GAIL LEVINSKY'S EQUIPMENT - Spran - Selmer Paris-Series III with a Selmer C** muthpiece, Winslw ligature and Vandren #3 1 12 reeds. - Alt (classical) - Selmer Paris-Series II with a Vandren Optimum A3 muthpiece, a Winslw ligature and Vandren #3 reeds. - Alt (jazz) - Selmer Paris-Series II with a Vandren A10l muthpiece, a Rvner ligature, and Vandren Java #3 reeds. -Tenr - Selmer Paris-Series III with a Selmer C* muthpiece, Winslw ligature and Vandren #3Y2 reeds. - Baritne - Selmer Paris-Series II with a Selmer C* muthpiece, a Winslw ligature and Vandren #3lh reeds. I Sme cllege teachers can effrtlessly cmbine their lve f perfol:ming and their ability t teach. Fr them, the lve f teaching is s strng they d it whenever and wherever they can. Thse wrds were never truer than when applied t saxphnist Gail Levinsky. There is almst nt a single day when she can't be fund wrking with yunger musicians by freely sharing her knwledge, her lve f music, r teaching the necessary skills abut teaching music t thers. Hw she balances nt letting a single mment g by withut being engaged in the search fr being a better and mre effective teacher alng with a career as a saxphnist par-excellence is beynd belief. S cmmitted t educatin, even the subject fher Dctral Dissertatin in Saxphne Perfrmance frm Nrthwestern University is educatinally based: An Analysis and Cmparisn fearly Saxphne Methds Published Between 1846-1946. Currently an Assciate Prfessr f Musi'c at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrve, Pennsylvania, as well as an instructr during summers at the New England Music Camp in Sidney, Maine, it's n surprise her cllegiate teaching duties include, in additin t her saxphne studi, teaching wdwind and instru- mental methds curses t the music educatin majrs, develping an instrumental pedaggy curse, bserving student teachers, and teaching as part f the university-wide Cre Perspectives faculty which has, as ne f its gals, seeking t inspire freshman abut the lve flearning. Amng the ther special educatin initiatives she has undertaken include invlving students in the Nrth American Saxphne Alliance, pilgrimages t the Midwest Band and Orchestra cnventin, the Cnn-Selmer Institute, and participating in a week-lng trip t Paris with her students in rder t experience and study the histry, pedaggy and perfrmance practices f the saxphne in France. And her credentials are excellent with schling cming frm Butler University, where she earned a Bachelr f Music Educatin degree, and Nrthwestern University, where she earned her Masters and Dctral degrees in Music Educatin and Saxphne Perfrmance respectively. As a slist Levinsky has presented perfrmances and clinics at educatinal sympsiums, and clleges and high schls thrughut the United States. She has premiered numerus new wrks including thse fhigh prfile mdern cmpsers, is featured n several recrdings, publishes (including an excellent revised editin f Rsemary Lang's Beginning Studies In The Altissim Register and a sn t be released perfrmers guide t wrks written fr saxphne and rgan), has been cited in a number f schlarly publicatins by ther authrs, and has received numerus grants. Alng with the many achievements by her saxphne students, the questin still remains, hw des she get it all in? When did yu first knw yu wanted t be a teacher? I am prbably unique in cming t this realizatin at an early age. I had a fabulus middle schl experience, and remember being in sixth r seventh grade knwing that teaching music was what I was ging t d. I was mesmerized by the whle experience. I am frtunate that I still have a LP recrding frm thse 4 January/February 2011
years. It is a wnderful reminder and memry frm that time. On ccasin, I will listen t that recrding and realize hw hrrendus it truly was with the many "ld schl" steretypical middle schl errrs. But I still had a great experience and many psitive memries. I believe my band directr was all abut nurturing the experience. Fr example, in eighth grade band, I recall smene asked hw he knew what t d with the batn, and his answer was t start a cnducting class during lunch perid. We brught ur lunch, learned the basics f cnducting, and cnducted the band at the end f the year. Nt s unusual in tday's standards, but I think fr frty years ag it was pretty unique. S, frm a very early age I knew I wanted t be a teacher. His name was Sheldn Wax. His educatinal backgrund was frm the Bstn Cnservatry, and here he was teaching in Western Massachusetts. Unfrtunately he's n lnger with us, but I did get t see him many years later at a saxphne