{"id":3129,"date":"2023-04-30T10:45:33","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T10:45:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/?p=3129"},"modified":"2024-01-18T10:47:48","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T10:47:48","slug":"ivan-siller-interviews-with-musicians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/aktuality\/ivan-siller-interviews-with-musicians\/","title":{"rendered":"Ivan \u0160iller &#8211; interviews with musicians"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"Ivan \u0160iller - rozhovory s hudobn\u00edkmi, ISCM - Slovensk\u00e1 sekcia\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eKxpOhVy09o?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Tom\u00e1\u0161 Boro\u0161: \u201eIvan \u0160iller \u2013 pianist, organizer of music and its presentation, head of <em>Enseble Ricercata <\/em>and everything else, we will get to that during the interview. I would start with the piano. Pianists also tend to be characterised by the periods in which they specialise, and by many you may be categorised \u2013 because we in Slovakia like boxes \u2013 as a pianist of contemporary music, which is true, because you have made great achievements in this field. However, when I think of <em>Ensemble Ricercata<\/em>\u2019s dramaturgy and concert series, you have also interpreted Schumann, Brahms, and more recently Johann Sebastian Bach\u2019s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra in d minor, and perhaps younger \u2013 but still classics \u2013 Ravel, Milhaud, Jan\u00e1\u010dek, \u2026 So how is it with you? How would you complete the characterization \u2013 Ivan \u0160iller is a pianist who focuses on\u2026?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ivan \u0160iller: \u201cOn good music \u2013 for me, on good and interesting music, and in every period of my life it\u2019s a little bit different. There\u2019s that unifying element of 20<sup>th<\/sup>-21<sup>st<\/sup> century music, but for the last four or five years I like to create bridges between early and contemporary music, and that\u2019s the mentioned Johann Sebastian Bach\u2019s concerto, which we\u2019ve bridged nicely with pieces by Peter Zagar and Daniel Matej. The dramaturgy was very much appreciated by the audience, because we started with J. S. Bach, then there were two songs for female choir, cello and piano by P. Zagar and we ended with a concertante piece by D. Matej for string orchestra, cello and prepared piano. I enjoy these overlaps and the search for a theme in a concerto, no matter what the music \u2013 historically \u2013 is.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cYou used the term dramaturgy \u2013 I think that\u2019s a very important concept in your musical profile, because you, as a pianist, tell a story with your instrument or with the music that you perform, but always also with dramaturgy. You know very cleverly how to place a piece or even determine which one you will study next. How does your thinking about what to go into look like?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cIt\u2019s a continuous process. I have notes in my computer that I systematically return to. I mark the year when a particular song or a particular programme came to my mind. The ones that come back systematically then take a precedence over ideas that come up only occasionally. I really look at these dramaturgies two or three times a month and think about what\u2019s going to be in the next concert.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cSo, do you have a list of potential songs you\u2019d like to get into and one day they\u2019ll come up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cYes, I have two lists \u2013 one with specific songs and one with specific dramaturgies, which I then change or vary, but they are two lists side by side.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cThat\u2019s dramaturgy \u2013 you think about what to do, how to put together a concert and you start studying the compositions. Then, once you\u2019ve studied them, it\u2019s a question of how to present them to other people, and that\u2019s actually the way of concerts or CDs. I would say it\u2019s quite a management challenge at the same time. We often have this idea that managerial thinking and skills sort of go against artistic thinking and you can combine that very well. In that way, are you somehow split between manager and artist or is it a naturally unified thing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cFor me it\u2019s a naturally unified business. From the beginning, when I decided to study music, I enjoyed inventing and organizing projects. It\u2019s true that it\u2019s a very demanding activity \u2013 to organize a concert, to get money, to do good PR, but I\u2019m very happy that for the last 10 years I have a good team of people, whether in the ISCM or InMusic organization, who know how to do these things very well and enjoy it. I don\u2019t think one is able to do it or manage it alone. I wouldn\u2019t even enjoy doing it myself. There are always people who believe in the recordings, the concerts and the music and help me organize, fundraise and generally take care of the whole management. Now I reach Chopin\u2019s comments on his Preludes \u2013 like Chopin or Johann Sebastian Bach they had to take care of their music, so we can say they were active organizers. Chopin also thought about, for example, to whom he would dedicate what piece of music and, of course, against that background, who would buy it from him. Similarly, Stravinsky is a very good example. I think that\u2019s always been a natural part of big-name composers as well \u2013 they had to look after themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cSpeaking of managing your concerts or your management skills, I think they are very well developed in non-musical contexts \u2013 for example, you have a dream in the field of education to innovate something, to bring something and change something. Maybe before we get into that, on those management skills \u2013 they sometimes have a bit of an unflattering connotation, that only \u201csmart\u201d people can manage something, but in your life you\u2019ve, I think, completely purged that notion. It\u2019s a very broad concept, and it\u2019s important not just for art, but for our lives. \u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cI perceive management as the ability of a leader or manager to asses the strengths of his team members very well \u2013 everyone knows what to do and when to do it. This creates a culture of an environment where people work well together. That\u2019s how I see management, that\u2019s what I strive for and that\u2019s when I enjoy it \u2013 when I see that the people around me are happy and enjoying themselves. It means that it\u2019s the result of certain processes \u2013 that I know what to do, when to do it, and at wat cost \u2013 and that we are united by a common idea, a common project. In this case it\u2019s music-making, or making music.