Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Meet DLP Member Sibylle P - Renaissance Woman and Determined Learner!


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Sibylle P is a vocalist who is working through the DLP Music Program. She had contacted us with 2 very thoughtful, interesting, and almost philosophical music questions so we thought we'd try to learn a little more about her. Lucky for us (and you) she was happy to share her story. And her reply of "I totally understand your perspective on this" was music to our ears! 

We hope you enjoy meeting Sibylle as much as we have:


"I moved to rural New Mexico in June, so I guess I'm currently from New Mexico. I am a Canadian citizen, and was born in Germany. I am a singer and I am doing the Kore Course for Soprano VoiceI intend to go on to the Jazz Course when I am done withKore. I don't hope to be a jazz artist, however I am well aware that if you can do jazz, you have the tools needed to connect with musicians working in many different musical styles. 

My musical history...

I took piano lessons as a child and sang in the church choir. My piano lessons, frankly, were pretty horrific, and turned me off to such an extent that I didn't start up again with any kind of formal music studies till I was 30. I took singing lessons at a pace of one to two per month for almost 20 years, and also studied rudimentary composition one-on-one for several years. I have recorded music I have written, however it's not currently publicly available.

Over the course of my adult life, I never had the time or money needed to focus in a more concentrated way on music so I could get to what I consider a truly professional level. I was delighted to discover the DLP program because I've always wanted to methodically fill in the gaps in my knowledge. Returning to school in the regular sense of the word was out of the question for me... not only because of time and money restrictions, but because I did not have the solid music theory background needed to enter a college-level program. I'm currently able to spend three or four mornings a week working with the DLP materials and I'm finding the self-paced review and learning to be perfect for my needs.

I have been unable to download the Finale Notepad software (it's a long story but I expect to have the program up and running before October is over). I decided to take my lack of sheet music as an opportunity and with a little help here and there from my keyboard, I have been transcribing the melodic line to many of the songs so that I can improve my listening and notation skills, and really close the gap between what I know theoretically and what I know practically. I'm looking forward to installing the software soon so I can double-check my notations against the professionally prepared sheet music.

After I'm done transcribing, I sing the piece, and wow do I enjoy that! (Mike Finkel's ability to set simple melodic lines so that they sound like real music is teaching me a lot about composition!)  I plan to continue transcribing about three songs per lesson even after I have Notepad because I consider that activity to be good for developing my fundamental musicianship
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"I consider music miraculous."

Music represents the most profound form of expression I am capable of, and for me it is primarily a spiritual experience when I'm really singing well. I truly love making music with others. I really enjoy "soloing" with the DLP songs because it gives me practice in improving my abilities to work with other musicians. I consider music miraculous. When I listen and watch people making music together, it reminds me that peace, co-operation, and harmony are all possible on our planet. To me, co-operative music making represents a creative, very pleasurable, and powerful alternative to war.

So to summarize, music is about my personal relationship to Source.  It is a way to invite others into a deep connection with Source, and it is also about how social relationships could be modeled differently than they generally are." 

Editor's Note: Wow, what an interesting lady!  And there's more.  Sibylle is an artist who will be contributing an installation "Guerilla Sprouting" at an upcoming art exhibit in Taos called "Seed 4."  The installation will feature live sprouts, re-purposed plastic, and information on the 'whys' of my chosen title.  She also writes about her passions on her blog Praise to Incarnation.

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