cnference, and had a great pprtunity t say thank yu t him at that pint. It was a duble pleasure because as I was in graduate schl at the time, and Dr. Hemke was the featured artist at this particular cnference. Having the pprtunity t be with bth teachers at the same time was very special. Why did yu chse t earn yur Bachelr's degree at Butler University? At the beginning f my junir year my family mved t Indianaplis. I cmpleted my last tw years f high schl having a very different experience than the ne I had in my small New England twn. I literally went frm ne end f the spectrum t the ther. My new schl having an enrllment f mre than 4,000 students in Grades 10-12, and a graduating class that was mre than 1,400. I remember pretty much staying in the music wing unless I had t venture ut. Hwever, the music prgram had everything, 3 cncert bands, 2 rchestras, tw jazz ensembles, etc. And, I tw full years f thery and music literature as well. At that pint, graduatin, I finally begun t feel settled, and simply wasn't ready t mve again. Butler was als cnsidered the place t g fr majring in music educatin, it just seemed like the right fit. It prvided strng perfrmance pprtunities and wnderful preparatin fr a career in teaching. While there did yu study with Rsemary Lang? N, I did nt. Ms. Lang was seemingly at the end f her career. She taught the wdwinds methds curse, band arranging, and sme clarinet majrs as I recall. I guess she was kind f the wdwinds persn. Strangely enugh I was nt very well cnnected with her at all, ther than the few classes I tk with her. Lking back it seems a little irnic that I'm the ne wh edited and prepared her bk fr publicatin. Can yu describe yur early studies and teaching experiences? I had a very rare situatin at Butler, and that, in part, I believe has driven my passin fr teaching and understanding the ways students learn music in the applied studi. During my time at Butler I had fur different teachers in my fur years. It is nt ften at the undergraduate level where yu have an pprtunity t learn what yu dn't want t d r be as a teacher. I truly hpe that this statement des nt cme ff in a negative light. Hwever, I had fur very unique individuals wh taught applied saxphne t me; their persnalities and teaching styles were all very different. I learned s much abut teaching in general, mtivatin, and saxphne pedaggy. I nw cherish thse experiences; that's a curse nt ften ffered. After graduatin I mved t Dallas, Texas. The Texas experience was very distinctive. At the time they had a superb private. /' Perfrming at the.pi Cnference! January 6-8,20 I I - New Orleans, LA
lessn prgram within the schls. I think my lve f pedaggy and teaching is, in many ways tied t this experience. When I first began teaching in 1980 I had smething like nine students. Six years later I was teaching 107 students. I had s many differ ent pedaggical things thrwn at me. That experience taught me quite a bit. Was it because f Fred Hemke that yu chse t leave that teaching situatin and study at Nrthwestern fr yur graduate degrees? Yes and n. I attended a Wrld Saxphne Cngress in 1975 at Nrthwestern. Talk abut life altering experience. That was very impressive, s I knew f him. Many years later I had an ac quaintance that earned his master's degree at Nrthwestern and we were ding a lt f reginal theatre tgether at the time. He had just cme back t Texas frm NU and shared s many wn derful experiences. At this pint I was teaching in my seventh year and had a studi f ver a hundred students. Fr whatever reasn, Ijust felt that Nrthwestern and Dr. Hemke was ging t be the right place. Almst vernight I decided t take a little sabbatical and use the fllwing year t prepare myself. I studied with ne f Dr. Hemke's frmer students, William Hchkeppel, and at the end f that year I was frtunate enugh t be admitted t Nrthwestern. I was functinally a duble majr and tk it all in. The experience was wnderful and a real challenge fr me. After earning my Masters degree I stayed t earn an Artist's Di plma. I mved back t Dallas, taught fr a year, and then went back t NU t earn my Dctrate in Saxphne Perfrmance. What did Fred bring t yur saxphne playing? He is a teacher the likes f which I had never seen befre. Frm the very first lessn, nt nly his passin fr the music, but als his ability t cnvey the experience in every aspect f what it takes t be a musician, life, and everything. He was fabulus. His teaching is s simple, but yet s cmplex. There is that ld saying, "play every nte as if it was a pearl." I think what Dr. Hemke gave me was