More than notes on a page, music cuts across culture and language. Pianist Pamela Viktoria Pyle, assistant professor of music, lives the language so well that she recently traveled to Taiwan to present a number of concerts and teach classes. A grant from the College of Fine Arts got her there. A friend from Julliard, Nancy Tsung, who teaches at the Taipei National University of the Arts, got a grant to cover Pyle’s other expenses.
Photo: Pamela Pyle and Nancy Tsung, fourth and fifth from left, with music students in Taiwan.
Pyle and Tsung, a violinist who shares Pyle’s musical passion, performed for audiences in Taipei and Tainan. Pyle also gave master classes for students in both cities. Pyle traveled on her own to Albuquerque’s sister city, Hualien, where she delivered a master class.
Pyle’s passion for music helps her overcome the language barrier when teaching. “A lot of my teaching is done through gesturing and demonstrating. I’m very emotional, demonstrative. The music transcends spoken language,” Pyle said.
She said that the students are hungry to express themselves, as well. “They relate to the music, they have a sense for the melody line and the phrasing.
Their eyes are incredibly open. Shy to express their sentiments verbally, music gives them permission to express their thoughts and feelings,” she said. Pyle added that some students she taught had quicker hands on the keys than she does.
Pyle said that as a music educator one must be equally committed to teaching and performance. “I don’t want to say that seeing and hearing me perform inspires students, but yes, it helps them see where they are going with their music,” she said.
Because she encountered so many students in Taiwan who, like herself, live for the music, Pyle wants to bring more students here. “I want to bring performers and composers. I am anxious to develop a Taiwanese-American exchange. With the large indigenous population in Taiwan, we have much in common, and much to learn from one another,” she said.
Pyle’s reverence and respect for music is measured beat by beat with her desire to encourage others to tune an ear, listen and speak up for harmony heard through international exchange.
Media Contact: Carolyn Gonzales, (505) 277-5920; e-mail: cgonzal@unm.edu