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cThe result of your artistic-managerial thinking is also your dream of a teacher\u2019s college. What did you think of \u2013 what was missing or what provoked you to do it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cI was provoked to do this by a personal experience we had together at the Faculty of Education, where we taught together for seven years. It is a positive motivation to try it in a different way. We know from our own experience and from the data we have available that students want to be teachers and that it\u2019s not entirely true that most people go to the Faculty of Education because it\u2019s an easy school or that they don\u2019t want to teach. No, most of them want to teach but they lose that interest in teaching in the second or third year because the curriculum is of poor quality, it is out of date. They have little teaching experience and few accompanying teachers \u2013 people to show them how to teach, what is the right methodology to choose for the subject. That\u2019s why in 2018, when we left the Faculty of Education, we decided that we would try to start our own school or our own faculty that would respond to the current need of teachers.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cAs I introduced you with those adjectives like pianist, organizer, manager, I should add innovator. You have also received such an award \u2013 social innovator, but I would say that this is also true in music and in artistic fields. Do you agree that we can add the adjective innovator to your name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cI was very pleased to find myself on the Pontis Foundation\u2019s map of social innovators, but not because of the award itself but because of how many people from different areas I met there It is my conviction that there are a lot of very capable people in Slovakia from fields that I didn\u2019t even know existed \u2013 for example, science, computers, medicine and, of course, social work and so on. There is such enormous potential in our country, but what we suffer from is a lack of management or a lack of culture. We need to change that environment \u2013 to set a culture of functioning, particularly in government organisations and in universities, which are the things I am in. If we can change that, I think we can be very positively surprised at the kind of capable people we have. For me, the meeting meant a lot precisely because I met a lot of active people who mean well in their field \u2013 who are trying, who are working. I feel comfortable in that kind of environment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cWhy a teachers\u2019 college in connection with a pianist? It has to be said that an important part of your thinking, feeling and personality is the pedagogical dimension. You\u2019ve taught \u2013 from young children to college students \u2013 and even though you don\u2019t teach directly now, you still pay attention to that dimension. For example, you do workshops for teachers or open classes, you work with students and so on. As we\u2019ve gone through various topics \u2013 piano, dramaturgy, teacher\u2019s college \u2013 pedagogy is also an important value in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cDefinitely. I myself had excellent teachers, I was lucky, and that is my main motivation why we would like to establish a teachers\u2019 college. Teachers are a key element in our country and the fate of our children and young people really depends on their work. I am currently working in an organisation called Superar which, apart from pursuing quality music education in schools, tries to build bridges between children from minority and majority backgrounds. We are in Bratislava, but we also have teachers in Lozorno, Ve\u013ek\u00fd Krt\u00ed\u0161 and Detva, where there is a Roma minority and it is strongly represented in primary schools. I can see first-hand \u2013 when music education is taught well \u2013 what miracles happen in the classrooms and what relationships the children build with each other because they have to work together. They make music together \u2013 whether they are singing in a choir or playing musical instruments. That\u2019s a strong motivation for me to pursue pedagogy. Another element we are working on at Superar is the development of new music methodologies \u2013 with Tom\u00e1\u0161 Boro\u0161. I don\u2019t\u2019 know if you\u2019ve ever heard of him. I\u2019m very happy that we can work together just in Superar to develop new music methodologies, whether for teachers or for children. It\u2019s an organisation where I feel very comfortable and where the teacher and manager in me are just coming together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cLet me ask you about your direct experience as a music teacher and pianist \u2013 maybe we\u2019ll get to a more general topic \u2013 what is important to you when studying music? Let\u2019s put it this way \u2013 not in the study of piano, because that\u2019s a means of music, but in general \u2013 what is and what has always been important for you in your teaching to pass on to another person?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cI would answer in the words of the conductor Celibidache \u2013 who, when he was rehearsing, said to the orchestra: \u201cYou all know very well that I rehearse a lot\u2026\u201d He was known to have ten rehearsals for one concert. \u201c\u2026it\u2019s not that I like to rehearse a lot, it\u2019s that I don\u2019t like it when musicians play what\u2019s not in the notes.