the ability and the tls t figure that ut n my wn. I have great admiratin fr everything he taught me educatinally and pedaggically. I want t talk abut yur bk fr a bit, a new editin f Rsemary Lang's Beginning Studies In The Altissim Register. As yu were editing the bk, were there things yu fund anew in the bk, frm a pedaggical standpint, that yu hadn't nticed when yu were a student? I think the things I fund in it were mre alng the lines f ed itrial decisins I made as I was editing the bk. First, I refined the cntent as t sme f the tunes included. Fr example, I dn't think the sng Swanee is apprpriate fr an educatinal bk tday. Secnd, in tdays pedaggy I believe the skill f reading ledger lines is really imprtant. In the riginal text everything Ms. Lang did was written dwn the ctave with 8,a markings. Flutists and clarinetists read ledger lines all the time, s I made the decisin t have a nice mix f bth styles. I als felt there was rm fr mre material, and include additinal scales and inter val studies. And finally, I put sme saxphne humr in the very last exercise (Chrmatic Variatin). I utilized the well-knwn passage at the end f the first page in f the Ibert, Cncertin da Camera, where the altissim ntes first appear. I transcribed it in every key. I figure if yu can get thrugh the bk and play the Ibert lick in every key, then yu're prbably kay and ready t g. I lve hw in the intrductin yu write, "With the effect f time and regularity in which the altissim range is required in ne's playing... " Is it really pssible, here in the 21" century, t get by as 6 a saxphnist and nt have cmmand f the altissim register? I am teaching at NEMC right nw and I have IS-year lds wh are playing in the altissim register; I didn't even knw hw t spell the wrd when I was that age. Sme f them just fly up there. At every age level the playing tday is just astunding and really fun t hear. It wasn't that lng ag when the altissim reg ister ntes were cnsidered freak ntes. Nw it's almst standard perating prcedure. And, cmpsers cntinue t push us in this area. In the bk yu prvide a number f different fingerings fr dif ferent altissim ntes. Yu als write, "If anther fingering is nt shwn and prduces better results n yur instruments - use it!" Is there a set f criteria yu explain t yur students fr chsing which keys they pick fr different altissim ntes as they are wrk ing n develping their wn abilities? There are a different ways n hw t teach the altissim range. Sme believe that the beginning pint f altissim is thrugh harmnics, playing vertnes frm the lw B-flat and pinpinting the partials frm that pint. Others believe yu shuld start n a certain altissim nte and g frm there. Oth ers believe yu shuld learn it in cntext r need and g frm there. They are all viable and reasnable methds. Like any thing thugh, students are cming t it with different issues. Fr sme students, the teacher can say, "Here is the fingering." The student put the keys dwn and bm, it happens. Others, based n their embuchure, tngue psitin r air have a whle set f different issues. There are s many different variables t achiev ing success. At the beginning level if a nte cmes ut easier with a different fingering, use it. In the riginal Ms. Lang used a set f fingerings that wrked fr her and were reasnable at the time. I tried t be as true t her as I pssibly culd, but if there were fingerings that I thught wrked better I suggested thse. A few individuals have asked why I didn't include spran and bari fingerings. I believed mst beginner level students wuld likely start n alt r tenr and there wuld be the same kind f need. The methd yu use and the way in which yu present the mate rial is rderly, lgical, and very step-by-step in rder t get the students frm pint A t pint B. The bk seems t me, pedaggi cally, t guarantee success. This is clearly attributed t Ms. Lang. I believe the bk is well thught ut and leaves lts f rm t supplement. It is fr that reasn why after s many years thse teachers wh use it in their studi are pleased that it is available again. In my pinin, the strength fthe bk lies in the cncept f pitch matching. It seems lgical that if I student can hear it befre they play it they are taking a giant step frward. Yu can d the same thing with scales, but fr the yunger player wh wants t explre the altissim register, I think taking tunes that are familiar, playing them dwn the ctave and then in the altissim register wrks pretty effectively. I wanted t ask a few questins abut yur latest CD, Tipping Pint. First, yu view yur recrding prjects as attempts t keep yurself hnest musically, as well as a way t dcument the cm psitins yu perfrm. Can yu explain fr the readers what yu mean by keeping yurself hnest musically? Keeping myself hnest musically actually has several mean ings fr me. If yu ask me t define myself prfessinally, I wuld say I am a classical saxphnist. Hwever, the reality is I'm extensively invlved in bth music educatin and saxphne perfrmance, and as a result have many respnsibilities and interests. On ne level, keep yurself hnest, means remembering wh I am and always trying t push myself. In additin, fr me January/February 2011
