, and choose not to judge them. We do, however, feel the need to judge the offerings of artists to gauge their "worthiness" before God. Really, before us. We judge these offerings based on how they make us feel, rather than in how they were offered. If I gave $20 to the church, I would be applauded for giving regularly to God. No one is asking if I gave via check, money order, cash, or coin. People are blessed that I'm giving alongside them. The moment an artist offers a song, however, there are a plethora of opinions that are formed, many of them from a place of judgement. Further, those in leadership, traditionally speaking, have encouraged this. We "program" our services. We pick songs that are intended to elicit a certain emotional response, rather than simply picking them for the theological content. This is intentional (and, based on current worship practices, probably necessary), but it creates an atmosphere where the art and artist is less valued for what it/they are, and more for what it/they can do. Imagine if someone had tried to dictate what art specifically went on the Sistine Chapel. "I'm gonna need an angel here, and a cherub there, so that people can feel this way when they see it." No, the church (wisely) gave Michelangelo the freedom to create the art according to God's will, and then figured out the best way to support it. I'm not saying artists should mutiny in their churches. Not at all. I just think there needs to be a broader discussion in the church at large about how to best support art and artists in their efforts to praise God. Thanks, grad school, for making me critically analyze everything. Lol. I was going to give concert updates. Check my website for those, please. www.ecstearns.com

Grad School Update, Week 5, Day 1

I've got so much to share with you today! Let's do this chronologically. This past weekend, the PSU Chamber Choir took a retreat to the Oregon Coast. Now, if you're familiar with the coast this time of year, you know that it is normally cloudy and/or rainy, not to mention COLD! That was not the case this weekend. We're enjoying an Indian Summer out here, so it was cool, dry, and sunny the entire time. The choir sang for hours, part of it in partnership with Seaside High School, and began the process of really getting to know our music, inside and out. One of the side benefits of working so hard together as an ensemble, is that we also want to play hard together outside of the rehearsal. The weekend was filled with tears, laughter, food, and lots of joy as the ensemble became a family. If you've never been a part of a creative team like a choir or the cast of a play, you might not know what this is like. It's different than the bond you share on a sports team. The vulnerability level has to go way up so everyone feels comfortable making art together. You can't just be "bros" and expect that everyone is going to simply make music together. You have to truly trust the person next to you, than when you fail, they will pick you up completely. No competition. No masks. Just honesty and love. That's what this group gained last weekend. Every single member of the group is a wonderful singer. More importantly, however, each is also a wonderful human being, with hearts turned toward the collective good of the ensemble. We gained so much this weekend. ___________________________________________________________________________________ On to the week that started yesterday...Monday was a great day. Took a music history test, felt I did well. By "well", I mean that I was comfortable and conversant with the material, and didn't struggle with any of the questions on the exam. Then I co-taught an undergraduate conducting class with Ben España, a fellow conducting grad student and friend. After that was Chamber Choir, with the conductor of the Oregon Symphony, Carlos Kalmar and the President of the National Collegiate Choral Organization, Dr. Mitos Andaya, in attendance. Finally, my day was wrapped up with a trip to Salem to sing with the Willamette Master Chorus under Dr. Paul Klemme. I'm guest conducting a piece with them during their Christmas concert, and we had a strong rehearsal toward that end. The rest of the rehearsal was phenomenal, though. Paul pushed the choir in ways that I'd not seen him do before, and he got some tangible results that will pay HUGE dividends at our Veteran's Day concerts. ___________________________________________________________________________________ That brings us to today. I hope you've followed me this far, because this is the meat of what I need to say today. I realized this morning, in conducting class, that I have some real holes in my education. I don't come from the classical background that some of my peers come from. I've spent a lot of time in the musical theater, pop, rock, and jazz genres. The next few years are going to be a time of great growth for me in the classical side of things. My undergraduate degree was heavy on the 20th Century music side of things. Tin Pan Alley, Great American Songbook, modern jazz, etc...I'm highly conversant in all of those styles. I can go to a jazz club and have a coherent conversation with one of the jazz musicians during the break (no easy task if you don't speak jazz...), or I can go rock with a cover band and just step in without much rehearsal time. I'm a competent musician, but now I need to learn a different set of skills. In order to chase after this dream that is a DMA in Choral Conducting, I need to become a complete musician. Oh, I have to admit that the process scares me some. I'm going to be stretched quite a bit. This will not be "easy". But I didn't come to PSU to simply be handed a masters degree. I came to earn it. I have no doubt that on the day I graduate, I will KNOW that I've earned something of great value and worth. Thanks for taking the journey with me, friends.

