Cooperation with Eastman School of Music

In addition, we also support student exchanges between the institutes with all our possibilities.

Report from a student:

Eastman School of Music, summer 2018

The EMP program at the HfMT Hamburg is versatile and offers space to explore different teaching approaches and learning theories. I was particularly fascinated by Edwin Gordon's Music Learning Theory (MLT), which I got to know through Prof. Süberkrüb during my studies. Prof. Süberkrüb himself studied with Edwin Gordon and maintains a professional exchange on Music Learning Theory across universities.

After a workshop to which she had invited guest lecturer Prof. Christopher Azzara from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, I was electrified. Developing Musicianship through Improvisation was the topic and the name said it all: Prof. Azzara taught complex theories in a practical and humorous way. Our entire class got into making music without restraint. One aha moment followed another.

Finally, Prof. Azzara extended an invitation to the Eastman School of Music and before I knew it, my fellow student Deborah Meiners and I decided to take the trip to New York.
There was only one problem with the venture: studying in the USA is expensive. And so is flying there to study. Fortunately, we were generously supported financially by the HfMT and six months later we were sitting excitedly on the plane.

We received a more than warm welcome at the Eastman School of Music. We were accommodated by chance with students from the school and lived within walking distance of the school.
The course we had signed up for (also entitled Developing Musicianship through Improvisation) took place over two weeks with two hours of lessons per day. The group consisted of six Master's students and us. On the first day, Prof. Azzara gave us each a trestle flute and a stack of paper. This duo would keep us busy for the full two weeks. Boring? Not at all! Since the course was not exclusively for EMP students, but also for prospective middle and high school teachers, as well as instrumental teachers, we focused primarily on MLT-based music and instrumental instruction. Not only did we chew through the theory thoroughly, but we also went through the practice with Prof. Azzara: when we started the course, none of us could play the recorder (properly). But day after day, Prof. Azzara taught us new skills on our instrument. We sang melodies and rhythms, learned to play patterns (musical/rhythmic vocabulary) and American folk songs by ear. We moved to the music, we breathed together, we laughed. We were also given daily homework, both theoretical in the form of text work and on the instrument. In short, we experienced everything on our own bodies that we later wanted to teach our students. This hand-in-hand approach of practice and theory reshaped my understanding of MLT. This deep immersion in practice would never have been possible for us in our day-to-day studies in Germany.

The trip inspired me so much that I decided to focus on MLT in harp lessons for my bachelor's thesis. To this day, I can use the skills I learned at the Eastman School of Music in my lessons - and I don't just mean playing the flute ;-) - and I am still curious to see what MLT has in store for me in the coming years!