\u201d When you asked about that studying, it\u2019s the sheet music that is the key information for me. I try to understand the composer\u2019s intent directly through the sheet music. I put quite a lot of emphasis on the rhythmic aspect of the compositions. I like to practice with a metronome because I find the rhythm very important, but of course not only the rhythm, but all the information that comes from the notes. But the other information, which often changes, is the acoustic environment in which the music takes place \u2013 whether it\u2019s a concert hall, a church or a classroom in an elementary art school. All the parameters have to be adapted to that acoustic environment, so that\u2019s the second challenge that I face very often as a performer and I have to be able to adapt very quickly. It\u2019s such an adventurous journey.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cIt\u2019s when you\u2019re a pedagogue to yourself. And when you are trying to convey that to another person, do you then remain with those statements that these are the important things?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cWhat about maybe some universal message that you adhered to in your contact with the person you were teaching, for example, piano. What\u2019s important to convey to him?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cI have always tried, when I was teaching either children or students at college, to interest them in the music I like. I feel that as a pedagogue I can only be able to convey information to the student in the music that I am passionate about. Of course, as a pedagogue I have to be able to say something about music, but I wanted to get them excited \u2013 that was my first attitude. \u201cLook \u2013 music is a great thing \u2013 let\u2019s listen to it together, let\u2019s ply it together, let\u2019s create it together.\u201d When I was 17 and the moment of realization came that I wanted to be a pianist, it was just because I was fascinated by music. I was fascinated by how varied it is, how we can understand something about ourselves and this world through the sounds we hear. It is through pedagogy, whether piano or workshops, that I try to pass on this enthusiasm to other people. Music is a very important element, and to be able to listen to it actively, to try to understand it, and with someone to create it actively \u2013 to play an instrument or improvise \u2013 I think that\u2019s an important value. I\u2019ve learned something about myself just by being involved in music, and I think both an adult and a child can do that to some extent.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cI will just add that Ivan \u0160iller knows what he is talking about, because he is an associate professor \u2013 that is a pedagogical title. We can laugh about it, but I think it also belongs to your profile that you recently got an associate professorship. In addition to saying congratulations, let me ask you maybe about the process or the value of that title for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cThank you. I appreciate the title because it was awarded by an independent commission \u2013 I only knew one or two people by sight. I got it at the Jan\u00e1\u010dek Academy of Musical Arts in Brno. In my habilitation lecture I tried to justify what is the contribution of contemporary music \u2013 that is, specifically the music of John Cage and Charles Ives in music pedagogy \u2013 what makes it interesting and what makes it useful. It is the music of John Cage, which requires cooperation with a performer and where the performer becomes a composer \u2013 that is the first important thing, and the second is that it motivates the performer to read a non-traditional mode of notation &#8211; that is the music that allows the teacher and the pupil to become partners. That music is not exactly notated \u2013 rather, there are certain instructions on how the performer should grasp it. This makes this particular literature exceptional in the historical richness of the world\u2019s piano literature. Of course, this is also true to some extent of Beethoven or Mozart, but those people who have encountered John Cage\u2019s music, or his notation, know that this notation is quite a bit different and more open-ended. So, it allows for a greater dialogue and partnership of inquiry, and I think that\u2019s an important element in pedagogy, because pedagogy suffers a little bit from frontal teaching. That is, I go to somebody to study with the expectation that they\u2019re going to tell me how it is or how to play it \u2013 that they\u2019re the person who knows. That has its place in pedagogy, of course, but I see in my own children today, as well as having been in pedagogy for over 20 years, that the nice time that we have now is just finding that partnership between the student and the teacher. That\u2019s what I also enjoy when I do workshops for children, when we improvise with them. We also talk to pedagogues about being partners and looking together. That\u2019s why I enjoy pedagogy \u2013 it\u2019s a collaborative search, whether it\u2019s with the kids, the students or the pedagogues, of how it could be, and what could be the solution to a given musical situation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>T. B.: \u201cThank you for the interesting story. I was going to ask you for a strong message at the end, but I think this final statement about pedagogy, the teacher-student relationship, freedom and opening up new possibilities was very powerful. We really don\u2019t need to be afraid of music \u2013 music may not be an easy thing but it is also very beautiful and interesting. Maybe that is the message?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I. \u0160.: \u201cYes, definitely. Being active in music, whether as a listener, performer or reading about music, is a value that cannot be replaced by any other value.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tom\u00e1\u0161 Boro\u0161: \u201eIvan \u0160iller \u2013 pianist, organizer of music and its presentation, head of Enseble Ricercata and everything else, we will get to that during the interview. I would start with the piano. Pianists also tend to be characterised by the periods in which they specialise, and by many you may be categorised \u2013 because&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3126,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,33],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3130,"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3129\/revisions\/3130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iscm-slovakia.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}