One of the amazing things about London is the access to really incredible educational opportunities--for free. Laura started her class today at the Wine and Spirits Education trust (see separate post) while Grandma Dorothy followed her own muse to the Royal Academy of Music. For three hours she took instruction from one of the leader pianists, Joanna MacGregor, and conductors in the world at one of, if not the, world's oldest music conservatory founded in 1822 and a leading international music education center. The class studied Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus., a very difficult contemporary piece written in 1944. Grandma came home full of ideas about technique and interpretation and full of praise for the class. Meanwhile, Scott and the girls went to the small Royal Academy of Music Museum where we learned, among other things, about the construction techniques associated with violin making. (Did you know that a violin has 70 separate pieces?) Despite the torrential rain, we also spent an hour wandering around the beautiful Regent's Park looking for ciphers of various monarchs on various fixtures, learning about the progression from candlelight to gas light to electric light, identifying the waterfowl including the magnificent swans, contemplating whether we could build a willow weave fence and looked at the plantings. It was an educational, if wet, afternoon.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Grandma Studies At the Royal Academy
One of the amazing things about London is the access to really incredible educational opportunities--for free. Laura started her class today at the Wine and Spirits Education trust (see separate post) while Grandma Dorothy followed her own muse to the Royal Academy of Music. For three hours she took instruction from one of the leader pianists, Joanna MacGregor, and conductors in the world at one of, if not the, world's oldest music conservatory founded in 1822 and a leading international music education center. The class studied Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus., a very difficult contemporary piece written in 1944. Grandma came home full of ideas about technique and interpretation and full of praise for the class. Meanwhile, Scott and the girls went to the small Royal Academy of Music Museum where we learned, among other things, about the construction techniques associated with violin making. (Did you know that a violin has 70 separate pieces?) Despite the torrential rain, we also spent an hour wandering around the beautiful Regent's Park looking for ciphers of various monarchs on various fixtures, learning about the progression from candlelight to gas light to electric light, identifying the waterfowl including the magnificent swans, contemplating whether we could build a willow weave fence and looked at the plantings. It was an educational, if wet, afternoon.
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