Steven Morgan: Legend of Musical Mysticism
Once again, Skin in the Game is described as taking some kind of risk; in Stevens' case in service of the art, the music, the listener, the singers, and himself. In service of the third entity; the actual entity that sits with a life, between all these individual entities. And being vulnerable in the name of authenticity and in the name of creating the very best experience of the music for all the players.
Being a conductor and a composer is a special niche of humanity, yet it relates to any of us who are trying to bring things together in the service of beauty, art and muse.
You will also hear the peculiar habits of non-Japanese in Japan who pepper their language with Japanese words without a second thought and also how we tend to mix and match, forgetting our English words from time to time!
We talk about the Muses, the Greek Chorus and the concepts of time Kronos and Kyros, Kronos being the currently culturally popular time of linear time; the time of clocks and calendars; it can be quantified and measured. Kronos is linear, moving inexorably out of the determinate past towards the determined future and has no freedom. Kyros is numinous. Kyros is a time of festivals and fantasies; it cannot be controlled or possessed. Numinous means "arousing spiritual or religious emotion; mysterious or awe-inspiring"; also "supernatural" or "appealing to the aesthetic sensibility”. We muse on how the art emerges from these numinous timelines and the conditions one can create in order to nudge the muse or to find one’s way into creation. Steven tells the story of how after 7 months of being unable to finish a score, from the outdoor bath of the local onsen, a visitation had him scurry home to complete his work of art. I wonder how I or we can create these conditions for creativity to enter, or for the muse to deliver the next piece of our art.
Steven describes himself as ‘the Young Sheldon’ of music, compelled to challenge authority figures if he thought that there were teaching inaccuracies.
Steven also talks about Darma - something he studied with a Swami who coincidentally lives ten minutes from me in Zushi (I’ll chalk this up to the Ordinary Magic). This is not a popular or well-known neighborhood at all.
Back in the world of Kronos Time, Steven has done many many tens of thousands of hours of musical devotion, starting at music school, where he sang at least 7 times a week and where the academic tutors were told to never give more than 30 minutes homework to these choral students, lest their practice be interrupted. While Steven described this as ‘enlightened’ he also acknowledged there may be downsides and it put me in mind of neurodivergent folk getting accommodations in school or in work. Enlightened - bending time and rules in service of the output.
One way to lead a life is through scarcity - through the expectations of others, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but could be vexing to the Spirit. Another way to lead a life is to follow your heart, but the intuitive promotions of the heart and the other ways to lead a life is to listen to everyone else
I know that I get really creative every time I get on the train to Tokyo, sometimes even almost missing my stop as my creative mind works in Kyros, but those pesky trains run on Kronos! Rest, Water, and Transition. Creating conditions for emergence of art. Travel could be typified as the in-between time. Neither here nor there; betwixt and between. A liminal space affording the muses a channel by which to enter our consensus reality.
We talk about the technical elements of music and in addition to the physics of vibrations, the mystical, soulful, impact that these have on our sacred selves. Jonathan Goldman does a lot of work around tones and healing through tuning forks and frequencies. I am very careful with the word healing but am reporting Steven’s commentary on his research into a rainforest Shaman and how he observed that through musical vibrations that were delivered via ancestors a shared sense of their expectations perhaps a placebo effect that helped facilitate the collective healing of the patient and the family. Rhythmic drumming and chanting at certain frequencies. He looks at it from the musical and mystical elements. One thing I can take away is that music is part of us, an ancestral and indigenous part of our human experience.
Finally he describes this examining ritual events through two interpretations of the same thing as enlivening.
Enliven
This episode is a wonderful compassion piece to the previous episode with the magical Kwan Chan, Legend of Essence and dancer and singer song-writer.
We get into:
Musical science and the techniques of composers; we inquire into diversity within composer’s ways of scoring Beethoven’s were like a - dog’s breakfast, he walked around with small musical notebooks to scribe and scores, yet Mozart’s notebooks came out fully formed and neat
Steven’s commitment to writing sacred secular music, using seasons and poets to create his movements
Where creative downloads come from - how can we create the conditions and the three Bs - Bed, Bath and Bus!
The Greek muses - allowing the mystery of the muse to enter, but not examining it too much, lest the magic be lost. Myth and legend unfolds
We talk about universal timelines and the concepts of Kronos and Kyros, and muse on how creativity emerges from, on its own timeline
Steven was very fortunate to be born into the family he was and his parents encouraged him to follow his dreams
This allowed him to follow abundance-based living when you throw yourself on the mercy of the divine
Steven will be raising his sails to learning the French Horn after his upcoming retirement
At Steven’s Mum’s 100th her sage advice for everyone was game-changing. - listen to find out what 100 years of life taught her and how the party attendees fell silent as she delivered her message
Having two interpretations of the same thing is enlivening
The winds of Grace are blowing but you have to raise your sails
Help people to trust.
If there’s even a small thing you wish you’d done along the way, find a way to do it.
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About Dr Steven Morgan
As a career educator with nearly 50 years of experience, Steven Morgan has taught music and English as a second language in diverse settings. His journey has taken him from the heartlands of Illinois and Michigan to the multicultural landscapes of Minnesota, British Columbia, and Japan. He has enjoyed working with students aged 5 to 85, from kindergarten through graduate school. In each of these contexts, his guiding principle has remained constant: he does not teach English, music, or anything else—he teaches people. This philosophy is also the cornerstone of his additional role as a certified HeartMath® mentor. He is also a practitioner of Garden of the Heart Therapy and Psychic Reiki.
His professional activities also extend to a lifelong romance with musical performance as a conductor, composer, singer, and pianist. For the past 25 years, he has led the Tokyo Embassy Choir, an international ensemble of dedicated amateur musicians. He also serves as the conductor of the Chiba International Singers, a group committed to singing a wide variety of pop, jazz, folk, and other genres of music. Through these roles, he has shared his passion for music while contributing to the betterment of their communities.
Links
https://www.healingsounds.com/
ANATOMY-OF-A-TEAR-JERKER.pdf
Cecilia Bartoli Cecilia Bartoli The Greatest Coloratura Mezzo Soprano (Soprano for some) of all times
Dubra Duo Seraphim Dubra: Duo Seraphim
Connect with Steven
https://www.embassy-choir.org/en/
Ai ga subete / 愛がすべて, conducted by Steven Morgan
Concertino for Clarinet and Strings, conducted by Steven Morgan
Connect with Sarah
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