Following our previous entries on How To Get and Keep Kids Interested In Concert Music (Part Three, Part Two & Part One), here we go again with the aim to foster a debate on this subject. I would recommend you to click HERE to follow Part Four of this conversation on Robert Greenberg’s blog.
I am doing the same thing on my blog but in Spanish language in order to foster this debate among the Spanish speaking community worldwide. If you are interested in following this conversation in Spanish too, click on Cómo lograr que los niños se interesen por la música de concierto (Parte III) to follow the stream.
Following our previous entry on How To Get and Keep Kids Interested In Concert Music (Part Two), here we go again with the aim to foster a debate on this subject. I would kindly advise you to click HERE to follow the third part of this conversation on Robert Greenberg’s blog.
I am doing the same thing on my blog but in Spanish language in order to foster this debate among the Spanish speaking community worldwide. If you are interested in following this conversation in Spanish too, click on Cómo lograr que los niños se interesen por la música de concierto (Parte II) to follow the stream.
Following our previous entry on How To Get and Keep Kids Interested In Concert Music (Part One), here we go again with the aim to foster a debate on this subject. I would kindly advise you to click HERE to follow the second part of this conversation on Robert Greenberg’s blog.
I am doing the same thing on my blog but in Spanish language in order to foster this debate among the Spanish speaking community worldwide. If you are interested in following this conversation in Spanish too, click on Cómo lograr que los niños se interesen por la música de concierto (Parte I) to follow the stream.
I recently bumped into Robert Greenberg on the Internet. I have been listening to -and reading, because besides the audiofiles I also bought the transcripts- his 48 lectures on How to Listen to and Understand Great Music, where you can learn a lot about many things… not only music!
So, on Robert Greenberg’s web page, you can find a blog where I found really interesting articles on how to get and keep kids interested in concert music.
If you wish to read Robert Greenberg’s article, please click HERE.
Sometimes some of my Spanish speaking friends ask me, not without a certain tone of reproach, why I mainly use and foster English or German cultural and teaching materials or videos, especially bearing in mind that I am Spanish and Spanish is my mother tongue. Quite frankly and with all due respect: because those are the languages in which I find more interesting and quality stuff. By this, I do not mean that there are no interesting materials in the Spanish speaking countries. Actually, in Spain, the philosopher José Antonio Marina is carrying out one of the most interesting iniciatives, his online Biblioteca de la Universidad de Padres (Parents University Library). But as interesting and good quality it really is, the fact is that a great deal of the videos you can watch online are, either you like it or not, yes, in English.
And if we move on to the field of life & business coaching literature, I cannot help but say that, although it is true that some -I would rather say just a few- Spanish speaking authors certainly write “juicy” and authentic books, most of the literature you can find in Spanish is just rehashed or copied, with varying success, or translated from other languages.
Thus, the same way Jim Collins says on his web page that executives should read fewer management books, I suggest that people, whether executive or otherwise, should read fewer coaching books. I do not mean that reading them is a waste of time. You can learn a lot from them. The question is what to read or not. You can certainly improve your leadership and coaching skills and capabilities by drinking from “other waters”, the waters of some great books or sources that have been published in a wide variety of disciplines. More important and outstanding leaders often forge their best theories, insights and behaviors by reading outside their primary scope.
And this leads me to a recommendation. It was through the recommended readings on Jim Collins webpage that I virtually bumped into Robert Greenberg -and then I was lucky enough to contact him on Twitter as well. Robert Greenberg is a friendly, good-natured and witty musicologist who has great courses you can download from The Great Courses. -yes, yes, I know, the courses are in English, but if you have read this article up to this point, I guess your level of English is not that bad. Actually, it may be even much higher than mine! Whether you are an English native speaker or not, I highly recommend Robert Greenberg’s course: if you are the former you will learn a lot about history, music, life and, yes, leadership and coaching; if you are the latter, you will also greatly increase your English level Two birds with a stone! Mi recommendation is not a book, but an audiobook: How to Listen to and Understand Great Music: The Greenberg Lectures. This Greenberg’s series of 48 lectures (around 45 minutes each) combines a history of western civilization with a history of great music from ancient Greece to the 20th century. The course illustrates the interplay between societal change and innovation. Greenberg offers a very particular perspective on the accelaration of change worught by the 20th century.
The Great Courses Production Team, February 2013.
I would like to finish with the words that Robert Greenberg wrote on his Facebook wall when he posted the above picture of the production team of The Great Courses: “It takes a village to make a course. Well, here is our village, and a smarter, more passionate, more committed bunch of professionals will be hard (if not impossible) to find, on this or any other planet.” Sitting in the middle and dressed in black, you can see Robert Greenberg.
