Blog posting written by Isabel Galupo, Cinema and Photography '14, FLEFF Intern, Towson, MD

I am currently sitting in the Igor room of Ithaca College's Whalen School of Music with about 40 other FLEFF interns. We are listening to Dr. Brad Hougham, Assistant Professor of Performance Studies (Voice), and Dr. Debbie Martin, Associate Professor and Associate Chair of Performance Studies (Piano), present about "The Concert for Microtopias," which will be held on Tuesday, March 27.

"The Concert for Microtopias" will feature performances by both Dr. Hougham and Dr. Martin, as well as outside musicians such as pianist Jairo Geronymo, and Art Jones, a VJ from New York City. 

Dr. Hougham's enthusiasm for FLEFF is extremely tangible from the get-go as he proclaims that FLEFF is his favorite event to participate in each school year.

He expresses the importance of FLEFF as a space of freedom for artists to pursue the pieces that they want to pursue. He touches on the interdisciplinary nature of FLEFF, expressing appreciation at how the festival forces him out of Whalen and gives him the opportunity to collaborate and brainstorm with professionals in other disciplines. 

Dr. Martin explains that FLEFF allows both performers and audience members to feel feelings at the most extreme and raw levels. In order to demonstrate how crucial these raw feelings are, Dr. Martin asked us to stand up and clap out a rhythm as she played the piano in tandem.

We felt, in Dr. Martin words, "some of the fun of the music."

Both musicians share with us some pieces that they are planning on performing at the concert. They discuss the ways in which these pieces will interact with and contradict each other, creating musical conflicts leading to intellectual experiences and insights. 

Often, Dr. Hougham and Dr. Martin stand back and let the music speak for itself.

Though I can often be seen walking around campus sporting ipod headphones, I do not consider myself a musical person by any means. Thus, I was excited to come to this presentation and really learn something about an unfamiliar field.

I thought that I would walk away with some tangible nugget of information about the ways in which music lends itself to film festivals. I expected to walk away with a handful of great soundbites from Dr. Hougham and Dr. Martin that succinctly explained the role of musical expression in FLEFF. 

Instead, Dr. Hougham and Dr. Martin challenged us to engage with the music on our own. We were left to digest the collision of tones, rhythms, and melodies ourselves, through our own lenses, just as FLEFF audiences will be expected to do.

The result, for me at least, was a more visceral understanding of how two extremely different ideas can collide and create a completely new, third idea.

And this collision and creation of ideas is what exists at the very core of FLEFF!

Are you all as excited as I am to attend "The Concert for Microtopias" and hear the sound of ideas being created during FLEFF Week 2012?

Blog posting written by Andrew Ronald, Film, Photography & Visual Arts '15, FLEFF Intern, Mahopac, New York

"There are so many brilliant people on this campus. They are extraordinary musicians, fantastic friends, wonderful colleagues, and what I've learned from them is to have the guts to push the envelope and go artistically and emotionally where you never thought you would go."

7:05 PM - Dr. Patricia Zimmerman buoyantly informs us interns about the pianist, Dr. Martin, and baritone singer, Dr. Hougham.

7:12 PM - Musical decisions are announced! In order to promote the interdisciplinary culture behind FLEFF, synthesis of spiritual, ethnic and emotional music is declared.

7:14 PM - The audience rises! Clapping in rhythm, we get to preview the piano accompaniment, filling the room with energy and joy.

7:15 PM - Technical problems! Luckily us interns are technological people and know what to do!

7:19 PM - Beautiful opera music fills the room, lulling us into a daze as we hear Ice Habe Genug, meaning "I've had enough," addressing the state of human morality. As to why the selection was picked, Dr. Hougham comments: "I picked it because it's a piece that I love, love, love and wanted to sing." He continued to declare that it's heart-wrenching and I couldn't agree more.

7:25 PM - Dr. Martin blissfully plays gorgeous harmonies on the piano with a smile on her face. And yes, she's about as sweet and humble as her joyful music. 

7:30 PM - Dr. Hougham just said the word "microtopia." All the interns just got so happy on the inside. I could tell.

7:33 PM - "You'll hear a lot of harp, you'll hear strings and there's woodwinds, but there's some really nice places for the harp," Dr. Martin says. Live blogging does not give justice to the fantastic music we are listening to right now.

7:35 PM - "Children wade, in the water. God's gonna trouble the water." The familiar tune to Wade In the Water ripples throughout the room, and even after hearing three different versions, the message still remains the same. Dr. Hougham struggles internally, however, by questioning "What business do I have singing this music? However, one of the things that occurred to me about microtopias is that they exist all over the campus." Upon hearing that an African American student said, "Honey, I sing gospel music, I gotta help that guy," the theme of microtopias becomes definitive. Students teaching teachers and teachers teaching students. Either way, it's a microtopia.

7:45 PM - Anytime by William Finn comes on. I've never heard it before, but trust me, it's good. What a voice. 

7:49 PM - "When I go to a movie, I listen to the music. I notice if it's bad." As a film student, I'm loving this right now.

7:52 PM - "Personally I feel like FLEFF has opened my own creative parameters. This is Ithaca. It's a really tremendous place to try new things." I couldn't agree more, Dr. Hougham. I couldn't agree more...

7:54 PM - "When you try and describe music and creative art to someone, you never have enough ways because you never know what message will get through." Dr. Martin compares music to art, dance, and literature, and truly understands the fusion music plays in everyday life.

8:00 PM - "Why is it important to perform in a packed theater, and what does it mean to musicians? What does it feel like? Why does it matter?' Dr. Zimmerman makes the audience ponder the meaning of community and how often we can forget that the performer is actually aware of us. It reminds me a lot about the same question I asked myself when I wrote this blog post. We all come to the conclusion that the audience is really not that removed from the performance in the concert hall. It's more than mere entertainment. It's alive. It makes you feel different. After all, it's FLEFF: A Different Environment.