Comments on: George Steiner on teachers and students, part two

By: Read, Think, Remix at bavatuesdays

Read, Think, Remix at bavatuesdays — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 19:58:49 +0000

[...] series of posts on Steiner (here and here) are eloquent examinations of the transcendent experiences born of the student/teacher [...]

By: Roving Librarian

Roving Librarian — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 20:27:32 +0000

A side comment–This phrase caught my eye: “…the teacher obviously strove to surround his students with sense, to charge their environment with meaning, attention, passion, to make all moments potentially transformative.” Surrounding students with meaning is different from so much of the point-of-purchase display that is current in education, libraries, and retail. Creating an environment that is rich with meaning and not mere stimulation is a greater challenge.

By: Teresa Kennedy

Teresa Kennedy — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 23:20:13 +0000

Well, George Steiner and Nadia Boulanger, hmmm…..

I don’t know if I ever told you this, since I didn’t realize that you were a fan, but in 1976 when I was a freshman at CUA, Nadia Boulanger taught several master classes in the School of Music. One of my friends, and Doctor of Music candidate in piano performance, William Carr (a really brilliant pianist) had been her student previously, and let me come with him during his ‘master’ class. She asked me if I played the piano, and I said that I had for many years, but hadn’t played much lately–beyond messing around with bar tunes, and playing the organ in the National Shrine like it was a piano. She frowned and said, you have wasted your hands. I didn’t touch the piano again for over 20 years. She eyes that glared shame.

Anyway, the only good biography I know is Alan Kendall’s–I forget the title, something like “A Tyrant” maybe–with the requisite colon. She must have been close to 90 by then, and was still a genius.

Cheers!