Category: workshops

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Exploring a wealth of rhythmic and melodic motifs: Interactive music session for and with Montessori teachers – Zurich

At the invitation of Christine Urand (Director, Rietberg Montessori School) Ludwig Pesch took the full assembly of teachers on a musical journey across South India: exploring a wealth of rhythmic and melodic motifs suitable for young learners while enabling parents, teachers and care-givers to enjoy music making themselves (even as “lay people”, musically speaking).

A defining period in Montessori’s outlook >>

This event was also an occasion to explore and discuss the scope for actively participating in an intercultural dialogue, something the presenter has long been known for, while paying homage to Maria Montessori; 1 both as contributor to ISME World Conferences and in association with educational and cultural institutions across the entire spectrum: teacher training, kindergarten, schools, rehabilitation just as staff integration programmes; conservatoria and universities in several countries; and creative projects developed in association with the Goethe Institute and exhibition makers at internationally renowned museums.

Date: 1 March 2018. Events on similar lines have been developed in conjunction with Museum Rietberg (Zurich) on the occasion of exhibitions of rare Indian art (in collaboration with art education staff).

Deutsch: Eine musikalische Reise für alle >>

  1. From 1939 until 1947 Dr. Maria Montessori worked closely with Rukmini Devi, founder of Kalakshetra (est. in 1936 in Adyar/Madras, now part of Chennai) These pioneering efforts remain as relevant today as in the early 20th century[↩]
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Contribution to the world conference of the International Society for Music Education in Glasgow – ISME 2016

“Yours figuratively: Indian music in intercultural education”

  • Date: Thursday 28th July 2016 (17:15 – 18:15)
  • Venue: AGOS Studio
  • Paper Number: 704.00 | Submission Category: Demonstration/Workshop
  • Special Interest Group (SIG): Practice & Research in Integrated Music Education
  • For more details, kindly check the  isme2016glasgow.org website during the conference  (24-29 July 2016)

Abstract

Music counts among the proverbial “64 arts and skills” of ancient India where it became synonymous with “leading a fulfilled life”. Thus, having evolved along with other pursuits, Indian music is an interdisciplinary concept that connects people irrespective of age and cultural background. It is in this context that we explore the world of musical figures: figures that convey subtle meaning while symbolizing the very joy of participating in music making of a high order.  Rather than borrowing sounds from a supposedly exotic culture, we apply the building blocks of Indian music for several good reasons: for their accessibility in the context of intercultural education and, of course, for their intrinsic value and beauty.

Learners tap into the mind-boggling world of India’s musical ideas. Tiny musical figures are adapted in a manner that has stood the test of time. While being fun on first hearing they also lend themselves to being visualized and analyzed for non-musical purposes.

This teaching method lends itself to classroom and lifelong learning across the entire social spectrum: it adds colour to other school subjects like maths, languages, geography or physical fitness; and requiring no more than voices, hands and open-mindedness, it kindles communication where there is a lack of time and resources, or even a common language. Figuratively yours, ours truly!

Ludwig Pesch studied at Freiburg University from where he went to India in order to be trained and perform as bamboo flautist. Since then he develops intercultural activities that suit the needs of children, music students and teachers; and also for museum education (e.g. family programmes for Museum Rietberg Zurich in conjunction with Indian art exhibitions).

He authored The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music and among other writings, contributed to the journal of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung (Goettingen University “Music | Musics. Structures and Processes“) and to Integrated Music Education. Challenges for Teaching and Teacher Training by M. Cslovjecsek and M. Zulauf, forthcoming). Among his research projects are “Sam, Reflection, Gathering Together!” (Bern University of the Arts in collaboration with Natanakairali, Research and Performing Center for Traditional Arts in Kerala). His ideas on collaborative work are summarized by the acronym AIUME for “Adapting Indian Universals in Music Education”. (www.aiume.org)

Find publications by Ludwig Pesch on worldcat.org >> >>

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Bambusquerflöte & Tambura (Konzert mit Workshop) – Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft

Ludwig Pesch (Bambusquerflöte) & Arnulf Merckens (Tambura)

Datum: Di 8. April 2014 (19:00)

Ort: Kulturzentrum KoKi (Pumpe) Raum 1, Haßstraße 22, 24103 Kiel – Anfahrt

Veranstalter: Deutsch-Indische Gesellschaft Kiel e.V. – digkiel@googlemail.com

Die Musiker

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Ludwig Pesch (1955) spezialisierte sich auf die südindische Bambusquerflöte, als er am  Kalakshetra College bei Ramachandra Shastry (1906-92) studierte. Gemeinsam mit ihm konzertierte er bei zahlreichen Anlässen.

In Zusammenarbeit mit den Universitäten von Lüneburg und Würzburg entwickelte er e-Learning Angebote. Er verfasste das Handbuch The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music und gestaltet Programme, bei denen Gestaltungselemente aus der indischen Musik für den pädagogischen Alltag nutzbar gemacht werden. 