Grad School Update, Week 4, Day 3

Last night was pretty awesome. The PSU Chamber Choir sang in front of 1800+ people, with the guest of honor being none other than Anderson Cooper himself. I tweeted him a thank you after the show, and he tweeted me back, saying that he thought we were "terrific". We performed Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, arranged by our conductor, Ethan Sperry. It's a fantastic arrangement, and the choir sang it with feeling and heart. I was impressed by the sense of family this choir already has, just 4 weeks into the school year. We go away on a retreat this weekend, and I know it'll just increase. ___________________________________________________________________________________ My schedule is difficult, since I work, have a family, and also go to grad school. I'm a bit envious of some of the other students who can devote more time to score study and homework. It's not that I can't get it all done, it's just that I have two little ladies who (naturally) take up a bit of my time. Sometimes, in all honesty, I resent having to take the time away from studies to play with the kids, go to dance class, take one to a birthday party...and then I remember what's really important in life. Yes, my studies are important. But if it means staying up and being sleep deprived so that I can finish that assignment after they go to bed, then it's worth it. My kids need me. I'm the only dad they have, and they look up to me as an example of what a responsible, loving man is supposed to be like. So, while I'm fully devoted to making high marks in school and growing as much as I can...I'm also fully committed to making sure the young ladies in my life become responsible, loving women. ___________________________________________________________________________________ I used to work for a pastor who said, "Sometimes, to focus on the family is a sin. The church should come first." What he meant by that was, "If you're putting your family before your job, then you suck. 80 hour workweeks are the norm in ministry. You should learn to deal with it." Naturally, I didn't work for him more than a year. The strain that put on my family was immense. He would call me at 8am on a Saturday saying, "Where are you? I'm at the office, so you should be, too." Forget soccer practice, dance, Tae Kwon Do. Be in the office. There has to be a healthy balance. I'm finding that, as I get older, I'm learning more about how to do that. I've had to learn how to micromanage my time, even going so far as to schedule my day by the minute. Crazy. No musician should be this scheduled. We aren't built this way naturally. Yet, if I don't do it, then I will get overwhelmed. So...bring the crazy scheduling on! ___________________________________________________________________________________ On a final note (if you've read this far, kudos). A dear friend of mine is having a body scan today to see if his cancer has returned. Jay McKenney, my friend, colleague, and fellow musician, had a type of cancer earlier this year that has a high likelihood of returning. He had a tumor removed from his abdomen that was almost the size of a baby, and the doctors have said that it will probably return. Sometime. Could be today. Could be in 20 years. If you're the praying type (and if you know me, you know I am), I'd love it if you could be praying with me at 2:30 today when he gets his scan. Let's pray for God's will to be done. I think Jay would agree that's the safest place to be, no matter what. Let's also pray for peace of mind for Jay and his family. I'll be praying for healing, also, if that's God's will. That the cancer would disappear forever from his body. ___________________________________________________________________________________ I suppose this turned into more than just a grad school update. Well, that's what you get with me. Blessings, my friends. Keep in touch. Eric

Grad School Update, Week 4, Day 2

Trying this in a blog format. Seems like it might make more sense in the long run. I'd love to keep a record of my thoughts so I can look back and view my journey through this portion of school. Read something interesting in history class Monday about Dutch people and Calvinism. Turns out, most of them are Calvinists. As it happens, most of them also don't put curtains on their windows. Hard to see the correlation, right? Is there anything to that? Well, many Dutch people feel that the reason they don't put curtains up is because they have nothing to hide. One of the principles of Calvinism would be holiness living, so this makes a bit of sense, right? I've ALSO read that, while they attribute the lack of curtains to Calvin, it's also done simply because it is dark. Many of the ground floor windows are close to the next house or apartment, and they simply need the light out there. Who is to say? Tonight, after I have a quick bite to eat, I'm singing with the PSU Chamber Choir at the Simon Benson Awards at the Coliseum. Anderson Cooper is the guest of honor and keynote speaker, and there will be 1700 people there. That's a big audience! How fun is it that we get to sing in front of such a large crowd in my first performance with this group? I'm very excited. Now I need to iron my clothes (something I really enjoy, actually), eat a bit, and get ready. Hope your day is going well, friends! Eric