On Teaching

"My teacher/mentor Leon Fleisher represents a profound influence in my life as a musician. While passing on the traditions, I dedicate all my teaching efforts to him." E.H.: Dr. Elisi, you have an intense calendar of performances! How do you balance your role as a performer while engaging the profession of a full-time teacher? E.E.: Well, first of all one must work very hard and be well organized. I am sure J.S. Bach did that, as he himself said. So, I'd say, let's learn, humbly, from the very best. We are all busy, aren't we? But often, our minds are cluttered with information. Sviatoslav Richter used to say that he could not understand why people spent time dealing with unnecessary things. Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli confirmed that idea when he claimed that "in order to be a musician one must eliminate all that is unnecessary."  These amazing pianists and human being were just so right! We all have tasks we must accomplish, worries to be dealt with, meetings, performances, public relations, and the like. When a student walks into my studio, I turn that off and give that person my full attention. Yet, I think of my students even when I walk out of my studio at Penn State. Often I call them from the road, or I am in touch by email. Sometimes, I do not teach by the clock. This means that if, on occasion, I feel that I need to see a particular student twice a week, I will do that. For example, if a student is about to grasp a technical spot, or the color of a musical phrase, but the lesson time is over, I may continue to teach for as long as it is needed.  E.H.: In other words, you do not confine teaching to a fifty-minute lesson? E.E.: It is a fatal error to put teaching or performing in a box. All universities adopt a fifty-minute class time. But individual lessons are just so different from classes! If a student is very prepared for the lesson, and she presents the first movement of a Brahms concerto, how can I manage to teach that in fifty minutes? Yes, it would be possible, I suppose, and, on occasion, I do that too, but I find the experience limited. I just believe that each lesson is a unique moment and sometimes it can (and it should) take unpredictable turns. In a way, at times, that's what's so magic about it! Carpe diem - seize the day - said Horace in the Odes, and if we should not limit our imagination in performance, why should teaching be any different in this respect? E.H.: Do you try to impose musical ideas on your students, given your maturity and experience? E.E.: I believe in focusing on individual needs, and involving students in the process of their personal learning experience. I recognize individual differences, and even celebrate them. All students have strengths, and the goal of education is to assist people in identifying and building upon these. The most meaningful learning, obviously, takes place when students are motivated and interested. It is my belief that the way to achieve this is by giving students a voice in the learning process, and by encourage them in finding connections between the meaning of a given work and its relationship to some aspects of their own lives. As a result, students feel empowered and build their self-esteem and problem solving skills in unique and unpredictable ways. Sure, a good part of the learning process happens, initially, by imitation. However, imitation of a teacher's ideas does not touch the student in a deep way; the pupil only captures the surface of that idea, actually. As time goes by, though, students remember their teacher's suggestions only in strange, unique, ways. These are, in fact, processes that happen in the deep world of their subconscious minds. Only time can bring about these special connection emerging from our subconscious. That's what so special about teaching: it is often about what happens after one has left the studio, as a result of what one has learned, that has the potential for developing quantum changes in the (former) student's music-making. Obviously, it is hard to put teaching in a box and confer a M.M. in two years, when a student may be in need of an additional year to better consolidate the undergoing process. A B.M. and a D.M.A., I suppose, offer a different length of time for the learning experience, therefore they are generally the most successful ones when it comes to learning. But students are all different, and some can even show strong changes within one year. That is why, at Penn State, we have developed a Professional Performance Certificate, on top of the vbery many degrees we already have. -- Efrat Halperin, interview with Enrico Elisi, October 2008