it means nt being the same player I was five, r ten, r 20 years ag - always striving t becme a better musician and perfrmer. As yu use the recrdings fr yurself, as well as fr thers, d yu als recmmend that yur students recrd their wn practice sessins? Yes, f curse. I believe ne f the challenges fr yung musicians is becming aware f hw what is being played sunds differently frm behind the instrument versus what smene hears in frnt f them. I encurage all frms f technlgy. With the advancement f technlgy and cmputer prgrams we have a lt available t us. On the recrding yu perfrm in du with flute n Paul Hayden's Janus. When playing in du with a flute, were there challenges yu didn't anticipate as rehearsals began? Fr example, did yu haue t mdify yur apprach t dynamics? Abslutely, but I think this is true with every instrument. When we rehearsed it was nice t be in a traditinal setting (flutist) with Reuben (Cuncil!) next me. In this setup we culd hear each ther very clearly. Of curse, s much is dependent n the hall and the perfrmance space. In the recrding itself, hwever, we had sme unique challenges, especially in the first mvement. Reuben was stage center and I was 5 feet away. This was nt because f an inability t play sft, as much as it was the micrphnes and the recrding space. In Reuben's case he has such presence in his sund that it's nt as hard as it seems when yu're perfrming with him live. We bth have excellent cntrl ver ur dynamic ranges and have perfrmed live a number f times. The interplay between the tw fyu is fantastic. Thank yu. I lve finding thse instrumental situatins that dn't seem typical r nrmal. Fr example, this past week I perfrmed a piece fr saxphne, vila and pian (Bruce Trinkley's Summer Dances). Peple wuld nt typically see this cmbinatin wrking, just as mst peple wuld nt envisin flute and saxphne tgether, but it really wrks. When perfrming Sunny Burnette's The Yellw Saxphne & Other Clrs, yu perfrm brilliantly in a style that isjazz influenced, but nt really ttally jazz. When yu're wrking with students n music like this, hw d yu keep them frm ueremphasizing either the classical r jazz elements in rder t create a balanced perfrmance? I like t think, especially with jazz, it is all abut the style. I've been frtunate t have excellent teachers wh instilled in me a lve and passin fr jazz. Beynd imprvisatin, jazz is a style and must be apprached n differently than the flautists wh must perfrm in Barque style. In the situatin f The Yellw Saxphne & Other Clrs, every mvement was s different that all I had t d was fllw the intentin f the cmpser. In this particular piece my rle was fr the majrity f time t supprt what the vcalist was ding. Nw there is a case where my jb was made very easy. It wrks bth ways, when I asked Sam Riuers what it was like t play with Tny Williams, he said, "Yu shuld ask him what it's like t play with me." That's great and s true. I've been very frtunate t have superb musicians t wrk with, and n this recrding in each and every case they enhanced my musicianship. I hpe they feel (") (") L{) N <.0 <.0 I~ Ii.. «(J) ::J (!) ; E ~ (!) c:.c 0... I ~ ::J :I: (!) :J 0:: In ~ 0:: U Fast, efficient, wrldwide mail rder specialists. Cmpetitive pricing & great service! Saxphne Jurnal 7
the same abut me. Sue Fancher is a great example f this. I've been s frtunate t d a number f cllabratins with her ver the years. She is such a giving and unpretentius persn... a simply fabulus musician. Every time I've had the pprtunity t cllabrate n a prject with her I cme ut a better musician. (Fancher perfrms tw wrks with Levinsky n Tipping Pint.) I lve the piece Tipping Pint by Jasn Bahr. It is pwerful and extremely gripping. Can yu tell me abut this piece?" Abslutely. Jasn is presently n the faculty at Ohi Wesleyan University. I left Mississippi State in 1999, but he jined the faculty sn-thereafter and wrked with my frmer clleague and du partner Jackie Edwards-Henry (Henry is the pianist n the recrding.) Several