AN INTERVIEW WITH JOHN PRESCOTT
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Editor's Note: John Prescott is a musicologist who has taught courses on a wide range of musical topics for our OLLI since 2014. His courses have included: how to listen to music, choral music and chamber music, on particular composers, on opera, on Gilbert and Sullivan, and on music and gender and music and politics. In this interview, he discusses his background and interests. Rufus Browning, an OLLI member since 2007 and a member of the OLLI Council, conducted the interview.
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Rufus: Hello John. I still savor the courses I’ve taken with you; most recently, a course on Gilbert and Sullivan in which you artfully and amusingly interwove the music, your commentary on the music and the plots, and the organization and business of G&S productions in Britain and the United States. But I don’t think we ever heard about your own development. Tell us a little about your background, John. Where did you grow up and go to school?
John: I grew up in Minneapolis. The Twin Cities have a wonderfully vibrant artistic and musical community. Other than my family, one of my greatest influences was Minnesota Public Radio. The announcers were extremely musically knowledgeable. I spent my teenage years listening to intelligent people play wonderful music and speaking adroitly about it. I was blessed with an excellent education. I attended Carleton College as an undergraduate. Carleton is one of the foremost liberal arts colleges in the country. There were five music majors in my year so definitely no nodding off in the back row. While at Carleton I had the opportunity to spend my junior year as an exchange student at Worcester College in Oxford. After graduating, I returned to England and studied at St. John's College in Cambridge. I then returned to the U.S. and did my masters and doctoral work at UC Berkeley.
John: I grew up in Minneapolis. The Twin Cities have a wonderfully vibrant artistic and musical community. Other than my family, one of my greatest influences was Minnesota Public Radio. The announcers were extremely musically knowledgeable. I spent my teenage years listening to intelligent people play wonderful music and speaking adroitly about it. I was blessed with an excellent education. I attended Carleton College as an undergraduate. Carleton is one of the foremost liberal arts colleges in the country. There were five music majors in my year so definitely no nodding off in the back row. While at Carleton I had the opportunity to spend my junior year as an exchange student at Worcester College in Oxford. After graduating, I returned to England and studied at St. John's College in Cambridge. I then returned to the U.S. and did my masters and doctoral work at UC Berkeley.
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Rufus: How did your interest in music develop?
John: It developed long before I was making conscious decisions about such things. When I was six months old, my parents received medical confirmation of what they had suspected for some time, namely that I was totally blind. One of the greatest disservices parents can do to a disabled child is to frame the disability as a terrible tragedy. My parents did the opposite and threw themselves into giving me as many experiences as possible and always expected that I would do pretty much everything a sighted child would do with some modifications. When I was three, it was discovered that I had absolute pitch (the ability to identify the pitch of a note being played and to sing any specific pitch). My parents started me with violin lessons but I retired as a violinist at age six since I couldn't stand the terrible sounds made by a beginning violinist. I studied piano off and on through elementary school but began studying in earnest in junior high school.
Rufus: Do you still make music as well as teach about it?
John: In addition to piano and violin, I have been singing since junior high school. In college, I began studying the harpsichord, the early keyboard instrument which is the predecessor to the piano. I also started playing the harp. I am now studying a wonderfully outlandish instrument called the triple harp, which, as the name implies, has three sets of strings. Before Covid, I was singing in an excellent choir at an Episcopal church here in Oakland, where I live. Not being able to sing with others has been one of the greatest hardships of the pandemic for me.
Rufus: What kind of teaching did you do before you taught at our OLLI?
John: I began as a teaching assistant at UC Berkeley. After that I taught at the Crowden School in Berkeley. The Crowden School is a one-of-a-kind institution for middle school students who excel in music and specifically play string instruments. I have a long history of giving pre-concert lectures for various orchestras and choral groups throughout the Bay Area. I have also given many lecture series for the San Francisco Early Music Society.
John: It developed long before I was making conscious decisions about such things. When I was six months old, my parents received medical confirmation of what they had suspected for some time, namely that I was totally blind. One of the greatest disservices parents can do to a disabled child is to frame the disability as a terrible tragedy. My parents did the opposite and threw themselves into giving me as many experiences as possible and always expected that I would do pretty much everything a sighted child would do with some modifications. When I was three, it was discovered that I had absolute pitch (the ability to identify the pitch of a note being played and to sing any specific pitch). My parents started me with violin lessons but I retired as a violinist at age six since I couldn't stand the terrible sounds made by a beginning violinist. I studied piano off and on through elementary school but began studying in earnest in junior high school.
