Relevancy

For my last blog entry for the semester, I would like to talk about the key things that I learned from this class. Obviously this class was taught more in the form of an honors seminar, where the students get to discuss ideas about American Opera. This can become frustrating. A more straight forward class, where we would be given direct information and then be expected to regurgitate, would require us to actually think less. In this format, we are encouraged to go learn on our own, discover things that might not be covered in a typical literature or history class. This class was exciting, because we covered topics that could really stir up the blood, both pushing our political, musical, and conceptual ideas to the max. Again, this is very similar purpose to the honors classes that I took at my undergraduate college. We have not been necessarily been shown the great works of American Opera, but rather examples of what American Opera can be. We have examined what makes an opera successful, or unsuccessful, how they can influence political thought, and we have examined how our own culture views opera and how companies market their products by using this genre. It has been eye opening and inspiring. This class would honestly be the most useful for those who produce, market, and stage opera. Just by looking outside of the box, which is never comfortable, we can glean new ideas to continue the dissemination of our wonderful art form. Let's face it, the conservative opera lovers are going to be dead soon. Then what? Opera has always until recently been derived from the resources of the day and influenced by the trends in political thought, literature, and popular music. Let's continue to make our art form relevant. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't get angry. Listen, think, and learn. For my last blog entry for the semester, I would like to talk about the key things that I learned from this class. Obviously this class was taught more in the form of an honors seminar, where the students get to discuss ideas about American Opera. This can become frustrating. A more straight forward class, where we would be given direct information and then be expected to regurgitate, would require us to actually think less. In this format, we are encouraged to go learn on our own, discover things that might not be covered in a typical literature or history class. This class was exciting, because we covered topics that could really stir up the blood, both pushing our political, musical, and conceptual ideas to the max. Again, this is very similar purpose to the honors classes that I took at my undergraduate college. We have not been necessarily been shown the great works of American Opera, but rather examples of what American Opera can be. We have examined what makes an opera successful, or unsuccessful, how they can influence political thought, and we have examined how our own culture views opera and how companies market their products by using this genre. It has been eye opening and inspiring. This class would honestly be the most useful for those who produce, market, and stage opera. Just by looking outside of the box, which is never comfortable, we can glean new ideas to continue the dissemination of our wonderful art form. Let's face it, the conservative opera lovers are going to be dead soon. Then what? Opera has always until recently been derived from the resources of the day and influenced by the trends in political thought, literature, and popular music. Let's continue to make our art form relevant. I guess what I'm trying to say is, don't get angry. Listen, think, and learn.