TED.Com is a remarkable website that is devoted to spreading worthy ideas. It is a non-profit organization that is making a huge impact in the collaboration of design, technology and entertainment. It offers the top world-changing innovators from around the globe. This particular post of speaker Charles Hazelwood is very intriguing. He is an acclaimed conductor and used his profession to illustrate trust. He begins speaking and prompts violinists to play. They enter from different areas of the room, creating a surround sound. This was used as an icebreaker. Everyone was pleasantly surprised and it unified the audience.
Mr. Hazlewood talks about how important it is for him as a conductor to trust his ensemble. He even has to trust himself. He must trust that his instruction during rehearsal was sufficient and that he is exuberating the right body language. He has to have enough control to direct, but not too much control that the ensemble cannot flow. He used an excellent example given to him early in his career. If you hold a bird too tightly, you will crush it, and if you open your hand too wide, it will fly away. This is a perfect analogy for a conductor to follow.
He spoke of a remarkable experience in South Africa, where he overcame adversity through the power of music, which taught a life lesson about trust. The choir was comprised of mostly black singers with a handful of whites. One of the white members was a former South African Police Officer. Understanding that police were charged to go into the black communities and aggress them, created a lot of intensity in the room. Mr. Hazlewood overcame this distrust by singing, singing and singing some more. This process developed trust and blossomed new relationships.
He also revealed a very inspirational project that was developed because of his daughter that suffers from Cerebral Palsy. ParaOrchestra was created for disabled musicians. These musicians have the opportunity to do what they love through this initiative. There was a left-handed pianist that played beautifully and even used humor to tell about his condition, that he was born with one hand. Some other musicians create music electronically. One man interviewed was a former trumpet player that was left paralyzed through a road accident. He expressed the joy he feels creating music and would take the ability to play his trumpet again, over the ability to walk. This was hard to imagine, but it illustrated how important music is to a person.
The conductor also told of a story of a Prince that declared the musicians’ families were no longer welcome in the castle. They were sent away. The conductor illustrated how music was used to show the Prince their anger for his decision. Conductor Hazlewood directed the ensemble to play a beautiful piece. Just as you were completely engaged, one by one, members of the ensemble stop playing and walked off the stage, until they all disappeared. Conductor Hazlewood re-entered the stage and informed the audience that the Prince soon allowed the musicians’ families to return.
This was very inspirational as a musician. It was very informative and the music played by the Scottish Ensemble made it even more intriguing. It illustrated how music can be used to develop trust. It was also thought provoking and challenging. How are you using your talent to help people or enhance their lives?
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