Rufus: Do you still make music as well as teach about it?
John: In addition to piano and violin, I have been singing since junior high school. In college, I began studying the harpsichord, the early keyboard instrument which is the predecessor to the piano. I also started playing the harp. I am now studying a wonderfully outlandish instrument called the triple harp, which, as the name implies, has three sets of strings. Before Covid, I was singing in an excellent choir at an Episcopal church here in Oakland, where I live. Not being able to sing with others has been one of the greatest hardships of the pandemic for me.
Rufus: What kind of teaching did you do before you taught at our OLLI?
John: I began as a teaching assistant at UC Berkeley. After that I taught at the Crowden School in Berkeley. The Crowden School is a one-of-a-kind institution for middle school students who excel in music and specifically play string instruments. I have a long history of giving pre-concert lectures for various orchestras and choral groups throughout the Bay Area. I have also given many lecture series for the San Francisco Early Music Society.
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Rufus: You may have noticed that OLLI members are senior citizens. Have you ever worked with a group like us before? What is teaching seniors like compared to teaching other age groups?
John: I had wonderful preparation for my OLLI experience. From the late 1990's into the early 2000's, I taught regularly for Elderhostel (now named Road Scholar). Elderhostel had a very similar demographic of extremely bright, inquisitive older people wanting to continue growing and learning. Seniors are by far my favorite group to teach. I find that mature learners are much less self-conscious. If OLLI members have questions, they are not afraid to ask. I love undergraduates and kids, but I find they are often painfully self-conscious. I also love the depth and range of education, wisdom, and life experience which mature learners bring to the classroom. In each OLLI class, I also learn from the members. I love the depth and thoughtfulness of the questions I get from OLLI members. I often say that any question in an OLLI class could expand to fill a six-week course. My sighted colleagues often focus more on the musical score and on matters which are primarily visual in the musical notation. My gift as a blind musicologist is to listen deeply to music and to help others notice and appreciate what they are hearing.
Rufus: Have you taught courses via Zoom during the pandemic period? How did that work out for you and your students?
John: My first experience of teaching via Zoom, or via any online medium for that matter, occurred last Summer when I taught a six-week course for OLLI. To be honest, I was completely terrified. I can thank OLLI program assistant Lena Chiu for shepherding me through that experience. Anyone who has worked with Lena knows her wonderful calm presence. It turned out to be an excellent experience. I have taught two more single lectures and another six-week course for OLLI since then. In addition, I have begun producing self-presented courses via Zoom. Zoom does not offer the same easy interaction among members that occurs in an in-person class. However, not having to commute does have its advantages for me as well as for some OLLI members who might find it difficult to attend a class in person.
Rufus: Do you teach courses at other lifelong learning institutes as well as our OLLI?
John: I have taught for several OLLIs throughout the Bay Area. Although specifics of organization and structure vary from one to another, the OLLI spirit is clearly present in all of them.
Rufus: Do you have ideas for future courses at our OLLI?
John: Indeed, I do. After I taught a single lecture on the music of Beethoven this Spring, there was a lot of interest in a full six-week course on this giant of Western music. Schubert is another composer very dear to my heart. I would love to have the opportunity to explore his music with an OLLI group. I also enjoy teaching a basic introduction to classical music.
John: I had wonderful preparation for my OLLI experience. From the late 1990's into the early 2000's, I taught regularly for Elderhostel (now named Road Scholar). Elderhostel had a very similar demographic of extremely bright, inquisitive older people wanting to continue growing and learning. Seniors are by far my favorite group to teach. I find that mature learners are much less self-conscious. If OLLI members have questions, they are not afraid to ask. I love undergraduates and kids, but I find they are often painfully self-conscious. I also love the depth and range of education, wisdom, and life experience which mature learners bring to the classroom. In each OLLI class, I also learn from the members. I love the depth and thoughtfulness of the questions I get from OLLI members. I often say that any question in an OLLI class could expand to fill a six-week course. My sighted colleagues often focus more on the musical score and on matters which are primarily visual in the musical notation. My gift as a blind musicologist is to listen deeply to music and to help others notice and appreciate what they are hearing.
