I had the unique opportunity to participate in two of five Transatlantic Dialogue conferences in Luxembourg. There was to be another in 2020, which was rescheduled to 2021, and ultimately was replaced by a virtual experience and a collection of reflections on the theme of "Reimagining the Tower of Babel."
Included in the Transatlantic Dialogue reflections is a summary of my "atelier" at the 2017 meeting. An atelier is a studio presentation where art is used to explore a question of mutual interest. My reflections in Curiosity and Creativity - Sources of Cultural Understanding begin by exploring my early experiences with music and how music became a defining element of my identity. My transition to a career in higher education took me away from music as a professional endeavor but I never gave it up as an avocation, much to my great pleasure in these days of semi-retirement. The Luxembourg Transatlantic Dialogue meeting of 2017 allowed me to return to performance and to guiding the audience who joined me through questions of how music and cultural understanding are informed by common dynamics.
I used two piano pieces as stimuli for the "Curiosity and Creativity" discussion, Ravel's "Pavane Pour Una Infante Defunte" and Rachmaninoff's "Prelude IV in D Major, Opus 23, No. 24." By asking participants to reflect on what they heard, I sought to reinforce their own authority in relating to art and discerning insights that were important to them. The point - to welcome listeners and encourage them to understand music at a deeper and more personal level.
The atelier allowed me to also see the similarity in the curiosity and creativity demonstrated in exploring music to that of exploring other cultures. My reflection in Liber Memorialis explains the barriers and opportunities in both.
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