years ag, Jackie and I decided after Hurricane Katrina, we wanted t d smething t help thse affected by the hurricane. She arranged a series f recitals and master "The Su nd" as requested by yu. Ott Link Vintage fr tenr sax. classes thrughut Mississippi with all the benefits ging t Katrina survivrs. Jasn was in attendance at ur first recital in Starkville. After the recital, he said he had never written fr the saxphne befre, but he wanted t write a piece fr us. Tippin.g Pint is his first saxphne cmpsitin. I think he gt it! In additin t writing sme beautiful music fr the saxphne and pian, I think he als captured the technical and musical techniques that I d well, and at the same time he really challenged me. I was very thankful fr him cmpsing this wrk and it's a wnderful additin t the saxphne repertire. One fthe areas clleges dn't teach, even in music educatin prgrams, is hw t teach a private lessn. Mst peple just learn thrugh trial and errr. Yu've develped and designed a curse in Instrumental Pedaggy t help teach this aspect fmusic teaching. As with all cllege curses I'm sure it's rather in.vlved, but I was wndering hw yu came t develp, r were influenced, t design and teach this curse? Yu ask a very gd questin and yu are right t a certain degree. Mst peple d learn by trail and errr. Hwever, I think in ne-n-ne teaching it is ptentiallya gd thing. What I mean by this is that there truly isn't just ne answer all the time, and the challenge is being pen and creative enugh t cme up with many slutins t the same prblem. Overall, I believe three things influenced me in designing this curse. I spke abut my experience as an undergraduate and my teaching in Dallas early in my career. But, in additin I had a wnderful curse during my graduate schl years entitled Perfrmance, Practice, and Criticism. It was basically a master class situatin with a different NU applied faculty member leading the class each week, critiquing perfrmers, etc. I try t bring that experience t the Instrumental Pedaggy curse, but applying it t studi teaching. Observing hw teachers address the same issues, i.e. embuchure, breathing, tnguing/dictin, and s frth is really educatinal. I think this is the student's favrite part f the curse, bserving hw thers teach. Anther cmpnent is fr the cllege students t teach children thrugh ur Preparatry prgram. After each lessn, which is videtaped, the students cmplete reflective jurnals and prepare fr the next lessn. The final cmpnent is learning abut the management f running a studi. Many students want this experience upn graduatin. I hpe the curse helps. www.jjbabbittcm MOUTHPIECES FOR CLARINETS AND SAXOPHONES Yu, like many, have a different instrumental setup when playing jazz as ppsed t playing classical. What advice d yu have fr students t help them find a setup that wrks, bth fr classical and fr jazz? With regard t a classical setup I think there is nt a prfessinal ut there 8 January/February 2011
that hasn't experimented with different muthpieces, ligatures, r reeds. Fr me, at the end f the day it is abut a medium pen muthpiece and medium strength reed. The Selmer C* and Vandren AL3 (alt) muthpieces wrk really well. Fr yunger players, just having a quality reed can make all the difference. With regard t jazz and specifically ensemble playing I tell my students t trust their ear and knw what their rle is in the grup, ie. lead vs. bari. Like I mentined earlier, I believe when it cmes t jazz it's abut style. Lk fr the sund that fits within the sectin. Fr yur students wh are jazz leaning, d yu recmmend they learn t play the s-called dubling instruments like {lute and clarinet? Specific t my students, well, this is very situatinal. It is nt s much abut jazz leaning that they wish t learn the ther wdwinds, but rather because f their need t mdel instruments as music educatin majrs. But, in general we make the mistake fnt settling n ne instrument befre they're pushing t learn anther, especially with regard t the saxphne. The lessn t be learned is that an embuchure fr ne wdwind instrument is nt the same as n any f the ther fur. Be careful and seek ut prper instructin. As simple as it sunds, if a student wrks n their dubles, knw what instrument yu are playing and d the things t play that instrument crrectly. The switch frm saxphne t clarinet is nt s bad if yu can use the traditinal saxphne embuchure and apply it t clarinet. Clarinetists identify this as the "sft cushin" embuchure. I've always thught ne fthe wrst things that culd have ever happened t the saxphne was hw early band writers