Rufus: Have you taught courses via Zoom during the pandemic period? How did that work out for you and your students?
John: My first experience of teaching via Zoom, or via any online medium for that matter, occurred last Summer when I taught a six-week course for OLLI. To be honest, I was completely terrified. I can thank OLLI program assistant Lena Chiu for shepherding me through that experience. Anyone who has worked with Lena knows her wonderful calm presence. It turned out to be an excellent experience. I have taught two more single lectures and another six-week course for OLLI since then. In addition, I have begun producing self-presented courses via Zoom. Zoom does not offer the same easy interaction among members that occurs in an in-person class. However, not having to commute does have its advantages for me as well as for some OLLI members who might find it difficult to attend a class in person.
Rufus: Do you teach courses at other lifelong learning institutes as well as our OLLI?
John: I have taught for several OLLIs throughout the Bay Area. Although specifics of organization and structure vary from one to another, the OLLI spirit is clearly present in all of them.
Rufus: Do you have ideas for future courses at our OLLI?
John: Indeed, I do. After I taught a single lecture on the music of Beethoven this Spring, there was a lot of interest in a full six-week course on this giant of Western music. Schubert is another composer very dear to my heart. I would love to have the opportunity to explore his music with an OLLI group. I also enjoy teaching a basic introduction to classical music.
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Rufus: Do you have anyone at home to help you keep your sanity in these difficult times? I know you have a guide dog named Joelle. What's her musical specialty? Does she sing too?
John: Joelle does not express strong musical preferences. Fortunately, she does not sing along like some dogs. I also share my home with Dale, my life partner of seven years. He and I share a love of early music, mostly from before 1800. Like OLLI members, Dale is highly intelligent and educated, but does not have specific musical training. He is my tester for OLLI material so I can tell if what I am saying is cogent to an educated lay person.
Rufus: How does music enter your life as a whole? Does it fill your days, whether you are working on a course or a lecture or a review or not? And does music demand a vacation, like other kinds of work? What do you do when you want to take a break from music?
John: Music is a core part of my personal, psychological, and spiritual sustenance. A day without music is not a good day for me.
I listen to different kinds of music at different times and in different moods.
Just before bed, I often listen to ambient music. I find that classical music engages my brain too much just before trying to sleep.
Outside of music, Dale and I have a keen interest in cooking and canning and preserving summer fruits and vegetables. Another nonmusical passion of mine is woodworking, specifically wood turning or creating objects using a lathe. The idea of a blind guy using power tools scares the living daylights out of people and, I have to confess, I kind of enjoy that. Since work in music is intangible, I love to create physical objects in my nonmusical life.
Rufus: Fascinating! Do I see a future OLLI course, The Use of Power Tools in Contemporary Music?
Oh, never mind. We’ll look forward to Beethoven, whose life and music both contain so much drama. Thank you, John.
John: Joelle does not express strong musical preferences. Fortunately, she does not sing along like some dogs. I also share my home with Dale, my life partner of seven years. He and I share a love of early music, mostly from before 1800. Like OLLI members, Dale is highly intelligent and educated, but does not have specific musical training. He is my tester for OLLI material so I can tell if what I am saying is cogent to an educated lay person.
Rufus: How does music enter your life as a whole? Does it fill your days, whether you are working on a course or a lecture or a review or not? And does music demand a vacation, like other kinds of work? What do you do when you want to take a break from music?
John: Music is a core part of my personal, psychological, and spiritual sustenance. A day without music is not a good day for me.
I listen to different kinds of music at different times and in different moods.
Just before bed, I often listen to ambient music. I find that classical music engages my brain too much just before trying to sleep.
Outside of music, Dale and I have a keen interest in cooking and canning and preserving summer fruits and vegetables. Another nonmusical passion of mine is woodworking, specifically wood turning or creating objects using a lathe. The idea of a blind guy using power tools scares the living daylights out of people and, I have to confess, I kind of enjoy that. Since work in music is intangible, I love to create physical objects in my nonmusical life.
Rufus: Fascinating! Do I see a future OLLI course, The Use of Power Tools in Contemporary Music?
Oh, never mind. We’ll look forward to Beethoven, whose life and music both contain so much drama. Thank you, John.
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