Today I had a great surprise! A really nice present from one of my Facebook friends overseas that I connected with thanks to my beloved friends Jeanie and Rachel Flowers. Thank you Kavi Alexander (Water Lily Acoustics)! Your present is really appreciated. I feel really honored! I can’t wait to listen to this beautiful music in a live performance by the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra (Gustav Mahler 5th Symphony) and the Saint Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra (Dimitri Shostakovich 7th Symphony).
Gustav Mahler's 5th Symphony (Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov) and Dimitri Shostakovich's 7th Symphony (Saint Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra under Alexander Dimitriev). Water Lily Acoustics Records.
To me this is a proof that music can go beyond any border. Music is a global agent! Kavi lives in Santa Barbara, California; I live in Móstoles, Madrid. We have not met yet. A year ago I was in Santa Barbara, but I could not meet him. Today, a year later, he wanted to share with me this music he recorded live in Saint Petersburg back in 2003 and it represents the realization of one of his dreams.
To honor him, I would like to share a text that Kavi wrote for the record of the Symphony n. 5 by Gustav Mahler performed by the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra under Yuri Temirkanov:
“The Biblical parable of the pearl merchant, I believe, outlines concisely what a man must do when his heart compels him towards something very worthy. Trusting his intuition and disregarding the logic of his reasoning mind, he then strives to reach his goal; the very act of embarking on such a pilgrimage is its own reward and should success come his way at the end, it will add to the contentment stemming from the fulfilment of his sacred vows to his chosen personal God. I arrived in Saint Petersburg, like a strannik, an urodivoi in Jerusalem, and realized my twenty-five year old dream of recording the prestigious Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra, a two hundred year old cultural and artistic institution dedicated to excellence. That profound experience, transformational as any true pilgrimage, has left an indelible impression on my mind.
The people of the northern Caucasus have been traditionally known for their equestrian skills, longevity and joie de vivre, as well being renowned as men of honor and valor. Hailing from that region, Maestro Temirkanov possesses all the characteristics of a noble chevalier: upright and bold, courageous and courteous, passionate and girm in his resolve. A conductor of the old school -taciturn, allof to the mundane, yet keenly aware of the minutiae of music and totally possessed by the muse. His bare hads -now a cresting wave, now a swooping mass of snow… the God of Abraham forming Adam out of clay with His hands. Maestro Temirkanov is trully one the great conductors of our times.
Created by imperial decree at the height of the opulent Czarist reign, coming of age during a proletarian dictatorship and now continuing within a free market system, the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic is one of the world’s great orchestras, possessing a very distinct sound, shaped by its rich culture and unusual history. Their artistry, like a priceless icon of the Black Madonna and Infant in a canle-lit Russian Orthodox church infused with frankincense, filled with the sound of sacred music and vibrant with the ardor of the devout, while the world outside is frozen still, draws out the soul to profound contemplation.
This recording exists because there were those who graciously shared their expertise, gave of their time and knowledge, and excercised their power to open doors and facilitate the process. Their help, and the Grace of Our Lady, enabled the realisation of this dream.
Kavichandran Alexander
If you are interested in these unique records -and they are really unique-, please contact:
Water Lily Acoustics
p.o. box 91448
Santa Barbara, A 93190
USA
This is a monthly column on uncovering our greatness, co-authored by Dr Amit Nagpal from India (who talks about a Westerner) and Michael Thallium from Spain (who talks about an Easterner). We aim to share the success stories of great human beings and wish to inspire the readers to uncover their greatness too.
Alan Jacobs – Giving Western Touch to Indian Mysticism
The book was impressive and, so must be the author, I thought. I had just read “Aim for the Stars, Reach the Moon” by Conor Patterson and was suitably impressed by its content. So I started researching its acknowledgements and other trivia (we consider it trivia, don’t we?). I found that Conor had written about a man called ‘Alan Jacobs’ and thanked him for his mentoring. The name ‘Alan Jacobs’ sounded familiar and I recollected reading it somewhere in the friend list of a Facebook friend.
So I quickly found him out, sent him a Facebook friend request and began to research more about him. The man sounded weird at first, as he has been associated with diamond trade, life coaching, Indian spirituality, Armed Forces and what not. It was early 2011 and I requested him to mentor me as an author and emailed him my first e-book, “Spiritual Tools for Material Success“. A good feedback from him gave me the conviction in my work and my journey as an author began (Sometime we may need a validation more than mentoring).
