Workshop Reviews 2006

I attended levels one and two of the Intensives in the summer of 2006. To say the experience was enlightening and rewarding is an understatement. Marianne's methods for teaching aural skills are well developed and highly effective. Her workshops are designed with the serious musician in mind, and the pace at which each day moves is breathtaking. By the end of each week I was thinking about music at a much higher level than I had previously thought possible. What's more is that I left the workshops with a clear idea of how to continue developing my aural skills on my own. I would highly recommend the Intensives to anyone who is interested in deepening the level at which he or she perceives and conceives music in the most meaningful way possible. Joseph Stillwell Composer and Pianist University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point ------------ For two years I have participated in the Musicianship Intensives offered by the Institute for Musical Perception. These workshops are true intensives. During the sessions you learn how music is universally perceived. And through the masterful teaching of Marianne Ploger you learn how to immediately implement the knowledge in your own work. Everything that is presented in this workshop is universal. Through hard work, the skills that Marianne teaches can be used by all musicians to gain an understanding of the language of music for the ultimate goal of developing the craft of musical communication. In the advanced session of the workshop, as you refine your musicianship skills, you are trained as well in the craft of teaching these skills to others. As you gain more understanding, your standards are also raised, thereby training you for the real world of music. Ploger and Hill aim to create musical craftspeople-musicians who clearly understand everything they are doing, who communicate to their audience and are able to get a desired effect every time. Education in this level of musical craftsmanship is not offered anywhere else. Matt Hellenbrand French Horn University of Iowa - Iowa City ------------- It is hard to explain the magnitude of learning, growth, and inspiration that I experienced through the musical fluency intensive sessions. Not only has Marianne Ploger made an astounding number of discoveries as a sort of pioneering scientist in music, she presents this materials in a methodical, highly understandable way. During the sessions, she taught me to hear individual pitches, intervallic relationships, chords, and changing harmonies in a whole new manner--- it was the first time that I was asked to “turn off” my perfect pitch so that I could really listen to what was happening in the sound and in the music. The method programs the listener to truly understand music, and appropriately identify what they are hearing in “real time”. I can remember sitting through music theory courses in university, going through the motions of solfège with moveable “do”, written harmonic analysis, and hearing major and minor intervals played back over and over again, in an attempt to drill the sound of a minor third into my head. Needless to say, I never saw the applicability of any of it, and continued on learning and listening to music the same way I always had. Marianne's method instills all of this knowledge into a truly fluent musical ability that is applicable and logical every step of the way. My performance, my listening, and my teaching have all been transformed by Marianne's method. For the first time, I have an understanding of what music is like to listen to, and learn, for people who don't have absolute pitch. I have a logical way of explaining the most basic concepts--- reading music quickly and accurately, and hearing the music based on the score in one's own ear----to all music students. I have a more efficient way to practice the piano and learn music, and have thousands of musical insights and directions through the connections that Marianne makes between affect and sound. Most importantly, I understand why music is so important as an art, and as an emotive medium. Stephanie Gurga Pianist Depauw University - Greencastle, IN ------------- Marianne Ploger provides the most meaningful and complete musical training workshops I've ever witnessed. In my estimation, she is the foremost musical scientist of our time and her teaching methods produce astounding results in a minimal amount of time. Learning from her seems effortless. Her knowledge of musical perception is absolutely impeccable. Her demeanor is nurturing, loving and highly focused. I can only imagine that studying with her is akin to what it must have been like to study with Bach. I owe any success that I have had as a composer and teacher to the training I've received from her during the past 15 years. At the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point we have built a Composition and Music Theory/Musicianship curriculum based upon her discoveries and teaching methods. This has one of the most exciting things I've witnessed in my career as a professor. Run to sign up for her workshops. Taking one is the best investment in your future that you could possibly make. Charles Young Professor of Composition University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point, WI ------------- It is always such a pleasure to spend time working with Marianne. Her understanding of music is truly profound and her love and thirst for knowledge is truly contagious. Her pedagogy is extremely successful because she presents music as both a language to master and a transcendent art. You will be astonished by your newly acquired skills and by the integration of Marianne's curriculum. By the end of the week everything she teaches just kind of fits together in an amazingly clear but dimensional way. Her teaching continually inspires me to bring as much meaning and competence as I can to all that I hear, perform, compose, and teach to others. Aaron Marx Composer, Violinist I attended Marianne Ploger's four day Level One Intensive class in June of 2006 expecting a refresher course in basic aural skills. The class began with interval study, and proceeded through scales, modes, rhythm, and other basics. This material is important, to be sure, but what makes study with Marianne Ploger so meaningful, is how she teaches the student to relate these basic skills to the listening and performance of music. Marianne is one of those very few teachers whose skill and passion for teaching transcends her subject matter. As a result of this four day class, I am now hearing and understanding music on a new level. This has not only helped my own performance, but I am confident I will be a more effective teacher as well. I am eagerly looking forward to continuing my study with Marianne Ploger, and am encouraging my colleagues to begin study as well. Dr. John Weigand Extra Clarinetist, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Professor of Music (Clarinet and Conducting) West Virginia University