Teaching

I believe that all students (music majors and non-majors) need to be introduced to the unique ways of thinking and communicating exhibited by individuals actively and professionally involved in music/artistic production. Perceptual, historical, critical, and other "peri-artistic" activities (including reflection) are important, but should be closely related to, and emerge from encounters with first-hand musical thinking. All students should become aware that a meaningful and insightful musical performance can not exist if the performer does not have the skills to hear him/herself, hear others, locate and communicate ideas to an audience through sound, reflect on musical meaning, or understand issues of style connected to historical and cultural context. This does not occur by magical intuition - an incomplete understanding on any technical level of music will exist if one does not follow an active and regular discipline of creating and re-creating musical sound.

Many of the same skills of organization, clarity, and logic used in effective writing or speaking are necessary for shaping a convincing musical performance or composition. It is important, however, that musical thinking not be lost in the "screens" of spoken/written language and logic. The development of sensitivity and empathy for others (both present and imaginary), and the identification, understanding, creation, and manipulation of a variety of metaphors/symbols through the non-verbal medium of sound, are two of many important experiences gained from developing musical thinking. Additional competencies required of our students for success in today's postindustrial society include creative thinking, problem solving, the ability to work well with others (sensitivity to know when to lead and when to follow), and the ability to work independently. Musical thinking (and training) develops these skills. Musical performers often work in groups, which requires listening, responding and asserting their own "voices" while supporting the voices of fellow musicians. Musical performers also take risks and learn from their mistakes. The "mistakes" (the parts that are not yet well executed) tell the musical performer where the work is, rather than being an indication of failure. Working toward mastery of an art form is a long-term goal and lifelong process; not something that is completed on the day formal instruction ends. A musical performer works for him or herself, as well as against a very high external standard of excellence (a performance of 90% correct notes is not acceptable - 90% on a math test is considered “excellent” work). One's deepest feelings (including fears!) are displayed for public scrutiny. It is not surprising that musical performers feel a level of investment not always found in the classroom - one is compelled to develop self-identification and honest judgment. In summary, the study of music performance: exercises and develops higher order thinking skills including analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and “problem finding”; creates a seamless connection between motivation, instruction, assessment, and practical application - leading to deep understanding; makes it possible to experience processes from beginning to end; merges the learning of process and content; provides immediate feedback and opportunities for reflection; provides opportunities for self-expression, bringing the inner world into the outer world of concrete reality; integrates mind, body and spirit; and, cuts across racial, cultural, social, educational, and economic barriers and enhances cultural appreciation and awareness.

One of my goals in teaching music is to meld the academic (formal) with the performance (figural) side of music....to connect music to other disciplines.....to introduce students to musical thinking in the most direct and engaging way possible.

My general methods and goals as a teacher have evolved over many years:

•  attempt to present myself as a model and example of an active, thinking, and imaginative musician [including class demonstrations, public recitals, bringing guest artists to campus, etc.] who informs music-making through a deep understanding of music theory, music history, and many other disciplines with significant connections to music. My intention is to not only share my research interests with students, but to involve them in as many different stages of the process as possible

•  tie course content to performances (including those of student and faculty) at UMBC, in order to make clearer the connections between the classroom academic study of music, and its life in the concert hall

•  encourage students to develop greater communication skills. This includes an emphasis on oral presentations (formal and informal) in academic music courses, but also communication through sound (public music performance and creation) - a separate area of human intelligence, unique to music (according to psychologist Howard Gardner), that is independent from the screens of language and logic. Music performance requires more than thorough study and preparation, accomplished through listening, physical, and analytic skills (developed through strict discipline!), and an understanding of the cultural and musical context of a particular work - it also demands speculation, curiosity, creativity, initiative, and imagination, which I humbly attempt to help my students discover and develop in themselves.

Val Tidone Summer Music Camp (Pianello, Italy) -

The “I.M.C. Project” (International Master Classes Project) is an innovative program of summer Master Classes and Master Courses whose aim is to organize international cultural exchanges. Lessons and classes take place in a campus located in some beautiful castles of the Val Tidone (located in Northern Italy, south of Milan, in the hills between Piacenza and Parma), not unlike US summer music camps.