Born in 1929 in London, Alan was interested in religion and mysticism from an early age. He began his personal search for truth in his late twenties, and entered the Gurdjieff Society in 1957. Later on he met Jiddu Krishnamurti, and went through his teachings until 1979.Then he came across the sage Ramana Maharshi and currently Alan is the President of the Ramana Maharshi Foundation, UK. I love the enlightened whispers (or poetry), which Alan writes on his blog.
Alan Jacobs has written (including edited and verified) more than 30 books and was educated at several institutions including Irving School (USA), Coaching Academy, Regent Street Polytechnic Dept. of Business Studies and the Tailor and Cutter Academy.When I saw this description as part of his author profile “He has been married three times, and has three children and five grandchildren.” I wondered whether we Indians would be able to mention such a thing in our profile.
On the other hand I have seen couples suffering throughout their lives in India, but not gathering the courage to separate (it is changing fast with the new generation in metros though). Now Indians are beginning to realise that the children of such marriages suffer rather than benefit because of the parents staying together.
Alan’s first book was Dutch And Flemish 17th C Painters: A Collectors Guide for McGraw Hill. His latest book, a Utopian novella Eutopia: The Gnostic Land of Prestor John is based on agnostic principles of an emperor of Ethopia and describes the direct path to self-realization popular in the kingdom.
If you are ready for the self-realization journey, enter the mystical world of Alan Jacobs’ books.
(Though Alan stays in London most of the time, he frequently travels to Ramanna Ashram, Tiruvanamallai, India.)
Dr Karan Singh-Amalgamating the Best of East and West
To me the presentation of the book The Seven Joys Of Life by Amit Nagpal was the introduction to a person I had never heard of: Dr Karan Singh. I did not have the chance to travel to India for that presentation and meet both my friend Amit Nagpal and Dr Karan Singh. I remember by that time, by the beginning of August of this year 2012 which is finishing in a couple of hours, I was in Kiev. When I came back to Spain, I started finding out about Dr Karan Singh. I knew that if Amit had chosen him to present his book, there should be a good reason. So, I watched a video entitled “I Believe” based on Karan Singh’s life which I recommend you to have a look at:
This Indian gentleman well known across the world, is a very versatile person: politician, statesman, philosopher, spiritual leader…
I must admit that I could not go very deep into his life and I know this article is just the beginning of an exploration journey to Karan Singh’s world, but I would like to share a little experience that happened to me a couple of months ago. I was researching on the Internet about ethics and I came across The Declaration Toward a Global Ethic of 1993, in Chicago. Guess what? One of the signers was Karan Singh. I think if I would not have learnt about Karan Singh through Amit Nagpal, I would have never paid much attention to that declaration. Actually, Karan Singh is working for the world interfaith or interreligion dialogue.
As I said at the beginning I could not be in India for the presentation of The Seven Joys Of Life. However, there are other ways to be present, I mean, to be present in spirit. We all are somehow interconnected and the proof of it is that, right now, while I am writing these lines, in Móstoles, Spain, I am listening to the Classical Instrumental Violin by Indian maestro Pandit V. G. Jog about whom I learnt just a couple of weeks ago from (thanks to her) my beloved friend Rachel Flowers, who lives in California, USA, and has never been to India, but wanted this music as her birthday present this year. Finally, these words will travel from Spain to New Delhi and from there… who knows! Could you tell me please?
“Above all, don’t fear difficult moments. The best comes from them.”
“The body can do what it wants. I’m not my body, I am my mind.”
One of the women who most inspired me and I most respect has passed away on 30th December 2012. Rest in peace Rita Levi Montalcini… By the way, I recommend you to read her book “In Praise of Imperfection”.
Sometimes some of my Spanish speaking friends ask me, not without a certain tone of reproach, why I mainly use and foster English or German cultural and teaching materials or videos, especially bearing in mind that I am Spanish and Spanish is my mother tongue. Quite frankly and with all due respect: because those are the languages in which I find more interesting and quality stuff. By this, I do not mean that there are no interesting materials in the Spanish speaking countries. Actually, in Spain, the philosopher José Antonio Marina is carrying out one of the most interesting iniciatives, his online 
The book was impressive and, so must be the author, I thought. I had just read “Aim for the Stars, Reach the Moon” by Conor Patterson and was suitably impressed by its content. So I started researching its acknowledgements and other trivia (we consider it trivia, don’t we?). I found that Conor had written about a man called ‘Alan Jacobs’ and thanked him for his mentoring. The name ‘Alan Jacobs’ sounded familiar and I recollected reading it somewhere in the friend list of a Facebook friend.
To me the presentation of the book The Seven Joys Of Life by Amit Nagpal was the introduction to a person I had never heard of: 