didn't knw what t d with the instrument s they had it duble French hrn parts. Ifcmpsers, when the instrument was first intrduced, had taken a little time t cme t understand the instrument a lt fthe false assciatins the instrument has wuld have been avided. Yes, and then when cupled with sme f the hrrible instruments used at that time, like the mellphne r the E-flat hrn. These prbably weren't the best parts written. Luckily there were als many cmpsers wh did learn the capabilities f the saxphne and we have sme wnderful wrks in the early wind repertire. It's als in cllege where many students get their first experiences playing in a recital situatin. What advice d yu have fr yur students as they begin t play fr the first time in a recital situatin? I hpe, if yu wuld ask my students that they wuld say that I'm cnsistent in this regard. The answer is t d yur hmewrk, prepare yurself well, and d the things that yu have cntrl ver. Learn yur part musically and technically, learn the scre, learn abut the cmpser, and put yurself in frnt f an audience prir t the actual reci tal. At the end f the day, after yu've dne all that yu can d in preparatin, then yu need t relax, have fun, and make music. Yu've mentined yu have ther teaching respnsibilities besides saxphne studi, but when a student enters yur studi, d yu have a set fgals yu want t have the student accmplish? Fr my situatin bth at Mississippi State,and at Susquehanna, I have been frtunate t have very gd yung musicians. It's ften the case they cme t schl with very different backgrunds, in that sme may never have had a lessn befre. My first gal, right ff the bat is t develpment f their sund. Then it's abut their musicianship and technical flexibility. The simple answer t yur questin is fr them t becme their wn teacher, t understand and incrprate the skills they experience in the studi and be able t wrk independently in the practice rm and beynd. I knw yu went with a grup fstudents t France in rder t study, fr want fa better way t say, the French methd in a firsthand and direct methd. Nw here a few years after the experience, in retrspect, is there ne main aspect fthe French style that still stands ut mst in yur mind yu gleaned frm the experience? Jnathan Heltn (University f Flrida) rganized this trip and did a fabulus jb in allwing students t experience many aspects f French teaching. We had the pprtunity t bserve bth Claude Delangle and Jean-Mitchell Gury. Selecting just ne element is difficult, but I think I wuld have t say the teaching fyung children in particularly with ear training and slfeggi is quite impressive. Yu've given a lt fclinics. When yu g ut and d these, at cnferences, clleges and high schls, is there an verriding principal yu like t make sure yu emphasize? Frm a technical standpint I emphasize the fundamentals beginning with breathing. When I am wrking n interpretatin and s frth, I wuld say that I fcus n what is being cmmunicated t the listener. Yunger players tend t underplay what they see n the page. I try t get them t d mre and take a few chances. What prjects are yu currently wrking n? I have tw prjects that I am mst excited abut. The first is the cmpletin f perfrmers guide f wrks written fr saxphne and rgan. My clleague, Marcs Krieger and I have researched and cmpiled apprximately fifty cmpsitins f this cmbinatin. The anthlgy will prvide specific perfrmance requirements, such as the instrument needs fr the rganist. In additin, we are including prgram ntes and discussing the technical demands f each piece. We hpe this will be released later this year. The secnd prject, which I am mst pleased abut, is a new cncert being written by cmpser Andrea Clearfield. I am cnfident that this will be a terrific additin t the saxphne repertire. What advice d yu have fr high schl saxphnists? Listening t music is paramunt. Listen nt nly t saxphnists, but als t strings, vcalists, and pianists. They are the best breathers and yu learn s much abut phrasing. Learn yur scales. This is the vehicle t achieve technical flexibility n the instrument. Play music-all styles and all genres. And, finally play n mre than ne reed and please take it ff the muthpiece when finished playing. GAIL LEVINSKY'S SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY Gail Levinsky, Tipping Pint (2009) Gail Levinsky, Saxphne & Other Vices (2002) Paul Br, Music f M. William Karlins, Nstalgie fr 12 Saxphnes, (2000) Michael Kallstrm, Electrnic Music Anthlgy, Arund the Clck fr Alt Saxphne & Electrnic Tape (1999) Visin Saxphne Quartet, Cnicality (1997) Saxphne Jurnal 9