Pàgines

dissabte, 17 de novembre del 2012

John Adams (músic)

John Adams, compositor
A través del blog Stretta, arribo al discurs de doctorat de John Adams a l'escola Juilliard.

Parla de la tria (vital, cabdal) de ser artista. Alguns extractes:
Thank all of you students who, against all odds and against all the pressures to do otherwise, have chosen to have a life in the arts. All the paradigms of success that we routinely encounter in our everyday lives—on television, in movies, in the online world, in the constant din of advertising, even from our friends and families—all these “models” for success and happiness American-style are about what is ultimately a disposable life, about a life centered around material gain and about finding the best possible comfort zone for yourself.
And the wonderful, astonishing truth is that the arts are utterly useless.
... what we artists offer is one of the few things that make human life meaningful, that through our skill and our talent and through the way that we share our rich emotional lives we add color and texture and depth and complexity to their lives.
A life in the arts means a life of sacrifice and tens of thousands of hours of devotion and discipline with scant remuneration and sometimes even scant recognition. A life in the arts means loving complexity and ambiguity, of enjoying the fact that there are no single, absolute solutions. And it means that you value communicating about matters of the spirit over the baser forms of human interaction, because you know that life is not just a transaction, not simply a game about winning someone’s confidence purely for purposes of material gain.
So if I can leave you with some words of wisdom I would probably urge you to do one thing over all else, and that is never to consider yourself sufficiently educated. Always remember to adopt Zen “beginner’s mind.” If you’re playing or dancing and acting something for the umpteenth time, stop and ask yourself “how can I make it fresh? What have I been missing in this? How can I avoid going on autopilot?” And don’t be afraid to take baby steps. 
Discurs sencer, aquí. Fotografia de Margaretta Mitchell.

Escoltar música de John Adams:
  • a la seva web (http://www.earbox.com/)
  • al seu myspace (http://www.myspace.com/johnadamsmusic/music)