Blog 8

Earlier in the school year, I stumbled upon a set of lectures given by Leonard Bernstein titled "The Unanswered Question Series." These lectures examined, in a deep, thoughtful manner, the intricacies within classical music. Specifically, Leonard Bernstein discussed topics such as musical syntax, phonology, semantics, ambiguity, and even the philosophical implications of tonality. These lectures furthered my interest in exploring classical music and provoked me to try and understand it in a more profound manner. That was my inspiration for creating a lecture similar to his.

Even though the lecture was heavily inspired by Leonard Bernstein, the topics I discuss within it are completely original and came from my own experiences with classical music in the past. I decided to focus the video around the question of "What is sincere music?" since this is something that has been bothering me during any time I learn or perform a piece of music. I always have to question myself about how exactly I will make the piece feel as sincere as possible and create a captivating interpretation for the audience to experience. 

While completing and progressing on the project, I learned something new about myself as a musician each and every day. Though there were many things I learned, I believe the biggest, most notable one, was that I would only be scraping at the surface level of this question. Only a couple of days into working on this would I realize that this question contains an incredible scope and range, requesting many possibilities to answer it. 

To any rising juniors or seniors thinking about completing a Hawken Project, I strongly advise to take up the opportunity. Pick a topic that is interesting to you and a topic that you know will guide you well in life with whatever career path you pursue. Don't let anything stop your progress, whatever that may be, and know it will not be the easiest journey, but it surely will be one that is strongly beneficial to your character.

I am incredibly happy with how my project turned out (can be found on YouTube: "What is Sincere Music?" - Myles Temesi). There is not really anything that I would change about how the process went or what the final product looks like. I am incredibly thankful for my mentor, who I already reached out to thank, and Leonard Bernstein for his profound musical insights that transcended time to inspire the creativity behind this project.