Arnulf Merckens (1952) ist ein Schüler des Sitar-Spielers Ashraf Sharif Khan aus Lahore. Von 2000 bis 2007 erlernte er zunächst das Tambura- und Tablaspielen. Ab 2003 erhielt er auch Sitar- und Urdu-Unterricht von ihm. Er hat seinen Lehrer mehrfach bei Konzerten auf der Tambura begleitet.

Programm

In ihrem einstündigen Konzert präsentieren die Musiker eine Auswahl karnatischer Ragas und Kompositionen.

Anschließend bieten sie ihren Zuhörern die Gelegenheit zum informellen Austausch. Neben Fragen zum Konzert besteht die Möglichkeit, die Tambura auch selbst zu spielen sowie rhythmische Silben und die für Talas gebräuchlichen Finger- und Handgesten auszuprobieren.

Die Teilnahme am Workshop erfordert keinerlei Vorkenntnisse und ist für alle Altersgruppen geeignet.

Flute sculpture in Somnathpur (Karnataka) – Photo © Ludwig Pesch
Flute sculpture in Somnathpur (Karnataka) – Photo © Ludwig Pesch

Karnatische Musik

Südindien ist für seine melodische Musik und mitreißenden Rhythmen bekannt. Eine Musiklehre und auch die dort gebräuchliche Art des Musizierens lassen sich bis in das Altertum zurückverfolgen. Seither haben Maler, Bildhauer und die Autoren der klassischen Tamil- und Sanskritliteraturen gerne das Musizieren mit Instrumenten dargestellt. Gesang- und Instrumentalrepertoire sind so zu einem Ganzen verschmolzen.

Eine vergleichbare Auffassung liegt dem schöpferische Mitgestalten zugrunde. Musikschaffende, Amateurmusiker wie Musikliebhaber nehmen daran auch im “Internet-Zeitalter” teil – vielleicht mehr denn je.

Artikel zur südindischen Musik und ihrer Vermittlung 

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A Musical Lotuspond ISME 2012 – impressions of a successful world conference for music education

Our ISME 2012 workshop titled A Musical Lotuspond was greeted with great interest by a full house of music educators from all over the world. The atmosphere of the entire world conference was inspiring and thought provoking. We also sensed a sense of urgency motivating all participants to learn from one another and share their experiences. In this manner we all seek to reach out to young and adult learners, including those for who making music has so far remained a distant dream – the very motivation for designing this new type of workshop: expanding the range of intercultural expression within the context of integrated learning; and this even with a minimum of resources.

Two special instruments – one known as yal in ancient Tamil literature, and a newly developed bamboo tambura – met with  special interest among fellow presenters and young participants alike.

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A Musical Lotus Pond – workshop at ISME 2012 World Conference

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Purpose
Probing the depths of Indian sounds and symbols both for their interdisciplinary potential and intrinsic value.

Content
We pool musical, visual and numerical motifs. Sounds, hand gestures and movements link two school subjects within a single session; and more subjects wherever this approach lends itself to being integrated into a curriculum.

Method
The “Musical Lotus Pond” is a biotope where beauty flourishes in unexpected ways. Each participant embellishes a sheet of paper containing numbers and shapes. These form the basis for musical activities. At the conclusion, the sheets are folded into small cones resembling the “school cones” traditionally used to entice European children to attend school. Children will spontaneously share their experiences with peers and family members.

Application for integrated education
Analytical thinking, self-expression and teamwork are cultivated. For this purpose, motifs derived from Indian music are combined with those belonging to subjects as diverse as visual arts, geography, biology, physical education and maths.

Pure maths is a religion and in the East, valued for more than merely its technical application – Novalis (1799)

Background information
Indian culture is permeated by synesthetic associations that make learning both enjoyable and (cost) effective. Moreover it fosters concentration and teamwork. It is therefore no coincidence that the ubiquitous lotus motif symbolizes the aspiration to rise above the ordinary and beyond predictability.
The presenters work with the motto “Adapting Indian Universals in Music Education” (AIUME); and this in response to the needs of children and music students. Contributions to exhibitions (e.g. Museum Rietberg Zürich and Royal Tropical Museum Amsterdam) complement their artistic and scholarly pursuits: one is a singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist; the other trained and performed as flautist in India, and authored The Oxford Illustrated Companion to South Indian Classical Music.

I surely know the hundred petals of a lotus will not remain closed for ever and the secret recess of its honey will be bared. – from Gitanjali by Nobel Awardee Rabindranath Tagore

Listen to Tagore: Unlocking Cages: Sunil Khilnani tells the story of the Bengali writer and thinker Rabindranath Tagore: https://bbc.in/1KVh4Cf >>
The acclaimed BBC 4 podcast series titled Incarnations: India in 50 Lives has also been published in book form (Allen Lane).

“I was moved by how many of these lives pose challenges to the Indian present,” he writes, “and remind us of future possibilities that are in danger of being closed off.”1

  1. Sunil Khilnani quoted in a review by William Dalrymple in The Guardian, 14 March 2016[↩]