Faculty for 2004 were drawn from:

Hochschule fur Musik und Darstellende Kunst, Mannheim - Germany; Staatlike Hochschule fur Musik Trossingen - Germany; Conservatoire National de Region Versailles - France; University of Maryland, Baltimore County - USA; University of New Mexico - USA; Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Giuseppe Niccolini" di Piacenza - Italy; Conservatorio Statale di Musica "Vincenzo Bellini" di Palermo - Italy

Students study and perform woodwind chamber music, and chamber music with strings and piano. Drs. Richards and Tanosaki are faculty artists in residence.

Application procedure: information on website; open to all nationalities and ages - http://www.valtidone-competitions.com

UMBC Department of Music

E. Michael Richards is an Associate Professor of Music. Kazuko Tanosaki is Director of the Post Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Contemporary American Music. They have been teaching at UMBC (Baltimore) since August 2001.

In recent years, the UMBC Department of Music , chaired by Dr. Linda Dusman , has emerged as a leading national center for the presentation and study of contemporary music. The department presents more than 100 concerts each year. The music degree prepares students for advanced study in performance, theory, musicology, composition or recording. Graduates typically continue on to graduate school, professional performance, studio teaching, research, composition or studio recording http://umbc.edu/music .

UMBC Post Baccalaureate Certificate Program in Contemporary American Music (Dr. Kazuko Tanosaki, Director)

The University of Maryland, Baltimore County has developed an intensive experience in the study of American Contemporary music leading to the awarding of a post-baccalaureate Certificate in Contemporary American Music. The program faculty members are all recognized experts in the creation and performance of this music, as well as classic repertoire. The program is open to both American students, and international students who may select to participate in an English language program in the UMBC English Language Center. Twelve credits of required music courses are designed to provide private instrumental instruction, coaching in chamber music, and historical and analytical study of American contemporary music. These classes focus on the development of contemporary performance techniques, including the incorporation of new technologies in performance, extended instrumental techniques, new concepts of musical development and form, and new concepts of ensemble. Each student will prepare a recital of solo and chamber works from the repertoire of American contemporary music as the culminating experience for the program. For non-native speakers of English, concurrent non-credit ESL courses and tutoring will develop competency in American English and familiarity with American cultures.

Admission to the program is competitive and by audition. For application to the Graduate School, click here. For current requirements and application procedures for the Department of Music consult the certificate website at http://www.umbc.edu/music/site/certificate_ENG.html .

The faculty of UMBC's Department of Music has a shared research interest in the music of the last century and the present. Currently comprised of 3 composers and 5 instrumentalists, all are graduates of some of the finest music schools in the United States and are specialists in some aspect of contemporary compositional or performance techniques. As a group, they will provide for students in the program a wealth of knowledge and experience about the creation and performance of American contemporary music. Students enrolled in the program may be selected to apprentice with RUCKUS, the faculty contemporary music ensemble in residence at UMBC.

The Department of Music's Contemporary Concert Series and Faculty Recital Series provides students with a wealth of international performances to inform their study of contemporary performance techniques and styles. Studio 508, the Department's recording studio, provides students with state of the art facilities and prominent audio engineers for recording their performances.

Music of Japan Today (Tanosaki-Richards Duo, Founders and Directors)

Contemporary art music of Japan, created by Japanese composers and recreated by Japanese and other international performers, has gradually gained greater attention in the United States , especially during the last 30 years. A number of Japanese composers and performers have immigrated to the US or Europe , often after studying there. Others have returned to Japan to compose, perform, and teach with new insights gathered from American and/or European culture. The music of these artists reflects a new confluence of multiple cultures – a powerful cross-fertilization of aesthetics and musical characteristics from both East and West. The music is reflective of a variety of aspects of contemporary Japanese society, which is at the same time deeply rooted in a traditional culture that has evolved over many years.

The goals of the Music of Japan Today symposia series are:

•  to introduce American audiences (especially students, members of a university community, musicians, and teachers) to connections between traditional and modern Japanese culture through recent art music of Japan in order to develop greater cross-cultural understanding.

