Spring Music and Melodies of the River
- Irene Feher
- May 2
- 3 min read
Updated: May 2
Happy spring everyone,
The warmer weather and budding leaves bring about new energy and a little more time to breathe. I’m savouring the end of a productive winter semester. I’m so proud of my 10 students who presented performance exams. It is amazing to witness their progress over the last year.
I just came back from a wonderful weekend of musical self care at an improv retreat hosted by my dear colleague David Rudge at Pendle Hill in Wallingford PA. A group of us gathered from near and far to improvise, it rejuvenated me as I now return to tax time and spring cleaning.
Spring is here
I need to cheer
But it’s tax time
At my desk not so fine
Paperwork, emails, bookkeeping blues
Longing to hear some really good news
Take a breath and see the sun
Soon enough there’ll be summer fun!
Improvisation for Personal and Artistic Growth
In lessons and coachings yesterday, several conversations came up about the value of creative musical play for personal and artistic growth. Improvising is about being your authentic self in sound. When you free yourself from the constraints of the written page, style and performance practice, your full musical self begins to shine. You become the composer, the interpreter of what you are experiencing in sound.
Improvise!
Music not as a commodity
But as an activity
To be enjoyed by anyone who chooses
Not to stand on the sidelines feeling undeserving to play
But to be engaged in joyful collaboration for a day.
It’s there for anyone who chooses,
Imagines and muses
To play instead of consume,
To create with others instead of resume
Hours of practice alone in a room.
On that note, I hope you consider joining me in May and June for 2 hour long live improvisation sessions at the Center of Musicians of the World in Montreal!
Or, Or, OR…
Come and take a deep dive into improvisation in beautiful St-Jean-Port-Joli, Quebec, August 11-14 where I will be facilitating alongside Suzanne Giasson, Josée Allard and Daniel Lacombe
Melodies of the River - Music Improvisation Camp, hosted by recently certified Music for People facilitator and dear friend Suzanne Giasson promises to be an exceptional time of music making in beautiful surroundings enjoying locally sourced food and beverage from Quebec. Quebec’s French culture is unique and colorful. The people are warm and expressive. Our landscape is breathtaking and August is an especially beautiful month to be in Quebec.
More details here:
Check out our wonderful photo gallery!!!!
Embracing a Creative Life!
I met Suzanne Giasson about 6 years ago, and was immediately struck by her incredible energy, insatiable curiosity, and open spirit. Suzanne is the model of a life musician!
I was blown away when I learned about her background: She teaches at the University of Montreal in the faculty of Arts and Sciences, Department of Chemistry and pharmaceuticals. She completed her postdoctoral research in materials at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 1995 and her PhD in physical chemistry at the Université Pierre & Marie Curie, Paris. She received her MSc in chemical engineering (1990) and her BSc in chemical engineering (1988) from Université Laval. She has expertise in surface forces, surface chemistry, soft matter, polymers, colloids, nanotribology, nanorheology, and biomaterials.
She also plays piano, drums, sings, and improvises! She is passionate about the positive effects that music can have on our physical chemistry enhancing well-being.
