Pianist José Feghali teaches a student in London via videoscreen
School of Music breaks new ground with lessons on the Web
Fort Worth, TX
2/14/2007
A new day for college-level music instruction dawned at TCU on
Feb. 7 when two School of Music students sat down at the Steinway for a
masterclass with a renowned piano teacher in London. Meanwhile,
Christopher Elton, head of keyboard studies at the Royal Academy of
Music there, had one of his students receiving instruction from José
Feghali of the TCU piano faculty and gold medalist at the 1985 Van
Cliburn International Piano Competition. It’s the future of teaching
and performance, made possible through advanced Internet2 technology.
The groundbreaking event was also a significant and very visible
example of TCU’s commitment to technology. “I believe we have one of
the premier technology infrastructures in the Southwest,” says David
Edmondson, TCU’s associate provost for technology resources. “This
presentation not only included the TCU infrastructure but also the
North Texas GigaPoP infrastructure (a regional network consortium of
seven member institutions of higher education) and the LEARN
infrastructure (a statewide network consortium of 33 Texas
institutions). TCU was a founding member of both infrastructures which
provide shared collaborative access to Internet2 and National Lambda
Rail (the two major higher education research networks providing access
around the world) at a cost of $100,000 per year. Edmondson notes it has taken approximately 10 years to get to where TCU
is today, providing connections to almost every desk in the
academic/administrative buildings plus every student living in TCU
residence halls.
The TCU-London interactive masterclass is just the first of many
opportunities ahead. Through the use of high resolution video cameras,
audio quality that’s even better than CD and a nearly nonexistent
time-lag between locations, Internet2 connections literally open up a
whole new world of possibilities in the School of Music.
Later this spring, a TCU percussion major has an appointment to
audition for the Royal Academy in real time, with the London faculty
able to interact appropriately. The savings in time and travel expenses
alone will be a tremendous benefit in a young artist’s life.
Veda Kaplinsky, TCU piano faculty member and head of piano at The
Juilliard School in New York City, will teach private lessons and
masterclasses to TCU students using the same technology.
Families of students who play in campus music ensembles will be able to
watch selected performances live on the Web from their home computers,
even if they live across the country or half-way around the world. “Our
reach here at TCU is so international, that offering this means of
seeing their children in a college setting becomes a priceless
connection to have with these people,” says Feghali, who was key in
gathering the resources to make Internet2 collaboration and Webcasting
a reality at TCU’s School of Music.
_rdax_250x164.JPG)