•  to augment the small body of information (writings, scores, recordings) in the West (especially English-language) on this topic. Many sound recordings and scores (published and unpublished) are either unavailable, difficult to acquire outside of Japan, and/or prohibitably expensive, and only a few writings of significant Japanese musicians have been translated to English (some of the best information available includes translations of writings by Yuasa, Takemitsu, and Yuji Takahashi, found in a series of articles [1989-93] in the journal, Perspectives of New Music . A book-length monograph of Takemitsu's [ Confronting Silence ] was also translated and published in 1997). Whereas the study of traditional Japanese music (hogaku) has provided important insight into Japanese culture, comparisons of contemporary art music to tradition as well as contemporary culture (Post WW II) has only just begun. We hope to stimulate this study, as well as share existing information.

•  through the central role played by distinguished composers and performers from Japan , we wanted to emphasize the importance of analyzing and understanding this music not just from a Western “outsider” perspective, but from a Japanese (insider) perspective. Joji Yuasa has observed that one of the major sources in the genealogy of his musical concerns is tightly linked to his own identity – “that of one who was born and grew up within the cultural zone of Japan; a zone that adheres to tradition as a structure that frames thought.” A liberal arts environment, with its traditional openness to interdisciplinary and multiple viewpoints, seemed an appropriate place to attempt to define contemporary Japanese music as an important barometer of Japanese society and culture. We are not interested in duplicating the well-known concert series in New York (“Music From Japan”), but, rather to go further by disseminating information and provoking discussion in the academic and general communities, in addition to the musical/ artistic community. We hope that students, many who are destined to be leaders in a variety of careers, would internalize aspects of this experience – music not only reflects but often forecasts cultural change, and only by examining it and its ideas in cultural context, can its unique qualities be accurately defined.

Music of Japan Today 2007 (http://userpages.umbc.edu/~emrich/mfj2007.htm) featured composers of international stature from Japan who represent a generation born after 1960 - composers who were pupils of Yuasa, Miyoshi, Ikebe, Noda, and Kondo. Hiroyuki Itoh, a winner of international composition prizes in Europe and Japan (including the prestigious Akutagawa Award), has been commissioned and performed by major ensembles including the New Japan Philharmonic, the Nieuw Ensemble, and the Arditti Quartet; Hiroyuki Yamamoto, whose works have been performed at Forum '91 (Montreal), Gaudeamus Music Week '94 (Holland), and ISCM World Music Days (2000 in Luxembourg and 2001 in Yokohama), has received prizes for his work, including the Japan Music Competition, Toru Takemitsu Composition Award, and Akutagawa Award; and Shirotomo Aizawa, winner of an Ataka Prize, and composition prize from the National Theater in Japan. He has studied composition in Tokyo, Berlin, and Vienna, and conducting with Seiji Ozawa, among others.

Performances during the symposium included a broad range of works for different genres (solo instrument, chamber music, computer and electronic music, traditional instruments) by Itoh, Yamamoto, and Aizawa, as well as other Japanese composers. They included premieres of new works by the guest composers. The performers for these concerts included shakuhachi master Retsuzan Tanabe, as well as faculty and students of the UMBC Department of Music, and guest musicians from the Baltimore/Washington DC area and other international new music centers.

Music of Japan Today 2003 is the fifth in a series of international symposia on new Japanese and Asian music co-directed by Kazuko Tanosaki and E. Michael Richards. Hamilton College , in Clinton , New York , was the site of the first four events (1992, 1994, 1997, 1999). Music of Japan Today 2003 welcomed distinguished Japanese composers Joji Yuasa, Tokuhide Niimi, Akira Nishimura, Toshi Ichiyanagi, and more than 20 visiting scholars and performers from Brazil, Austria , Italy , England , Japan , and throughout the United States to UMBC. The symposium featured performances of 49 works (including 4 premieres) of 23 composers, realized by RUCKUS, a host of national and international musicians, as well as more than 50 students; masterclasses on specific works by the guest composers; and lectures on topics ranging from computer music, to rap, to Takemitsu, to Fluxus – all part of the largest symposium on contemporary Japanese music outside of Japan. See http://www.research.umbc.edu/~emrich/mfj2003.html for further information, and http://home.sprintmail.com/~emrichards/amia.html for information about the previous 4 symposia.

