What's New > Light bulb moments with Warren Jones
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Warren Jones
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Warren Jones wears a lot of hats.
As a pianist, teacher, chamber musician, conductor, and vocal coach, NATS is pleased for Jones to don his “presenter” chapeau for three sessions at the upcoming 2024 NATS Winter Workshop. Aptly titled, “The Art of Collaboration,” the workshop will be January 6-8 at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.
Jones’ workshop sessions:
- Session 1: Interpreting Operatic Arias
- Session 2: Collaborative Art Song
- Session 3: Easy Does It...?: A Panel Discussion with Q&A
Thrilled you will be part of the 2024 NATS Winter Workshop! Tell us a little about yourself and what you will be sharing during your workshop sessions.
For those of you who do not know me, I have enjoyed a long career of performing, teaching, coaching, and conducting — and most recently, I have become more and more interested in discovering how I gather and absorb information about my music, and how I can “make it mine.” Each of us does that differently, I believe, and helping others in their version of that process is a topic that is of great interest to me.
Absolutely! What kind of feedback do you hear from singers as they take a deeper dive into dramatic interpretation of their arias and art songs?
Musical and intellectual curiosity is a requirement for our chosen field, and satisfying that curiosity is one of the most rewarding things that any of us can do, both for ourselves and for the audience who hears and watches us perform. When the light bulb goes on in someone’s eyes, and they find a new experience, a new viewpoint, and a new piece of the eternal puzzle that we all face each day — that is the feedback that I love to see and hear.
We love “light bulb moments!” Can you help explain why your session “Easy does it?” matters?
We are constantly exposed to ever more information and ideas about what we do, and that stream of knowledge coming at us seems to be easier and easier to find. After all, we just google stuff, don’t we? That way of discovery was not the way that I was used to, as a younger person. The hard work to discover meaning and content led to a certain kinship with that information when I would find it. We are all familiar with the saying “Easy come, easy go.” I want to explore ideas about how this new ease of acquiring information can ultimately be transformed into long-term learning and expression in our own teaching and in our students’ performances.
A concept we all need to embrace. Good food for thought, Warren. Before we let you go, is there anything else you would like to add?
In the past year I have had the pleasure to learn and perform two separate and substantial new song cycles by living composers, as well as a good amount of older music that was/is new to me. And it has been a fascinating experience all around! I heartily recommend it!
Oh, I bet that was rewarding. Thank for you time, Warren. We look forward to learning more at the workshop.
Don’t miss this chance to learn in person from Warren Jones. Make plans today to attend the NATS Winter Workshop, "The Art of Collaboration," January 6-8 at the Manhattan School of Music in New York City.