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Lectures:

“The New Clarinet in Japan” – 2007 Clarinet and Woodwind Colloquium, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland (June 24, 2007)

"The Clarinet Music of Akira Nishimura: Hidden Orders of Tradition Meet the New Clarinet" - 2004 International Clarinet Festival, University of Maryland, College Park - winner of 2nd place in ICA research competition

"The Clarinet of the Twenty-First Century" - 2004 John Donald Robb Composer's Symposium, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

“Cross-Fertilization of Tradition and Innovation in Music by Asian Americans” - 1999 International Conference of the College Music Society - Kyoto , Japan

“New Sonic Resources for Clarinet” - 1997 SCI National Conference - Florida International University , Miami , FL (March 6, 1997)

“New Sonic Resources for Clarinet” - 1996 SCI Conference - Region I - Wellesley College, MA

"New Japanese Music for Clarinet Solo, Clarinet/Piano, and Clarinet/Orchestra: A Confluence of Tradition and Innovation" - 1995 Conference of the International Clarinet Association, Arizona State University

"Akira Nishimura's Concerto for 20-String Koto and Strings" - Music of Japan Today: Tradition and Innovation, Hamilton College , Clinton , NY

"Hybridization in New Music from Japan : Enrichment or Decadence?" - symposium of the International Musicological Society, Melbourne , Australia

"New Music From Japan : Eclecticism and the Emergence of the Jikken Kobo" – Thirtieth Annual national meeting of the College Music Society/American Musicological Society, New Orleans, LA

"Microtonal Systems for Clarinet: A Guide for Composers" - national conference of the American Society of University Composers, Northwestern University , Evanston , IL

“Microtones and Multiphonics for Clarinet” - northeast regional conference of the American Society of University Composers, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair , NJ

“Microtonal Systems for Clarinet” – northeast regional conference of the College Music Society, SUNY Albany, NY

"Shamisen: The Heart of Nineteenth Century Japanese Music, Theater, and Social Life" - AAUP Journal Club, Hamilton College , Clinton , NY

"Relationships Between Music and Text in Japanese Kouta: An Analysis of Yae Hitoe" - NEH Summer Seminar, University of Michigan , Ann Arbor , MI

"Luciano Berio's Circles: The Generation of Musical Forms and Structures from the Linguistic Components of the Texts" - Carleton College, Northfield , MN

"Extended Techniques for Clarinet in New American Music" - Tokyo College of Music, Tokyo , Japan

“New American Music for Clarinet and Piano" - Iwate University , Morioka , Japan

Lecture/Demonstrations:

"The Clarinet of the 21st Century and New Music from Japan" - U. of Maryland, College Park (March 26, 2008)

"The Clarinet of the 21st Century" - Cleveland State University (Nov. 5, 2007)

“The Clarinet of the 21st Century” – California State University, San Marcos (Feb. 15, 2007)

“The Clarinet of the 21st Century” – California Institute of the Arts, Valencia (Feb. 12, 2007)

“Interactive Computer Music for Clarinet” – U. of California , Irvine ( Feb. 15, 2006 )

“American Music for Clarinet and Piano” – California State U., Sacramento ( Nov. 7, 2005 )

“The Clarinet of the 21st Century” – California State U., Sacramento ( March 24, 2005 )

"The New Clarinet - DVD 2004" - University of New Mexico (2004)

"The New Clarinet – DVD 2004” – Ithaca College , NY (2004 )

“The New Clarinet – DVD 2004” – Virginia Commonwealth University , Richmond , VA (2003 )

“Performing New Music for Clarinet” – Towson University (2003)

“New Resources for Clarinet” – University of Maryland , College Park (2002)

“The Clarinet of the Twenty-First Century” – Conservatorium G. Nicolini, Piacenza , Italy (2002)

"The Clarinet of the Twenty-First Century" - Eastman School of Music - Rochester, NY (1995)

“The Clarinet of the Twenty-First Century” – Kunitachi College of Music – Tokyo, Japan (1993)

"The Clarinet of the Twenty-First Century" - the Camargo Foundation,Cassis, France (November 4, 1988)

Masterclasses:

California Institute for the Arts – Feb. 12, 2007

University of California, Irvine – Feb. 14, 2006

University of Redlands , California – Feb. 13, 2006

California State University , Sacramento – Nov. 7, 2005

Greater Baltimore Youth Orchestra – Feb. 6, 2005

Towson University , Towson , Maryland – 2003

Conservatorium G. Nicolini, Piacenza , Italy – 2002

Towson University , Towson , Maryland – 2002

Bowdoin College , Brunswick , Maine – 2001

University of Massachusetts , Amherst – 1996